Date: May 13, 2000

Location: Pawnee National Grasslands

Club: Tripoli Rocky Mountains

Finally -- my first high power launch of the year! I went to the Tripoli Rocky Mountains launch at Pawnee National Grasslands. Since the Tripoli-Colorado launch got cancelled last month, this was a good way to make up for it. There were a couple of things I wanted to accomplish at this launch. I wanted to do a "test run" before my L2 attempt next week, and I wanted to make my first attempt at dual deployment. The good news is that both flights were successful.

First though, I flew my PML Callisto on an H220. The H220 was given to me at Turkey Shoot last year, and ever since then I've been trying to think of a good vehicle to fly it in. At first I was going to use it in my Ariel, but after simming the Callisto to about 4,000 ft. on the H220, I decided "What the heck." The Callisto screamed off the pad and promptly disappeared into the cloudy sky. I almost lost it, but I guess that's what I get for flying a blue and white rocket into a blue and white sky :-) Thanks to a sharp-eyed kid who helped me spot her, I tracked the Callisto to where she landed about a quarter-mile away. The launch lug was missing and she had a cracked fin fillet from a rough landing, but otherwise undamaged and quite repairable. I think as long as I stick to Fs and Gs she'll be ok.

My next flight was the Endeavour on an I435. This would be my "practice run" for my L2 attempt. I figure if she can survive the I435, she can survive a J350! I was kinda nervous about this flight, because this would be the largest motor I've flown yet, and I've seen a few failures of the I435 in the past. But before mine even flew, there had already been a couple I435s flown successfully earlier in the day. So I kinda had an idea what to expect. Still, I was astonished by how fast a seven-pound rocket ripped off the pad on the "Screamin' Demon" (I don't recall who gave that nickname to the I435, but I can now tell you it is quite appropriate!). I didn't have as much trouble tracking the Endeavour, and overall it was a very nice flight. Unfortunately, the wind carried her quite a ways away. I was so elated that she flew so well on the I435 that I was contemplating going for my L2 that same day. When I retrieved her, I was a bit disappointed to find that one of the launch lugs had fallen off, and although I could theoretically fix it on site, I didn't want to feel rushed into making a "quick fix" in the field for a certification attempt. I'm not in any hurry, and I can take my time and fix it during the week and try for my L2 next weekend as planned.

My final flight of the day was my first flight using electronic recovery. This rocket was a number of "firsts" for me: my first fully scratch-built design, first fully-fiberglassed airframe, first rocket using an Aero-Pack retainer, first using Black Sky rail guides, first using shear pins, not to mention first using electronics - I used the Missile Works RRC2 altimeter. Since I'd rehearsed prepping this rocket at home (using everything except live ejection charges, of course), actual prep time was surprisingly short- only a half-hour or so. With a little help from Jim Amos (thanks a bunch, Jim!), I was pretty confident that everything would be just fine, but I started to get a bit jittery after I put her on the pad. It didn't help that my buddy Steve kept shoving the video camera in my face ;-) After a couple of false starts, the I161 finally boosted the Scratch-N-Sniff into the air. Nice, straight, stable flight. When the streamer appeared at apogee, I started jumping up and down. It worked! So far so good. She started falling pretty fast, the front section pulling the streamer and the fin can behind it. As it got closer, we could hear the streamer fluttering in the wind. Right on cue, the charge fired and the main chute bloomed, lowering her to the ground, the altimeter beeping an altitude of 3,292 ft. I was so happy it worked. Okay, so it wasn't ten feet from the pad, but it was much closer than either of my earlier flights! I was already floating from the Endeavour's flight; this one put me into orbit... :-)

YTD Motor Count: C - 3; D - 3; E - 2; G - 6; H - 4; I - 2