Launch Date: 10 March, 2017

Friday, March 10^th dawned with the appearance of being a great day to get out and launch some model rockets at DV Park.  Wind and Temperature data for Centennial, Colorado showed an 11:00 a.m. time slot with winds not exceeding 5 mph, air temperature at 61 degrees, and most importantly… no Red Flag Fire Danger Warnings today, as there have been in the past few days.

On the docket for today are the Hornet (what else?), and another launch of the Generic E2X.  Since I won’t have the grand -kiddoes along today for extra sets of eyes and as the recovery team, I will likely scale back and fly it on a B6-4 instead of the Cs like last time.  Lastly, I am bringing along my Mark II Rock-a-Chute so I can go retro again, time permitting.

Arriving at the launch site, I found the field to be in great shape, and I had the whole place to myself.

First launch was the Hornet on an A3-4T engine.  The model turned in yet another sterling performance, and was successfully recovered on a 24” crepe paper streamer, landing a mere 20 feet from the launch pad.  Another reason I like to launch this bird first, aside from being the fleet flagship, is that I use it to assess prevailing wind and drift conditions.  All flights of the Hornet are conducted from a vertical launch rod.

The second flight of the day was with the Generic E2X.  Launching from the rod angle set at approx. 5 degrees into the wind, the GE2X turned in a nice flight, with successful parachute deployment (12” w/ spill hole), and soft landing about 50 feet from the launch pad.

       The GE2X was prepped for a second flight, again with a B6-4 engine.  This time the rod was angled at approximately 2 degrees, making for a higher altitude flight.  The parachute deployed right at ejection, and the model started a fairly slow descent, landing about 50 yards down-range. Even though this is a beginner’s E2X bird, I have found it to be a joy to launch….a welcome addition to my fleet.

With this done, it was time to pack up and head home.  Three more flight missions completed without any lost or damaged models!