Launch Report for Sunday, May 6th, 2001

Total Impulse Today:  54 N-s

Temperature Approx. 20o C (68o F)
Winds 20 km/hr Northeast
Launch Controller NCR Command Control
Launch Pad Estes Porta Pad 03

 

 Motor Power Least Powerful Estes 1/2A3 (1.25 N-s)
Most Powerful Estes C6 (9.0 N-s)
Flight Duration
in Seconds		 Shortest 11 (Flight 484)
Longest 39 (Flight 488)
Distance From Pad
in Feet		 Shortest ~40 (Flight 492)
Longest ~600 (Flight 487)

 

Flight 482, 1st flight this year
Estes Challenger 1 01 on an Estes A8-3 for its 12th flight

Time at Liftoff: 15:32:59
Flight Duration in Seconds: 21
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: ~100 northwest
My very first rocket, the Estes Challenger 1 01 (my first of two) opened the flying season with my first flight of the year 2001 for a perfect flight & recovery.

 

 

Flight 483, 2nd flight this year
Estes Bandit on an Estes A8-3 for its 5th flight

Time at Liftoff: 15:42:33
Flight Duration in Seconds: 15
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 147
A nice low altitude flight on an A8-3...


Flight 484, 3rd flight this year
Estes X-Ray (New) on an Estes 1/2A3-4T for its 6th flight

Time at Liftoff: 15:52:45
Flight Duration in Seconds: 11
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 47
For this flight, I used a 1981 vintage Estes 1/2A3-4T... Perfect flight!

 

 

Flight 485, 4th flight this year
Estes America 01 on an Estes A8-3 for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff: 16:00:38
Flight Duration in Seconds: 16
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 123
My first of two Estes America's went up for its first flight since its major accident last year when it went up on an A8-3 that was missing its ejection charge.  Today's flight of the greatly repaired America was perfect.

 

 

Flight 486, 5th flight this year
Estes America 02 on an Estes A3-4T for its 1st flight

Time at Liftoff: 16:09:29
Flight Duration in Seconds: 28
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 225
My second of two Estes America's went up for its first flight today.  This one was actually a replacement that Estes customer service sent me since the first America pranged on asphalt.  At the time I considered America 01 to be unsalvageable.

 

 

Flight 487, 6th flight this year
Estes Maniac on an Estes C6-3 for its 14th flight

Time at Liftoff: 16:21:14
Flight Duration in Seconds: ~20
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: ~600 east
This was definitely the scariest flight of the day as Maniac went up on a C6-3 and weathercocked heavily into the wind and flew out toward a row of houses.  In the end, it landed in the lower branches of a tree in someone's backyard and the owner of the house was nice enough to pull it down out the tree and return it to me.  A C5-3 is definitely a better choice for this rocket when using a three foot launch rod due to its higher initial thrust.

 

 

Flight 488, 7th flight this year
Estes Airwalker 02 on an Estes B6-4 for its 2nd flight

Time at Liftoff: 17:08:41
Flight Duration in Seconds: 39
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 78
My second of two Estes Airwalkers took to the sky on an Estes B6-4 that was mislabeled as a B4-2 for some reason.  I realized beforehand that it was mislabeled when I saw the smaller nozzle of the B6-4.

 

 

Flight 489, 8th flight this year
Estes Alpha III 02 on an Estes A3-4T for its 12th flight

Time at Liftoff: 17:18:37
Flight Duration in Seconds: 28
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 154
My trusty Alpha III 02 went up for another picture perfect flight.  A spectator showed up just before this flight and he asked if he could press the launch button so I let him. :)

 

 

Flight 490, 9th flight this year
Estes Flash on an Estes B6-4 for its 7th flight

Time at Liftoff: 17:29:39
Flight Duration in Seconds: 25
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: ~200 south
Flash went up on another mislabeled Estes B6-4 and another young spectator showed up.  This flight was great as usual, but the recovery was in two pieces since the shock cord separated.  Luckily, both pieces landed within the recovery area.

 

 

Flight 491, 10th flight this year
Estes Heatseeker 02 on an Estes B4-4 for its 3rd flight

Time at Liftoff: 17:44:55
Flight Duration in Seconds: 27
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: ~150
With a little weight in the nose, Heatseeker's tendency to weathercock has been greatly reduced.  Another perfect flight...

 

 

Flight 492, 11th flight this year
Estes Gnome 002 on an Estes 1/2A3-4T for its 1st flight

Time at Liftoff: 17:52:57
Flight Duration in Seconds: 12
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: ~40
Another great flight...

 

 

Flight 493, 12th flight this year
Estes Ninja 01 on an Estes A3-4T for its 12th flight

Time at Liftoff: 18:04:45
Flight Duration in Seconds: 21
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: ~200
...and another!...

 

 

Flight 494, 13th flight this year
Estes X-Ray (New) on an Estes A3-4T for its 7th flight

Time at Liftoff: 18:12:43
Flight Duration in Seconds: 18
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: ~60
X-Ray had a shock cord separation on this flight, but all pieces were recovered.

 

 

Flight 495, 14th flight this year
Estes Thunderhawk on an Estes B4-4 for its 13th flight

Time at Liftoff: 18:20:31
Flight Duration in Seconds: 29
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 103 west northwest
Thunderhawk continues to be one of my fave rockets as it turns in another perfect flight.

 

 

Flight 496, 15th flight this year
Estes Thunderhawk on an Estes B4-4 for its 15th flight

Time at Liftoff: 18:29:19
Flight Duration in Seconds: 29
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet: 64 west northwest
... and one more flight to finish up the day!

 

Mt first day of flying in 2001 was a good day although there was some damage as well as nearly losing a $30 rocket, but the lost rocket was found and the damage can be repaired.  A good day!

 

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