Plans were to do this as a blog entry, but due to camera problems, (some beach ball forgot to charge his batteries the night before,) I wound up very short of photos. So, old school I go. Great day for flying. Hot, but not stifling. I'd spent the bulk of the week prepping the rockets I wanted to fly so that when I got to the field, all I had to do was stick an igniter and plug in and it was off to the pad. I wound up with 24 rockets prepped and ready, mostly never before flown and not flown in ten years or more birds.
I'd hoped to be at eRockets in time to help load up, but I spent Friday night hauling bags of rocks down to the pool instead of loading the Toaster. That allowed me to spend Saturday morning running around trying to get everything together. As it turned out, I arrived at the field to find the WSR guys parked by the unopened gate, unable to access the field. I offered to blaze the trail via the other gate, which was open for the soccer d-bags, but it was decided that I didn't have the temperament for the task, which involves not pissing people off so that we lose our field. Our field owner arrived and found the gate combination had been changed, so he told us to just use the other gate.
I chose the Mach 10+, a BT-80 upscale of the Mach 10, for my first flight. Whereas the previous version of this rocket had been quite easy to balance, this one hasn't been quite as cooperative. The previous version was the one seen strafing the apartment building across from B6-4 Field several years ago, but some careless flying on a C11 resulted in it spending the winter in one of the trees at the field. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG6iVy071Gw
Today the D12 flight didn't quite have the power to get the necessary altitude for a successful flight. The loop was there as expected, but tighter. It was still under power when it impacted the ground behind the pads. Several seconds later the marker cone ejected. Conditions were dry, and I was initially afraid that the ejection charge might set the field on fire, but nothing developed. The elevator snapped off on impact. The nose cone on the belly pod was pushed back into the tube. Fixable, but I'm not sure when I might feel the urge to fly it again.

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__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2