A Shorter Hornet...

This past Sunday, January 26th, I participated in a launch session with several Colorado front range rocketeers.
The first flight of the day was my old flagship, the Estes Hornet.  This would be the bird's  49th flight.

The model boosted nicely, but at ejection there was...no parachute.
Lawn Dart.
Upon recovery and failure analysis, I found that the motor had ejected without pushing anything out the front.
And here's what that front looked like:

The impact had completely jammed the nose into the payload tube about 1/4 inch.
It took a bit of effort to remove it.
The damage to the tube was substantial, so rather than attempting to glue it all back together, I chose to amputate the whole mess.

The old bird is now ready for its 50th and final launch.  It's just a tad bit shorter than before.

That aside, I will be posting about Sunday's launch session when I get all the pics and info sorted out.
Stay tuned....

A Look Back At 2019

Each New Year, I like to take a look back at my rocketry related activities during the previous year and review the events and assess what progress was made.

So, here goes:

Model Rockets Added To The Fleet - 6
This is a very dismal output, especially when two of the models were E2X kits, and three others were previously built rockets given to me by a friend.  These required only a minimal amount of refurb and modification to bring them to my flying standards. Lack of available time in the workshop was the main culprit.  Here is the list:

Alpha VI 60th Anniversary Edition
Estes Viking
Flatcat B/G (glider only)
Estes Quark
Quest Big Rage
Estes Solo

Model Rocket Flying -  25 flights over 8 launch sessions.

No models lost, no models destroyed.  Only a few minor mishaps involving minor repairs.

The highlight of all these launch events was a trip to Pueblo, Colorado in July to fly with S.C.O.R.E.

During 2019's final launch session on September 6th, I logged my 100th flight of the BAR era.  I also successfully flew my first keychain video camera flight.

All in all, even though things were rather low key as far as rocketry is concerned, I still had fun and look forward to a new rocket building and flying season.  Lots of rocket builds and other projects in the queue...

Here is a picture I took this morning of my current model rocket fleet:

CHEERS !!

It's A No-Brainer....

Prior to the Holidays, my daughters asked me,
"Dad, what do you want for Christmas?"
Being a model rocketeer, I didn't  have to think about this one too hard.

Here is the ultimate result:

Time to flip on the lights in the BlastFromThePast shop, pop open a Mountain Dew, and git busy!

Happy 2020!

Wishing all of you a prosperous and blessed year.
Keep on Rocketeering!