Launch Report for Saturday, August 26th, 2000

At a little after 8:00 this morning, my father & I went to the park on the corner of Hope & Stanton here in Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada. We wanted to launch in the schoolyard of the local high school, but there was a soccer tournament going on so we had to fly somewhere else for today. Temperature was about 22 degrees Celsius (72 degrees F) and the winds were coming in out of the southeast and a bit stronger than I would have liked, especially considering the smaller size of the field.

I used my second Porta Pad launch pad with the launch angle set to about 12 degrees into the wind and my NCR Command Control launch controller for this launch.

Flight 418, 69th flight this year
Estes Rattler-7 on an Estes A8-3 for its 6th flight

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:	17
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	155 northwest

Flight 419, 70th flight this year
Estes Delta Star on an Estes A8-3 for its 5th flight

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:	14
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	93 northwest


	This was Delta Star's first flight since September of 1981. I accidentally buckled the body tube while pushing the motor in since I had the fit too tight, but the tube wasn't ripped so I decided to try to fly it anyway. Delta Star's first flight in nearly 19 years was flawless and it landed 93 feet northwest of the pad.

Flight 420, 71st flight this year
Estes Alpha III 02 on an Estes A10-3T for its 7th flight

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:	23
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	140 west southwest


	It's been awhile since since my second Alpha III went up so it was time to give this rocket some more flying time. Another perfect flight...

Flight 421, 72nd flight this year
Estes Alpha III 02 on an Estes A3-4T for its 8th flight

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:	~10
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~250


	I decided to send my second Alpha III up again, but the A3-4T didn't have enough initial thrust to keep the rocket flying straight once it cleared the launch rod and so it weathercocked right into the wind and it landed beside someone's house on the next street over. Luckily, I was able to find it in a bush and I got the rocket back.

Flight 422, 73rd flight this year
Estes Thunderhawk on an Estes A8-3 for its 10th flight

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:	14
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	20 north


	This one's one of my favorites... Another perfect flight with a landing a mere 20 feet from the pad and a flight duration 14 seconds.

Flight 423, 74th flight this year
Estes Red Storm on an Estes B4-4 for its 6th flight

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:	23
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	189


	One of Estes' better RTF's, this rocket turned in another perfect flight.

Flight 424, 75th flight this year
Estes Delta Star on an Estes A8-3 for its 6th flight

Time at Liftoff:
Flight Duration in Seconds:	15
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	61 north


	I decided to send up Delta Star again since it hadn't flown in so long. Another perfect flight with a landing at 61 feet from the pad and a flight duration of 15 seconds. The motor's ejection charge was quite strong but no harm was done to the rocket. I was hoping to fly this rocket as a two stager today, but the winds just wouldn't cooperate.

Although the winds forced me to keep my altitudes low, it was a fun day of flying. :-)


	First flight of the day! A nice flight by Rattler-7 as usual...