Launch Report for Sunday, September 2nd, 2001

Total Impulse Today:  119 N-s

Launch Location
The Schoolyard of
Howard S. Billings Regional High School
Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada

For the first time in nearly a month, I finally was able to do a bit of flying without fear of setting the grass on fire since we recently came out of a month long drought and we started getting rain only about a week ago.  This was an afternoon launch so I chose to go alone since my father usually prefers to take a nap in the afternoon and prefers morning launches.

I brought my NCR Command Control launch controller and my Estes Porta Pad 03 launch pad.  As always, I brought my Sony TRV103 digital camcorder and all the photos & videos that appear on my web site were produced using this camera.

Winds were shifting between the northwest and the west at about 5km/h and the temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees F) with sunny skies.

All the motors I used today were made by Estes unless otherwise specified.

The images you see below are thumbnails and clicking on them will magnify the image by a factor of four.

Let the launch begin!!!...

Flight 581, 100th flight this year
Estes Sparrow on an Estes 1/2A3-4T for its 2nd flight

My Estes Sparrow was first up on a 1/2A3-4T for its second flight to test wind speed & direction at altitude.  Based on this flight, I aimed the launch rod about five degrees into the wind.

Flight 582, 101st flight this year
Estes Hawkeye on an Estes 1/2A3-4T for its 3rd flight

Next up was my Estes Hawkeye on a 1/2A3-4T for only its third flight.  This is one of my original BAR rockets.  This rocket was undamaged from its flight, but one fin did break during transport.

Flight 583, 102nd flight this year
Custom Razor on an Estes A3-4T for its 5th flight

My Custom Razor was up next on an A3-4T in an 18mm to 13mm adaptor for its fifth flight.  The delay on this motor wasn't even close to four seconds though.  In fact, it was more like one second.  There was no damage to the rocket though and the rocket was coming down on its streamer right for me.  Looked very cool on video.  I reached out to catch it, but a change in wind direction blew it a few feet over to my left and out of my reach.  This was a low altitude flight because of the short delay, but cool nonetheless.

Flight 584, 103rd flight this year
Scratchbuilt Ares on an Estes A10-3T for its 1st flight

My recently scratch built Ares was up next on an A10-3T.  Despite the fact that this rocket was built out of two full length BT-5's, this rocket got up there really quick.  I'll have to use a longer streamer or even a tiny chute next time I fly this though since it came down really fast.  I was surprised that there was no damage from the hard landing it took.  Very cool flight and even a decent altitude as well.

Flight 585, 104th flight this year
Estes Fireflash on an Estes B6-4 for its 6th flight

Next up was my Estes Fireflash on a B6-4 for its sixth flight.  I've always had problems with this rocket with its chute not opening so I decided to move it back a bit so that the shroud lines don't get caught in the forward fin unit like they usually do.  Worked perfectly this time.  The rocket did sustain a bit of damage, but not from the flight.  The motor was a tight fit while I was prepping it and I wrenched the body tube slightly.  It was still flightworthy though so I went ahead and flew it anyway.  Usually, I hold a rocket near the fins when inserting the motor to prevent this sort of thing from happening, but obviously I forgot this time.

Flight 586, 105th flight this year
Estes MK-109 Stingray on an Estes B6-4 for its 5th flight

My Estes MK-109 Stingray was up next on a B6-4 for its fifth flight and its first flight carrying the Estes Transroc II transponder.   A very cool flight and I didn't need the transponder to tell me where the rocket was since it landed a mere thirty feet south of the pad.

Flight 587, 106th flight this year
Estes LTV Scout on an Estes C6-3 for its 2nd flight

My 1981 vintage Estes LTV Scout was up next on a C6-3 for only its second flight.  It too carried the Transroc II and the flight was gorgeous with a slow liftoff.  It broke a fin tip on landing but that's easy enough to fix.

Flight 588, 107th flight this year
Estes Astrocam RTF on an Estes C6-7 for its 1st flight

Next up was my Astrocan RTF on a C6-7 for its first flight.  Not only was this my first time launching a camera, but it was the first time that any of my rockets carried more than one payload on board since it also carried my Transroc II aloft as well.  The flight was actually just a tad wobbly at first but it straightened out on its way up and it arced and (hopefully) took a nice aerial photo of the elementary school that I attended more than twenty years ago.

