Launch Report for 2001/11/17

Motor Power	Least Powerful	Estes B (5 N-s)
	Most Powerful	Estes D12 (17 N-s)
Flight Duration in Seconds	Shortest	4 (Flight 636)
	Longest	68 (Flight 635)
Distance From Pad in Feet	Shortest	~7 (Flight 636)
	Longest	152 (Flight 641)
Number of Landings Outside the Recovery Area		0
Number of Flights Carrying Payloads		0
Number of non-Estes Motors Used		4
Total Number of Flights Today		10

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

The winds were almost completely still today and I just had to take advantage of the conditions to do tons of flights and some of the high altitude flights that I've been dying to do for awhile but couldn't because of unfavorable winds. I walked over to my favorite flying field at the schoolyard of Howard S. Billings High School here in Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada and I brought nearly 20 rockets with me.

I also 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 extremely light, coming in out of the east southeast direction at about 5km/h or less and the temperature was quite cold at about 1 degree Celsius (34 degrees F) with mostly overcast skies.

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

Flight 633, 152nd flight this year
Estes Snitch 02 on a Centuri C6-0 for its 2nd flight

Time at Liftoff:	12:58:37
Flight Duration in Seconds:	7
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	21 north

Used a 1975 vintage Centuri C6-0 for this flight. I sent this one straight up to get an idea of what the winds were like at altitude before sending up the higher altitude stuff. One of the legs of the landing gear popped off, but was easily reattached.

Flight 634, 153rd flight this year
Estes Prowler on a Centuri C5-3S for its 5th flight

Time at Liftoff:	13:05:17
Flight Duration in Seconds:	19
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	113 northwest

Chute lines got severely twisted and chute never opened fully. Rocket came in stable and "core sampled". Surprisingly, no damage!

Flight 635, 154th flight this year
Custom Oasis on an Estes C6-5 for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff:	13:10:50
Flight Duration in Seconds:	68
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	140 north northwest

At over a minute, this was the longest duration flight of the day. Picture perfect flight. First flight on a C motor.

Flight 636, 155th flight this year
Estes Maxi-Alpha 3 03 on an FSI D18-4 for its 2nd flight

Time at Liftoff:	13:19:30
Flight Duration in Seconds:	4
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~7 north

Used a 1971 vintage Flight Systems Inc. D18-4, NAR rated at 14.6 N-s. First use of homemade 24-21mm motor adaptor for FSI motors. Motor exploded before rocket even cleared the pad, destroying the motor mount and severing the shock cord mount and forward centering ring. One fin tip snapped on landing. This rocket will need a lot of work before it'll be flightworthy again.

Flight 637, 156th flight this year
Estes SM-3 Seahawk on an Estes D12-5 for its 5th flight

Time at Liftoff:	13:28:03
Flight Duration in Seconds:	36
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	140 north

Flight 638, 157th flight this year
Estes Silver Comet on an Estes D12-5 for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff:	13:36:45
Flight Duration in Seconds:	45
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	18 north northwest

Flight 639, 158th flight this year
Estes Python on an Estes D12-5 for its 15th flight

Time at Liftoff:	13:43:07
Flight Duration in Seconds:	33
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	96 south southeast

Excellent flight. Tried to launch again using an Aerotech D9-4W in a 24mm RMS. Motor would not light even after three attempts.

Flight 640, 159th flight this year
Estes Big Daddy on an Estes D12-3 for its 3rd flight

Time at Liftoff:	14:10:40
Flight Duration in Seconds:	26
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	106 west

Chute fused together in some places and didn't open fully. Rapid descent, but surprisingly no damage!

Flight 641, 160th flight this year
Estes Mongoose 02 on an Estes B6-0 staging to an Estes B6-6 for its 3rd flight

Time at Liftoff:	14:20:09
Flight Duration in Seconds:	28
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	Booster: Upper stage:	59 southeast 152 south southeast

Flight 641, 160th flight this year
Estes Mongoose 02 on a Centuri C6-0 staging to an Estes B6-6 for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff:	14:35:58
Flight Duration in Seconds:	35
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	Booster: Upper stage:	119 north 164 north

First use of Centuri motor on this rocket. Used my last 1975 vintage C6-0 for this flight. Rocket flew out of sight, but was reacquired during descent.

I really wanted to do more flights today, but my camcorder's low battery indicator was blinking and I didn't charge my spare battery last night so I decided to stop for now since launching without having photos of the flights in unthinkable to me! With the exception of the CATO, today's day of flying was excellent although I wish it could've been a bit longer so I could take advantage of those very light winds.

Temperature	~1^o C (34^o F)
Winds	~5 km/hr east southeast

Launch Controllers	NCR Command Control
Launch Pads	Estes Porta Pad 03

Excellent flight... I always have trouble keeping the camera on this one.