November 2011 launch report (11/22/2011)
On Sunday, November 20, MASA held its final monthly launch
of 2011 at the VFW soccer fields near Elk River. The launch
had been pushed back one day due to poor weather on Saturday.
It turned out to be a great day for flying rockets! It was
cold, but the sun was shining, the sky was clear and blue, and there
was just a tiny hint of a breeze out of the west. There was an
inch or two of fresh snow on the field.
Theme:
"Let It Snow!" - Winter themed rockets
A variety of winter rockets were flown. Alan Estenson
flew a styrofoam Snowflake. He also dubbed his white & red
striped Python as the "North Pole" for the day. Kurt Know
flew his very cool "White Elephant"Christmas ornament rocket.
Special Events:
"Snowball Fight" drag race
For the day, "Sputnik" rockets were all declared to be Snowballs.
Six Snowballs were loaded up on the pads for the Snowball Fight
drag race, and five of them launched.
Snowball Fight photo by Kurt Knox
MASA members - please send in your thoughts about the
launch!
Alan Estenson writes:
We had a great end to the 2011 flying season today! It wasn't
that warm out, but the sunshine, blue skies, and almost
nonexistent breeze made it a fun day for launching rockets.
Just in time for this winter-themed launch, the VFW soccer
fields were covered in yesterday's fresh snow.
The turnout wasn't huge (9 recorded flyers), but it was
definitely pretty good for a November launch. I haven't typed in
the flight cards yet, but there are quite a few of them.
I flew:
collection of Quest parts rocket - first on an A8-3 and then
again on a
B6-4, it lost its' streamer on the second flight
Mini Patriot - A3-4t
Snowflake - on a C6-0, and then on a C6-3, flew well for such a
draggy thing
Razor - B4-4
"North Pole" Python - on a D12-5, and then on an E20-7
Super Duper Blobbo - E9-6
Safety Third - tried it on an E20-4 and it didn't like that at
all
(unstable), I then tried it on a D12-3 and it flew perfectly.
To wrap up, I had two Snowballs in the "Snowball Fight" drag
race.
See you at the holiday party!
Stuart Lenz writes:
Yes, perfect conditions for flying some rockets, except for
the cold. Bad day for Parachutes, good day for Streamers.
I flew (that I can remember)
Stomp rocket - less that stable flight.
Dragon Ship 7 - good flight - bad phute
Interceptor - good flight
Dragon Ship 8 - good flight
Space Cruiser Excaliber - good flight
Pokeman II - good flight
SS Cassiopeia - good flight - bad landing
US V2 - Round 6 - good flight on 2nd ignitor - broke fin on
landing
Luna 3 - good flight on 3rd ignitor
Bull Pup - good flight
Luna 2 - good flight
Neal Higgins writes:
The weather was perfect. A lot of great flights took to
the skies. We had 3 guests today, 2 flew rockets and 1 observed
the fun. It looks like we will have 3 new members.
I flew 11 rockets and had 1 ignition failure. All were great
flights with the exception of the ignition failure.
Mini Max - A34T -
Der Red Max - D21-7 - A little whiplash trying to watch this
take-off
Drake - E9-8 -
Strato Cruiser II (added a booster) - C11-0 to an A8-3 - a
liitle odd during staging but still a good flight.
Check Six - D12-7 - I think I took the longest walk prize.
Tres Super Alpha - 3 x B6-6 - all 3 lit for an excellent flight.
Little Big Nuke - B6-6 -
Baby Bertha - C6-7
Red Baron - B6-4
Snowball1 - C6-0
Snowball2 - C6-0 - failed ignition.
Kurt Knox writes:
Lucas and I had a great time on Saturday. The weather was
great and the company even better.
We got in 12 flights for the day, no bumps and bruises
despite a few chutes that did not open.
X-Prize Rubicon (D12-5), used a nylon chute and it opened
perfectly.
Crossfire ISX (C6-5)
Bull Pup 12D (B6-4)
Herc-5 (C6-5)
Super Alpha (C6-5)
Star Stryker (B6-4)
2 Snowballs in the snowball fight (C6-3's)
White Elephant (Christmas ornament rocket), had two flights each
on a C6-3 which was a perfect motor for a rocket that weighed in
at 3oz with motor loaded. It had a slight corkscrew ascent and
good recovery under chute each time. The star fins sure did
shine in the bright sun...
CMR Break-Away Design I call Hang Time, two flights (B6-4 &
C6-3). The first flight the chute stuck in the tube half but had
no damage on landing. The second flight the chute came out but
did not open, no damage on landing. I was trying to get a 50"
homemade parachute from a rain poncho to work, needless to say
there was no Hang Time.
This is the second drag race in a row I have seen Neal
concede to his competitors, I hope he puts up a fight next year!
Again, a beautiful day for launching some rockets and the calm
wind was great for letting us get some higher flights on the
smaller field. All in all, excellent. And thanks to Jeff's(?)
wife for the muffins, they were very good. I think Lucas ate 4
of them!
The Details:
Full launch tally (PDF)
The totals were: 74 flights, 78 motors. The cumulative
total impulse was 670 Ns.
The motor breakdown follows:
|
Type |
# Burned |
| MicroMaxx |
0 |
|
1/4A |
0 |
|
1/2A |
0 |
|
A |
9 |
|
B |
29 |
|
C |
30 |
|
D |
6 |
|
E |
4 |
|
F |
0 |
|
G |
0 |
|
H |
0 |
|
I |
0 |
|
J |
0 |
(Alan Estenson)
|
