Launch Report for Saturday, September 5th, 2005

Location: Schoolyard of Ecole Polyvalente Louis-Philippe Pare in Chateauguay, Quebec, Canada

Local Temperature at Ground Level: 23.1 to 23.6 degrees C (measured)
Humidity: 55 to 56% (measured)
Wind Speed: <5km/h (estimated)
Wind Direction: North to northeast (estimated)


Some Interesting Statistics For This Launch...

Total Number of Flights Today: 12
Total Motor Power Used: 182.5 N-s
Most Powerful Motor Used Today: Aerotech E15-4W (40N-s)
Least Powerful Motors Used Today: Centuri 1/2A4-5M & Estes 1/2A3-2T (1.25 N-s)
Shortest Duration Flight in Seconds: 8 (Estes Nike Arrow)
Longest Duration Flight in Seconds: 56 (Estes Astro Bee)
Number of Non-Estes Motors Used Today: 5
Number of Landings Outside Recovery Area: 0

 

 

 

Flight#
752

12th flight this year

Estes Nike Arrow
on an Estes 1/2A3-2T for its 7th flight

Time at Liftoff::

11:29:55
Flight Duration in Seconds: 8
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 27 southwest
Today's launch started off with the Nike Arrow, one of my first BAR rockets off of Porta Pad #3 which I had set up for a 1/8" launch rod.  Nice short flight on a 1/2A3-2T to determine where I can expect my rocket to land given current wind conditions.

 

Flight#
753

13th flight this year

Estes Ninja /1
on a Centuri 1/2A4-5M for its 14th flight

Time at Liftoff::

11:37:07
Flight Duration in Seconds: 11
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 64 north northwest
Next up was another BAR fave of mine that went up on a 1974 vintage Centuri motor, again to get a feel for wind conditions at altitude and to set the appropriate launch angle for higher altitude flights to come.

 

Flight#
754

14th flight this year

Estes Alpha
on an Estes A3-4T for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff::

11:44:08
Flight Duration in Seconds: 37
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 201 southwest
My Alpha was next on an A3-4T which got quite some altitude and drift on that little motor.  It was an over 200 foot walk in the southwest direction to get this puppy back.

 

Flight#
755

15th flight this year

Estes Shadow /1
on an Estes D12-3 for its 3rd flight

Time at Liftoff::

11:52:33
Flight Duration in Seconds: 18
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 47 north northeast

Primed, but not painted yet, my long out of production Estes Shadow was up next on a low & slow D12-3 flight from my old Estes Big Foot #2 launch pad that I had set up for today's flights requiring a 3/16" launch rod.  Nice flight with a landing not too far away from the pad.  By this time, my wife's parents had arrived to see what their son-in-law's strange obsession with rockets was all about.

 

Flight#
756

16th flight this year

Aerotech Initiator
on an Aerotech E15-4W for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff::

12:01:29
Flight Duration in Seconds: 28
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 39 south
The wind conditions being as great as they were, I couldn't resist but to send up my Initiator on an E15-4W off my Mantis launch pad which was set up for flights needing a 1/4" launch rod.  Burning AP at this site is something I wouldn't typically do given the size of the launch area, but the winds were light enough to allow it.  Another nice landing less than 40 feet from the pad.

 

Flight#
757

17th flight this year

Aerotech Initiator
on an Aerotech E15-4W for its 5th flight

Time at Liftoff::

12:10:41
Flight Duration in Seconds: 30
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 238 south
With such a close to the pad landing from the previous flight, I just had to send up the Initiator again.  I had to walk considerably farther this time though.  Must have been a gust of wind up there!

 

Flight#
758

18th flight this year

Estes Shadow /1
on an Estes E9-4 for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff::

11:37:07
Flight Duration in Seconds: 11
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 64 north northwest

Next up was my Estes Shadow again, this time on an E9-4 for its first time.  I wasn't sure how such a big rocket would do on a long burning low thrust motor, but I decided to give it a try.  The Shadow was originally designed to use the old Estes E15 motors that had a nasty habit of blowing up on the pad.  The E9's are slightly longer so my E9 was sticking out the back of the rocket a bit so I had to friction fit this motor since the motor retaining hook couldn't fit over the end of the motor.  A great flight with a short 64 foot walk to get the rocket back.  Can't complain about that!

 

Flight#
759

19th flight this year

Estes Bandit
on an Estes B6-4 for its 6th flight

Time at Liftoff::

12:31:02
Flight Duration in Seconds: 42
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 162 southwest
Another BAR favorite that I built in '98 is my old Estes Bandit.  Up it went on a B6-4 from Porta Pad #3 for a nice flight & recovery.

 

Flight#
760

20th flight this year

Estes Der Big Red Max /1
on an Estes C6-3 for its 10th flight

Time at Liftoff::

12:38:25
Flight Duration in Seconds: 31
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 78 south southwest

From Porta Pad #3 again, my Estes Der Big Red Max #1 (1 of 2) went up on a C6-3 for a great flight as always.  I always fly this with a 12" chute since it tends to drift too much on the stock 18" chute that came with the kit.  This Estes Der Big Red Max served under the HSB Rocket Club in the late seventies & early eighties before it was given to me in 1985 by the teacher running the club when the HSB Rocket Club folded.  In my posession, it's flown its 10th flight today.  Before that, I have no idea how many times it has flown.

 

Flight#
761

21st flight this year

Estes Astro Bee
on a Quest A6-4 for its 4th flight

Time at Liftoff::

12:43:49
Flight Duration in Seconds: 51
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 216 west southwest
It never fails to amaze me how this particular rocket consistently nearly gets lost on A motor!  It narrowly missed a row of trees before touching down after a nearly one minute flight.  I bought this Estes Astro Bee pre-assembled on Ebay from someone named Brent in Texas who also sold me an Estes Kadet.

 

Flight#
762

22nd flight this year

Estes MK-109 Stingray
on a Quest B6-4 for its 7th flight

Time at Liftoff::

12:50:10
Flight Duration in Seconds: 41
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 154 southeast
Next up was my slightly shortened Estes MK-109 Stingray on a Quest B6-4.  Great flight.  I love the acceleration on those Quest motors!

 

Flight#
763

23rd flight this year

Estes Shadow /1
on an Estes E9-4 for its 5th flight

Time at Liftoff::

11:37:07
Flight Duration in Seconds: 11
Landing Distance in feet from the pad: 64 north northwest

To finish up our day of flying, I sent up the Estes Shadow again after realizing that I didn't have the E30-4T for my Initiator that I thought I did.  The boost was beautiful as before, but I must've been a little sparse with the wadding since parts of the chute fused together and it remained largely closed as the rocket arced over and attempted to core sample.  The upper body tube was reinforced with CA so the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been.



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