Muck Fest 2010 (My Level 3 Cert Flight)

PYRO/TWNY hosted their first annual Muck Fest over the 4th of July weekend. I finally was able to fly my level 3 certification flight on an M1230 Imax motor. The altitude achieved was 8097.5 feet (averaged between both altimeter readings). Maximum velocity was about .75 mach, or 570 miles per hour. The flight was perfect, and it landed roughly half a mile away. I didn't realize until watching the video that the rocket actually fell into the pilot chute when it opened. It's very lucky that it didn't tangle or the main never would have opened. When it's approaching apogee, it appears that it starts to head straight back down before the drogue comes out. I'm fairly certain this is an illusion caused by a shear layer of wind that caused the smoke trail to change direction suddenly. Here's a video of the flight, thanks to Tom Binford:

Video: My Level 3 Certification Flight

I did also fly my Super Weasel for its first flight. I chose a G126 White Thunder motor. It was a perfect flight to approximately 1500 feet. Sorry there are no videos or pictures of that launch.

I also flew my Eclipse on the new J340 Metal Storm from Aerotech to 2528 feet for a nice launch. I had a video of that launch but it accidentally was deleted from the camera before an upload was possible.

I also did 2 flights with my Ariel. The first was an H112J to about 2000 feet. That flight landed just 50 feet from the pad it launched from. The second was on a Pro29 H123 Skidmark motor to about 1300 feet. That one landed in a large unclimbable (I tried and got nowhere) tree about 50 feet up. A video of that launch is here:

Video: My Ariel Lands in a Tree

I took a few pictures and videos of other people's launches. Here is Mike Dutch's I-Roc Extreme on a K motor:

Video: Dutch's I-Roc Extreme

Bill Clune launched a traffic cone on Monday. Here's a sideways video of how that flight went:

Video: Bill'sTraffic Cone Launch

The other level 3 certification flight went well also. It was Dan's flight to 9800 feet on a Pro75 Skidmark M1770 motor. The video was taken by Tom Binford:

Video: Dan's Level 3 Certification Flight

Here's Tom Binford's research full L motor in his upscale Goblin.

The Goblin on its way back from a nice flight to 5400 feet.

Debra Kolom's N research motor. Perfect flight to 12003 feet.
Debra's N3800: Video

Matt and Kevin's AMRAAM on an Aerotech J350W made a nice flight.

That's all I have from the launch right now. I'm awaiting stills of the L3 liftoff. There were many more flights than what I have listed, including several L motors and other high power launches. The weather was perfect all weekend and brought a bigger crowd than usual.

Finishing the Super Weasel

The Super Weasel is now ready for flight. The last coat of clear coat is drying on the booster section now.
Below is a look at one of the fin sections with primer and wood filler in need of sanding. This is the most time consuming part of rocketry for me because I always attempt to get the best finish possible, except in the case of this rocket. Since I plan on launching in 3 days, one of which I am working, and the other I plan on focusing on my L3, I allowed some minor imperfections to pass "inspection."

The following are what the booster section looked like with one coat of primer and wood filler, all sanded and ready for the next coat of primer:

The color scheme I went with deviates from the Rocksim preview due to me changing my mind about a dozon times in the last 2 days. What I came up with is at the very least, bright. It's very simple and not the most attractive but I don't think it looks bad for completing all finishing on the rocket in 2 days.

No, the lights on the lawn mower are not on, it's from the camera flash.