Launch Report for 2002/08/11

Motor Power	Least Powerful	Estes A8-3 (2.5 N-s)
	Most Powerful	Estes C11-5 (10 N-s)
Flight Duration in Seconds	Shortest	12 (Flight 686)
	Longest	58 (Flight 694)
Number of Landings Outside the Recovery Area		1
Number of Flights Carrying Payloads		0
Number of non-Estes Motors Used		3
Total Number of Flights Today		9

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

This morning was a beautiful morning for flying rockets so soon after I woke up at about 7:30, I decided that I had to take advantage the weather conditions and get some rockets into the air before the winds pick up as they always do. As I did last week, I brought some of the rockets that my friend Andrew sold me recently as well as an assortment of my own vintage and newer rockets. I also used the Estes Big Foot launch pad that Andrew sold me and my NCR Command Control launch controller as well as my Sony camcorder to video each flight and to produce all the images on this page.

Winds were coming in out of the southwest and were very light at ground level and the skies were clear with a temperature of about 26 degrees Celsius.

Flight 686, 23rd flight this year
Estes Asteroid Explorer on an Estes A8-3 for its 1st flight

Time at Liftoff:	07:58:14
Flight Duration in Seconds:	12
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	49 east southeast

Since I didn't get to launch Andrew's Asteroid Explorer last week, I sent it up first today. A nice short & sweet flight on an A8-3 and a landing fairly close to the pad. Launch angle was zero degrees for this flight.

Flight 687, 24th flight this year
Estes Marte MK-2 on a Quest B6-4 for its 2nd flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:01:59
Flight Duration in Seconds:	31
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	69 northeast

Andrew's Marte MK-2 went up for its second time as a part of my fleet and turned in another very cool flight. The Quest B6-4 seems to be an ideal motor for this rocket.

Flight 688, 25th flight this year
Estes Der Big Red Max 02 on an Estes C5-3 for its 2nd flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:07:43
Flight Duration in Seconds:	39
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	292 east

Next up was Andrew's Der Big Red Max, the second of two in my fleet now. Like the last time I flew this rocket on a C motor, it drifted far and dangerously close to the row of trees at the eastern edge of the field. Beautiful boost though.

Flight 689, 26th flight this year
Estes Skyraider on an Estes B4-4 for its 8th flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:14:28
Flight Duration in Seconds:	18
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	98 north

My trusty old 1982 vintage Skyraider was up next on a B4-4. Another excellent flight although it was another close call with another row of trees, this time coming within 30 feet of the trees on the western side of my flying area. I didn't expect the rocket to come down there since the winds were blowing lightly from the southwest.

Flight 690, 27th flight this year
Estes AGM-57X Heatseeker 02 on a Quest B6-4 for its 8th flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:19:12
Flight Duration in Seconds:	25
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	152 southwest

With some close calls with the trees, I changed the launch angle to about 10 degrees into the wind. I overcompensated a bit though since this flight landed near the south fence. It still landed within the recovery area though.

Flight 691, 28th flight this year
Estes Big Bertha on an Estes B6-4 for its 16th flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:25:11
Flight Duration in Seconds:	16
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	47 east southeast

The Big Bertha is one of my oldest rockets and was only my fourth in my collection dating all the way back to 1981 when I was 14 years old. Recently restored, it went up on a B6-4 for a great flight as always. I love this rocket!!! I reduced the launch angle to roughly 5 degrees into the wind, resulting in the closest landing to the pad today.

Flight 692, 29th flight this year
Estes Red Storm on a Quest B6-4 for its 9th flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:30:11
Flight Duration in Seconds:	28
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	88 east northeast

My first RTF (Ready To Fly) rocket, the Red Storm made a perfect flight on a Quest B6-4. This was the first time that this rocket has flown on a Quest motor.

Flight 693, 30th flight this year
Custom Oasis on an Estes C11-5 for its 5th flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:35:31
Flight Duration in Seconds:	46
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	191 east southeast

The Oasis was next up on one of the new Estes C11-5 motors. This was my first time using a C11-5. A very quick boost, great flight, but a broken fin on landing. A little CA and it's easily repaired.

Flight 694, 31st flight this year
Estes Maxi Streak on an Estes C11-5 for its 2nd flight

Time at Liftoff:	08:42:17
Flight Duration in Seconds:	58
Distance from Launch Pad in Feet:	~500 east southeast

This was the saddest flight of the day and the saddest flight for me in a awhile. On only its second flight as a part of my fleet, Andrew's Maxi Streak landed in the upper branches of a tree about 500 away from the pad after a flight on a C11-5 motor. The flight was excellent, but despite the launch angle, the rocket went straight up and drifted a long way on the 12 inch chute I was using. I found where the rocket landed, but it's between 30 - 40 feet up in a tree.

Temperature	26^o C (^o F)
Winds	5 km/hr

Launch Controllers	NCR Command Control
Launch Pads	Estes Big Foot 02