Launch Date: 30 March, 2017

Today’s weather forecast for the front range of Colorado called for temperatures in the low sixties and minimal wind, being the only nice day between Spring snow storms.  I deemed it necessary to get in a ‘rocket fix’ while the conditions were so favorable.

                The soccer fields at Dove valley were in excellent shape when I arrived at around 11:30 a.m.  Temperature was at 61 degrees and winds held around 5-7 mph.  The conditions were very clear with some high cloud cover.

                The first model to be prepped and off the pad was, of course, the Hornet.  The bird turned in yet another pristine flight on an A3-4T engine, with recovery via 1.75” x 24” crepe streamer.  The model took a little bit of a hard landing around 50 feet from the pad, breaking one of its fins off.  A minor fix.

Next up was the Rock-A-Chute Mark II clone on an A10-3T engine.  Again, the model was launched from its specially built ‘retro’ launch pad consisting of a 5/16” wood dowel rod stuck in a board.

To my chagrin, I found that my range box was lacking the usual roll of masking tape and clothespins. 

Darn it, I was using both items for some workbench builds the other day….

Since the engine is friction fit, I had to put on my McGyver hat…

I found a good work-around when I discovered that the white tape strips on the ignit…I mean, starters, would serve adequately as engine friction tape.   The absence of a clothespin meant that I had to bend a paper clip around the launch rod to hold the Mark II off the blast deflector.

All worked fine and the model lifted off perfectly, reached altitude, and deployed its 15” square red parachute for a slow, steady descent.

The next vehicle to go on the pad was an experimental two-stage affair.  The test booster employed air gap staging, and the second stage consisted of the Centuri Star Trooper.  The distance between the two engines is identical to that of a BT-20 based WAC-Corporal and Tiny Tim tandem which is on my future build list.  I wanted to to see if the staging would work using simpler models before attempting to build the more involved scaler.

It didn’t.

The A10-0T was simply too far away to ignite the upper stage.   The ‘flight’ was rather comical as the finless booster was taped to the launch rod.  After first stage ignition, the trooper got ‘boosted’ about two-thirds of the way up the rod, only to slide back down.

Oh, well….It was worth a try…..

After that, I stuck an igniter…I mean, starter… into the Trooper’s 1/2A3-4T engine to send it aloft for a single-stage flight.   The model boosted high and straight, only to not deploy its streamer.  Upon recovery, I found that the engine had ejected, the nose cone had come off, but the wadding, streamer, and shock cord were still inside the body.  The model came down pretty quickly, but sustained no damage.  Apparently, I had not used quite enough of the igniter…I mean, starter…tape to properly friction fit the engine.

With that done, I decided not to push my luck any further. Settling for one perfect flight and one broken fin, it was time to pack up and head home.