Yet another morning of perfect flying weather prevailed in Castle Rock, Colorado. The temperature stood at 58 degrees and average wind speed at 2.5 mph. Plenty of clear blue sky and sunshine as well. The only possible worry was the presence of operating sprinklers downrange on the launch field. I made sure to angle the launch rod a couple degrees in the other direction to minimize the chances of getting a model or two soaked.
Today, I went with a couple of simple birds that reside in the collection, but haven't seen a flight within the last couple of years.
The first model off the pad was the Bandit-3 from the Estes 3-pack. This model was built back in 2018 as a group project with my two oldest grand-kiddoes. They have long since lost interest in model rocketry, but I'm still plugging along!
The Bandit flew nicely on a 1/2A3-4T motor, reaching a good altitude, ejecting its streamer, and landing nearby. Nice thing about these beginners birds - they are actually well-engineered and usually perform very well. They are a great example of the ''Elegant Simplicity" concept in design!
Today, I made sure I photographed the models with the stone-topped butte in the background that gives the town of Castle Rock its name.
Next up was another simple bird - the Estes Viking. After having flown this once before and having a fiber fin get mangled, I replaced all fins with basswood versions. Hopefully I can get a lot of flights logged on this model
Today, it performed very well on A8-3 power and was recovered undamaged.
Thus ended another great flight session!
