March 7, 1997 - Launch Report


Conditions were looking very good so we threw the range box into the Aerostar and headed out again. This time it was just Kyle and myself and an older friend of his (Jonathon) who's 15. We headed to a larger field we had found at a local college. It's about as wide as three soccer fields width and as long as maybe four soccor fields length. Another family was there launching too! That was neat. We'd each watch each other's rockets and alternate launching. Double the fun.

It was a little breezy again, and blowing crosswise. We set up the launcher on the upwind side. I prepped the SuperShot with a B6-4 this time and only a slight tilt into the breeze.

"5-4-3-2-1"
Whoosh! Much higher than the first time out, maybe 300-400'. It angled into the wind and popped the chute just as it approached the upwind edge of the field. Jonathan and Kyle ran that way, then had to backtrack as it drifted back. We found out in a hurry that we should've either reefed the shroud lines or ventilated the chute. It passed right over me and kept drifting across the field. The boys chased it the entire width of the field, over a fence and across a creek. It landed 2' on the other side of the water. Man that was close!

I had the Twister rocket assembled now. Using a few tips I've picked up in rmr and in the FAQ (thanx!), it came out looking very nice and sturdy. Let's try it with an A8-3. That should be safe.

Another father and son pulled in and set up a launcher, just as the first family was packing to leave. So we still had company on the launch field.

The Twister was ready. "5-4-3-2-1"
Whoosh! Whoa, that thing disappeared fast! This is not good... where is it? Bang! We spied the ejection plume and started running. Very fortunately, the breeze took a rest and we recovered the faster falling tail section only about 100' downrange, the nose section did an excellent imitation of a maple key and spun down to a soft landing some 300' away. Cool!

The other family wanted to know what the heck that had been, and what motor had we used. When they saw how small the Twister was, they figured they'd be safe with their B6-4's in what looked like an E2X Bandit. Problem was they had set up their launcher on the downwind side of the field right beside the driveway. We warned them of what had happened with the SuperShot just previously but they didn't move. Oh well.

We waited and watched as they launched... straight up! Kyle remarked on how they'd be chasing that thing into the school bus parking yard next door for sure. But the shroud lines fortunately tangled and the chute hardly opened at all. The rocket landed only about 100' away.

Shaking our heads at the pure blind luck, the breeze suddenly went on siesta again. I had the SuperShot prepped with a B6-4 so we aimed the launchrod straight up and got ready to launch.

"5-4-3-2-1"
Whoosh! Only slight deflection. Getting up there! The chute popped right on cue and down she floated to 50' away. It was a great flight.

The boy next door came over and asked if we had any spare ignitors. Yup. I didn't want to get caught in the event of a misfire, so I had bought an extra pack. We watched as they set up again with another B6-4. Okay, the wind has died down so they should be okay this time. Up it went, and down it came. The chute didn't open again. The rocket bounced a little this time but looked to be still intact.

Well, we had to get going. We packed up and left as the father was trying to figure out why the chute was tangling every time.

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