Launch Report for Saturday, July 24th, 1999

The skies started to clear up this evening after drizzling for most of the day, so I decided to get my fix of BP for the day. I went to my usual launch site on the school grounds of Howard S. Billings Regional High School (the school I went to in the eighties) for around 7:20 PM. This was my first time doing an evening launch and my first time since 1982 that I did a launch all by my lonesome (my father prefers morning launches).

I brought my Estes Ninja, Tidal Wave, Challenger 1 02 (my second of two Challenger 1's), and Multi Roc, as well as my scratch built Arrow and X-1 Grey Ghost rockets. I used my Quest launch controller and my first Estes Porta Pad launch pad and I brought my camcorder to record every flight and to produce the photos on this page..

Flight 266, 141st flight this year
Estes Ninja on an Estes 1/2A3-2T for its 4th flight

Ninja was up first on a 1/2A3-2T for its fourth flight so I could get an idea what winds were like at altitude. A nice straight boost which is unusual for this rocket since I screwed up on its construction back in '97 and it usually wobbles a bit in flight and a recovery surprisingly far from the pad for a 1/2A flight on a streamer.

Next up was my scratch built Arrow on an Apogee 1/2A2-2. No matter what I did, I just couldn't get this motor to light!!! I used the toothpick that comes with the motors for use as an igniter plug to try and clean any clay off the propellant, but this didn't work either. I had the motor pretty tight in there too so I couldn't get it out right then and there to replace it with another one, so I gave up on it for today went on to the next rocket.

Flight 267, 142nd flight this year
Estes Tidal Wave on an Estes B6-4 for its 1st flight



Next up was my brand new Tidal Wave RTF rocket that I found at Toys 'R' Us at twenty bucks which is a great deal for a starter set here in Canada. Up it went on a B6-4 for its first flight with a nice boost, but too high a descent rate since the parachute got slightly fused together which prevented it from opening it fully.

Flight 268, 143rd flight this year
Scratch built X-1 Grey Ghost on a Quest A6-4 for its 2nd flight



My X-1 Grey Ghost was up next on a Quest A6-4 for its second flight. VERY fast boost, very nice, but the shock cord separated on ejection and the airframe came tumbling down while the nose cone & shock cord drifted away and landed about three hundred or so feet from the pad. All parts were recovered.

Flight 269, 144th flight this year
Estes Challenger 1 02 on an Estes B6-4 for its 2nd flight

Flight 270, 145th flight this year
Estes Multi-Roc on an Estes B6-4 for its 12th flight



Next was my 1982 vintage Multi Roc in single stage configuration on a B6-4 for its twelfth flight. This flight was the first in a series to get a landing close enough to the pad where I could feel safe to try a two stage flight. The end goal was to be able to send it up on a Cox D8-0 in the booster and a C6-7 in the upper stage. This flight landed a bit farther than I would have liked...

Flight 271, 146th flight this year
Estes Multi-Roc on an Estes B6-4 for its 13th flight

Flight 272, 147th flight this year
Estes Multi-Roc on an Estes B6-0 staging to an Estes B6-6 for its 14th flight



With a nice close landing to the pad, I felt safe in going for a two stage flight with "B" motors in both the booster & upper stages. The altitude was way up there and the landing was rather close to the pad.

Flight 273, 148th flight this year
Estes Multi-Roc on an Centuri C6-0 staging to an Estes B6-6 for its 15th flight



For this flight, I used a 1975 vintage Centuri C6-0 in the booster and the flight was the most impressive of the day although I nearly lost the upper stage when it drifted onto the front lawn of a house across the street at the other end of the field. Considering how dark it was getting, I was very lucky to get this rocket back!

This was a great evening of flying with some of my best video footage to date. Up until today, I didn't realize how well the flames from the motors would show up on video. This won't be my last evening launch! :-)

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~500



My second Challenger 1 went up next on a B6-4 for its second flight. Fast straight boost with a landing a hundred or so feet from the pad with no damage.



I increased the angle into the wind and tried Multi-Roc on a B6-4 again and this time, it landed much closer to the pad.