I did several flights with my rockets. All were successful and it was a great time. As usual, thanks to everyone that came out to help and watch!
Weather ranged from overcast to mostly clear skies with winds light to about 7 mph from the South, varying a bit from WSW on Saturday to SSE on Sunday.
In the order of the launches:
1) 5/26/18: Eclipse on an Aerotech J340 Metalstorm to 2358 feet.
2) 5/26/18: X-Calibur on an Aerotech H148 Redline to 2484 feet.
3) 5/27/18: Competitor on a CTI J355 Red Lightning to 3046.5 feet.
4) 5/27/18: X-Calibur on a CTI G68 White to 852 feet.
I did more editing work than I ever have for the videos, particularly the Eclipse and Competitor 4 flights. I used Windows Movie Maker to compile photos, ground videos (from my phone), pad cam videos (from my GoPro Hero5 Session), and onboard videos (from my Mobius Actioncam HD).
Flight Details:
Flight #1) Eclipse on an Aerotech J340 Metalstorm: This flew on a motor I bought and built something like 7 years ago. I was slightly concerned about motor failure due to the o-rings taking a set, but it burned perfectly. The flight was straight up and had a slight, lazy corkscrew. It tail slid at apogee, rather than arcing over. It landed about 1000 feet away. After recovering the rocket, I realized that the tracker was gone. I had only used masking tape to hold it on to the main recovery harness, which tore during the main ejection at 500 feet. Fortunately, the tracker survived the fall, and it was easily recovered close to where the rocket had landed.
Flight #2) X-Calibur on an Aerotech H148 Redline: This was a nice flight to just within the limits of visibility in the sky conditions at the time. It was the first flight using the electronic deployment that I set up last year for this rocket. The parachute didn't fully open because the parachute protector slid up the parachute shroud lines. It landed hard but there was no damage.
Flight #3) Competitor on a CTI J355 Red Lightning: This was a perfect and graceful launch. It reached 3028 feet according to the PerfectFlite HiAlt 45K altimeter, and 3065 feet according to the PerfectFlite SL100 altimeter. The SL100 also reported a top speed of 292 mph. The performance of this flight was incredibly close to what Rocksim had predicted, which was 2967 feet and 294 mph. 1.25 grams of black powder in the drogue and 3 grams for the main was perfect.
After the adventurous recovery of the K600 flight last year, I tried the TAC-1 60" main parachute instead of the 72" Top Flite one that I had been using. Originally, I elected not to use the TAC-1 because the rocket came out heavier than expected. However, the 72" Top Flite one is a bit too big, causing it to lazily float down and drift unnecessarily far. For this flight, I also lowered the main deployment altitude from 700 feet to 500 feet. The TAC-1 opened quickly and nicely, and recovered the Competitor without damage. However, the descent was a bit too fast for comfort, confirming that my previous decision not to use it was the right one. The descent rate was about 30 feet per second.
Flight #4) X-Calibur on a CTI G68 White: This was a quick and low flight to only 852 feet. The altimeter ejection worked perfectly again with about 0.8 grams of black powder. The X-Calibur showed a little bit of a wiggle right at motor burnout. In the past, I've noticed a wiggle quite a few times with this rocket, so it doesn't surprise me anymore when it does it. I think this is due to the asymmetric 6 fin configuration.
One more note: I bought motors for more flying this year! I bought a motor for the Competitor, a motor for the Eclipse, and two motors for the X-Calibur.
After the adventurous recovery of the K600 flight last year, I tried the TAC-1 60" main parachute instead of the 72" Top Flite one that I had been using. Originally, I elected not to use the TAC-1 because the rocket came out heavier than expected. However, the 72" Top Flite one is a bit too big, causing it to lazily float down and drift unnecessarily far. For this flight, I also lowered the main deployment altitude from 700 feet to 500 feet. The TAC-1 opened quickly and nicely, and recovered the Competitor without damage. However, the descent was a bit too fast for comfort, confirming that my previous decision not to use it was the right one. The descent rate was about 30 feet per second.
Flight #4) X-Calibur on a CTI G68 White: This was a quick and low flight to only 852 feet. The altimeter ejection worked perfectly again with about 0.8 grams of black powder. The X-Calibur showed a little bit of a wiggle right at motor burnout. In the past, I've noticed a wiggle quite a few times with this rocket, so it doesn't surprise me anymore when it does it. I think this is due to the asymmetric 6 fin configuration.
One more note: I bought motors for more flying this year! I bought a motor for the Competitor, a motor for the Eclipse, and two motors for the X-Calibur.
