May 26, 2001 -- NMSU athletic/soccer fields

May 26, 2001
NMSU athletic/soccer fields

ROCKET: Yellow Jacket
LAUNCH: 15
MOTOR USED: A8-3
SUMMARY: Another textbook flight from good old YJ. Excellent recovery.

ROCKET: Yellow Jacket
LAUNCH: 16
MOTOR USED: B6-4
SUMMARY: Yet another ripped and tangled parachute; another $4.66 down the toilet. Decent was fast because of this. Rocket sustained no damage; I quickly installed a recovery streamer. I'm going to start building my own parachutes out of plastic bags.

ROCKET: Yellow Jacket
LAUNCH: 17
MOTOR USED: A8-3
SUMMARY: Better this time -- no recovery mishaps! Landed approximately 50 feet from the launch pad.

ROCKET: Yellow Jacket
LAUNCH: 18
MOTOR USED: A8-3
SUMMARY: Aerial disaster. Due to tight recovery wadding packaging, the rocket fell like a rock and buried itself 2" into the ground. Came in screaming like a Nazi V2. No damage sustained to the fins, but the kick on the motor crumpled the motor mount and tore a little portion of the back of the body tube. Also, the top of the tube is beginning to unravel. I managed to pull the motor retention hook back out, but it was still loose and the motor kick would only force it back in. I think that may have been the final flight for YJ; it set a new record for the most flights in a single lifetime (surpassing my Estes Ninja, which is retired with 17 launches), making it my most successful model ever. I've been thinking of making a scaled-down, mini-engine version of it to replace it.

ROCKET: Razor
LAUNCH: 1
MOTOR USED: A8-3
SUMMARY: This rocket, instead of fins, has six tubes glued around the bottom to balance it. The first flight was a great success -- it went really high and straight. Good recovery on a streamer.

ROCKET: Razor
LAUNCH: 2
MOTOR USED: B4-4
SUMMARY: Another great flight, but suffered slight body tube damage at the top at ejection. I might want to lengthen the shock cord a bit.

ROCKET: Razor
LAUNCH: 3
MOTOR USED: B6-4
SUMMARY: Good flight, but the rocket is still sustaining tube damage. All things put aside, Razor probably reached an altitude of 1,000 feet. Time to go home. I need to save motors for the launches on Memorial Day and next week.

DAMAGE REPORT: Parachute lost due to tangles and rips; YJ's body tube deteriorating, motor mount slightly crumpled, motor retention hook loose, may never fly again; body tube on Razor taking slight recoil damage from the nose cone and shock cord.