Launch Report for 2001/12/08

Motor Power	Least Powerful	Estes 1/4A (0.625 N-s)
	Most Powerful	Estes E9-6 (29.5 N-s)
Flight Duration in Seconds	Shortest	15 (Flight 653)
	Longest	57 (Flight 658)
Distance From Pad in Feet	Shortest	51 (Flight 655)
	Longest	~250 (Flight 658)
Number of Landings Outside the Recovery Area		0
Number of Flights Carrying Payloads		0
Number of non-Estes Motors Used		3
Total Number of Flights Today		14

Firsts & Personal Bests
at
This Launch

First use of an Estes E motor
First use of an Estes E5-6
First use of an Estes D12-7
Highest altitude flight at this location (1800 - 2000 feet)

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

With the winds being almost non-existent today, I decided that I had to send up a few rockets despite the fact that it was quite cold. I headed out to my fave flying field at the schoolyard of Howard S. Billings High School here in Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada and I brought roughly 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 at 4km/h coming out of the south & southeast and the temperature was -4 degrees Celsius (25 degrees F) with sunny skies.

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

Flight 650, 169th flight this year
Estes Pegasus on an Estes B4-4 for its 7th flight

Flight 651, 170th flight this year
Quest Astra 1 on a Quest B6-4 for its 3rd flight

Time at Liftoff:	12:40:38
Flight Duration in Seconds:	36
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	56 south southwest

Weathercocked into the wind making me wonder if I was going to get this one back. Used an 18" streamer on this one instead of the 12 " chute.

Flight 652, 171st flight this year
MRC Firefighter on an Estes A8-5 for its 3rd flight

Flight 653, 172nd flight this year
Estes Reliant 01 on an Estes A8-5 for its 7th flight

Time at Liftoff:	12:53:48
Flight Duration in Seconds:	15
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	51 east northeast

Flight 654, 173rd flight this year
Estes Dagger on an Estes B4-4 for its 6th flight

Switched over to the 12" chute for this rocket, increased launch angle to about 5 degrees into the wind to minimize drift. Nice long duration descent.

Flight 655, 174th flight this year
Estes Alpha III 01 on an Estes A3-4T for its 16th flight

Flight 656, 175th flight this year
Estes SM-3 Seahawk on an Estes D12-5 for its 6th flight

Two misfires and even then, the motor struggled to light on the third try. Motor seemed to be lacking some thrust and rocket didn't get as much altitude as usual and in the end, it landed in a tree. Definitely a major loss since this one is one of my my nicer rockets.

Flight 657, 176th flight this year
Scratch built Aurora on an Estes D12-5 for its 4th flight

First flight since 1998 when an E60 CATO nearly destroyed it. First use of my new constructed 27 to 24mm motor adaptor. Very high altitude... maybe 1000 - 1200 feet.

Flight 658, 177th flight this year
Scratch built Aurora on an Estes E9-6 for its 5th flight

First use of the new Estes E9-6 motor and first use of any Estes E motor for that matter. Nice low thrust long burn motor. My highest altitude flight ever done at Billings field... probably 1800 - 2000 feet. A group of kids saw the rocket came down and recovered it for me making a landing distance measurement impossible. They asked a barrage of questions about this thing that fell out of the sky. They voluntarily became my recovery crew for the rest of the flying day so all landing distance measurements are best guesses from this point forward.

Flight 659, 178th flight this year
Scratch built Aurora on an Estes D12-7 for its 6th flight

Excellent boost and recovery. First ever use of a D12-7. My recovery crew of youngsters brought the rocket back.

Flight 660, 179th flight this year
Estes Der Big Red Max on an Estes C5-3 for its 9th flight

At least 20 years old, this rocket was given to me by the HSB Rocket Club's former president in 1986 after the club disbanded in the early eighties. Excellent boost & recovery as always with this 1970's vintage rocket.

Flight 661, 180th flight this year
Estes Firestreak on a Quest B6-4 for its 3rd flight

Shot into the air like a bat out of hell on the Quest B6-4 motor. Quest B6-4's have a higher initial thrust than their Estes counterparts. Excellent flight with a nearby landing.

Flight 662, 181st flight this year
Estes Mini Cobra on an Estes 1/2A3-0T staging to an Estes 1/4A3-3T for its 8th flight

Time at Liftoff:	14:35:58
Flight Duration in Seconds:	28
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~11 north ~200 northwest

Both stages performed flawlessly and this rocket gets a surprising amount of altitude on less than A power. Amazing flight. The 1/2A booster was 1973 vintage.

Flight 663, 182nd flight this year
Estes Athena on a Quest B6-4 for its 6th flight

Haven't flown this rocket in awhile, but it made a great flight today. First use of a Quest motor in this rocket.

Today was a day of some firsts including my first use of an Estes E motor, my first use of a D12-7 and my first use of my new 27 to 24mm motor adaptor. A great day of flying overall with minimal damage and one loss albeit a major one.

I went back to the tree where I lost my SM-3 Seahawk after bringing my gear home and running out to the local hardware store for a couple 16 foot long poles. I tried taping the poles together, but they snapped due to the extra weight and I was never able to retrieve my poor Seahawk. On the positive side, I did manage to get back my Estes Thunderhawk that I had lost in a tree three weeks ago minus the nose cone, shock cord, and three of its five fins. All these parts can be easily replaced though and Thunderhawk will fly again.

I also discovered that not only am I not the only rocketeer who flies in this field, but I'm also not the only one who does winter launches. While heading over to the house where my Thunderhawk landed, I saw another rocket in another tree in the back yard of the house across the street from where my rocket landed!

Temperature	-4^o C (25^o F)
Winds	4 km/hr southeast

Launch Controllers	NCR Command Control
Launch Pads	Estes Porta Pad 03

Time at Liftoff:	12:34:05
Flight Duration in Seconds:	18
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	125 northeast

Nice straight up boost. Used an 18" streamer on this one instead of the 12 " chute.

Time at Liftoff:	12:47:15
Flight Duration in Seconds:	19
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	109

Nice boost with deployment a little past apogee. Used the 18" streamer again. One fin broke on landing.

Time at Liftoff:	13:00:09
Flight Duration in Seconds:	42
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	127 northeast

Time at Liftoff:	13:06:30
Flight Duration in Seconds:	21
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	51 west

My third rocket from 1981! Nice boost, about 1/8 inch of a fin tip broke off on landing.

Time at Liftoff:	13:21:25
Flight Duration in Seconds:	25
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~200 east

Time at Liftoff:	13:31:22
Flight Duration in Seconds:	36
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~207 northeast

Time at Liftoff:	13:50:53
Flight Duration in Seconds:	57
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~250 north

Time at Liftoff:	14:04:46
Flight Duration in Seconds:	32
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~120 west

Time at Liftoff:	14:14:21
Flight Duration in Seconds:	38
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~150 northwest

Time at Liftoff:	14:27:37
Flight Duration in Seconds:	35
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~70 northeast

Time at Liftoff:	14:44:30
Flight Duration in Seconds:	22
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~35 north