Flight 589, 108th flight this year
Scratchbuilt Super Nova on an Estes C5-3 for its 1st flight

Next to go up was my semi scratch built Super Nova rocket on a C5-3 in a 24mm to 18mm adaptor for its first flight.  I say semi scratch built because the bottom half of this rocket used to be my Estes Super Nova Payloader before a separation last December left me with only the bottom half of the rocket.  I added a full length of BT-60, a new nose cone, and Super Nova was born!  This somewhat large rocket made a beautiful test flight on its C5-3 and kids in the adjacent schoolyard were screaming at me to fly it again.  It made a nice soft landing on its 18 inch chute.

Flight 590, 109th flight this year
Estes Heatseeker 02 on an Estes B6-4 for its 5th flight

My second Estes Heatseeker was up next on a B6-4 and it lofted the Transroc II in the event that I might lose this one since I've already lost an Estes Heatseeker before.  The boost was straight as an arrow although the drift on its 12 inch chute was significant, landing 152 feet south southeast of the pad.  For some reason, my Transroc II was silent.  Fiddling with the switch just a bit brought it back to life though.

Flight 591, 110th flight this year
Scratchbuilt Super Nova on an Estes D12-5 for its 2nd flight

I decided to send up my Super Nova again, this time on a D12-5 for its second flight along with the Transroc II which seemed to be working fine now.  This flight caught the attention of everyone in the area.  On dry days like today, Estes C5's and D's seem to make quite a crackle as they go up.  This was a very cool relatively high altitude flight of at least 1000 feet I would estimate, and it landed 164 feet southeast of the pad even on the undersized 12 inch chute that I used for this flight to minimize drift.  The Transroc II was beeping its little heart out this time.

Flight 592, 111th flight this year
Estes Maniac on an Estes D12-5 for its 18th flight

One of my favorite rockets is my Estes Maniac and it was next up on a D12-5 for its eighteenth flight.  This flight was nearly out of sight and it was out of sight for the onlookers who weren't used to tracking these things.  The landing was a close call, landing a mere thirty feet from a row of trees and 272 feet southeast of the pad.  In this case, the Transroc II helped me to zero in on the rocket since it landed on the other side of a small hill and I wasn't completely sure exactly where it had landed.  This was a very cool flight and my Estes Maniac lives to fly a nineteenth time.  This is one rocket that I very nearly lost many a time.

Flight 593, 112th flight this year
Estes Fat Boy on an Estes C6-3 for its 4th flight

My newly painted Estes Fat Boy was up next on a C6-3 and the Transroc II for its fourth flight.  A very beautiful and straight boost which isn't that common for this rocket although the chute lines got tangled and the decent was very fast resulting in a flight time of only 19 seconds and a landing at least 150 feet north of the pad, but still well within the recovery area.

Flight 594, 113th flight this year
Estes Astrocam RTF on an Estes C6-7 for its 2nd flight

To get a backup photo in case the first one didn't turn out, I decided to send up the Astrocam RTF again on a C6-7 for its second flight, again with the Transroc II on board.  The boost was straighter this time for some reason and its overall flight path was the same as the first Astrocam flight.  Excellent flight with hopefully a second nice photo of the launch area.

Flight 595, 114th flight this year
Scratchbuilt Super Nova on an Estes D12-5 for its 3rd flight

To end this day of flying, I decided to send up my Super Nova again on another D12-5 for its third flight since this thing has such cool flights.  As before, the boost was incredible, but the landing was dangerously close to that row of trees again just like on the Maniac flight.  Again, this rocket carried the Transroc II on board.

I like to make each launch day a day of at least one first and today, I launched an aerial camera for my first time, I launched more than one payload simultaneously for the first time, and for the first time, the majority of my flights carried a payload.

Today's flying day was especially good since there were no losses, no rockets even landed outside the recovery area, and damage was minimal and easily repaired.

I hope my next launch day is this good!

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