Launch Date: January 26th, 2020, Part 2

Another set of pictures from this most excellent Colorado winter launch:

Jim Gazur's Micro Enerjet 2250 with 3 B14 motors blazing!

Another B14 flight!  Lee Reep flew this two stage model with a vintage 1969 B14-0 in the booster 

and a B6-6 in the upper stage.

Another impressive liftoff.

The model came down fast on a streamer and took a 'core sample'.

No worries, though, the landing spot was the soft sand of a nearby volleyball pit.  No damage!

Mike Goss's Quest Icarus takes to the skies for a very nice flight.

A whole lotta' preppin' goin' on...Left to right:  Jim Gazur, Mike Goss, Jesse Ulibarrii, Ed Mitton, and Lee Reep.  

Serious rocketeers doing serious rocketry, indeed!

Jesse Ulibarri launched an Executioner for a very nice flight on a D12-5 motor.

My Griffin-2 and Estes Firefly parasite glider set to take off.

The tandem lifts off for a very nice boost on B4-2 power.
The Firefly separated and flew beautifully, but could not be found after an extensive search.  This was the only model lost this afternoon.  The Griffin was recovered successfully.

Mike Goss flew a beautifully built Estes Sizzler
on a B4-2 motor.

Perfect lift-off.....

...and recovery!

STILL MORE TO COME.

CHECK BACK AGAIN FOR PART 3.

Launch Date: January 26th, 2020, Part 1

A little over a week ago, I was joined by several Colorado front range rocketeers to get out and take advantage of some excellent weather conditions. The event took place at Dove Valley Regional Park in Centennial, and was attended by Jim Gazur, Lee Reep, Mike Goss, and Jesse Ulibarri.

The weather was perfect for January - temperature in the high 50s and little to no wind. With the conditions being so favorable, several of the participants bravely flew several models with higher impulse motors.  All of the flights were recovered nearby, and a good share of them landed in the launch pad area!

All in all, 27 flights were launched in a two hour window.  Since my PC blog-writing time is rather sparse these days, I will be presenting this launch in multiple posts.  Rather than write a lengthy text about the meet, here are a number of captioned photos.   Enjoy:

Mike Goss flew a LOC Magnum on three successful flights.

The Magnum in flight.

My new Estes Solo ready for its maiden flight on a B6-4

The Solo boosted nicely.  Surprisingly the ring glider turned in a smooth flight.

Lee Reep's Mini Marz Lander set to go on A10 power.

Start of a great flight for the Lander.

What could be more fun than a flight on a vintage B14 motor? Try a cluster of three of those babies!  Jim Gazur did just that with a Micro Enerjet 2250.  The bird leapt to over 500' in no time.  Jim had flown the bird earlier on a cluster of B6 motors.

Jesse Ulibarri turned in a superb flight of an Estes STM-012 on a D12 motor.

My Satellite Inerceptor performed very well with B6-4 power.

Lee Reep readies a model on the pad on this perfect January afternoon.

Mike Goss flew a nicely-built scale Aerobee 300 from Thrustline.

 

The Aerobee 300 flies high on A8-3 power.

My young grandson , Tyler, launched an Estes Bandit.  The model flew very high on an A3-4T and recovered successfully via streamer.

Jesse Ulibarri's Rising Star turned in a great D12-3 powered flight.

Lee Reep launched a Recruiter for a great flight on a C11 motor.

A Mini-Bertha, courtesy of Mike Goss, is set to go on a 1/2A motor.  The model turned in a nice flight.

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2.......

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!

Fixing Another Rookie Mistake!

As far as model rocket building goes, I am quite removed from being a rookie.  But this doesn't mean that I am immune to making rookie-level blunders.  These days, I can merely write off such things as being the result of 'Senior Moments'.

The latest foible involves the construction of a simple little 4FNC side project, an EAC Viper clone.  This build is more of a sanity-preserving diversion from the highly detailed Protostar model, still in progress.

Anyway, after having constructed and installed the Viper's motor mount and main fins, I embarked on sweeping up the shop floor, when I found this...

"Wait a minnit...Isn't this the engine block I cut out for....."

A quick peek down the Viper's body tube confirmed it. I had overlooked gluing this essential piece into the motor mount assembly!
If left as is, it would be a matter of one or two flights before the engine hook would trash the front end of the motor mount tube and start causing problems.

"Ed, you perennial head-of-knuckle!"

What now?  There are three options to dealing with this: scrub the build and start anew, complete the construction and take the unfinished, unpainted model out to the park for it's one and only flight, or attempt an after-the-fact fix.

I chose the latter.

The best thing to do next was to step away from the project and think on how to go about correcting the error.

The first choice that came to mind would involve cutting the body tube apart just ahead of the motor mount, gluing in the pesky engine block, and rejoining the tube using a stage coupler.

"Nahhh, there's gotta be a better way. "

After mulling the problem over, downing a can of Mountain Dew, and rummaging around the shop, I came up with a solution that just might work.

It just so happens that a 3/8 diameter dowel fits nicely inside a mini engine casing from which the stray engine block is cut.

Sanding a bevel into one end of the block will ensure that the piece has a better chance of inserting into the motor mount tube deep within the rocket body.

With the block mounted on the dowel end, glue is applied to the front and sides of the part.

The dowel and engine block are lowered inside the body tube with care being taken not to touch and smear glue on the inside surface.

Once the part makes contact with the engine mount tube, I can carefully turn the model around for sighting through the aft end of the motor mount.

Now that I can see the block, it is only a matter of carefully maneuvering it into the tube.

Success!

Now, I must work fast before the block sets in this position.

Sliding a BT-5 body tube over the dowel, I use it to hold the block in position while disengaging and removing the dowel.

Next, one of my painting wands equipped with a mini engine casing is inserted into the body tube and used to push the engine block home against the engine hook.

PHEW! SUCCESS!!

I don't have to trash the EAC Viper, and can complete the build.

Now where in the heck did that launch lug get off to?....