Date: April 17, 1999

Location: Bear Creek Lake Park, Denver CO

Club: CRASH

From the looks of the weather last night, I wasn't sure if I wanted to bother driving out to Bear Creek Lake Park today. But when I got up, I saw it was nice and sunny and the wind was calm, so I figured, "What the heck."

I took with me a bunch of my rockets, but I only flew five of them. The first was my Estes Big Daddy, which failed to go last time I brought it to a CRASH launch. This time it went great, with an Aerotech E15-7 loaded with a Crapperhead. When it took off, it whipped off the rod and turned sharply left and away from the range. (Note to self: use a longer rod when flying the Big Daddy with an E...) It was a nice, pretty, rainbow flight; not quite as high as I would've liked, but still nice. The delay was a bit long, considering the lack of altitude, but just when I thought it was going to dart, the 'chute popped and she floated down nice and slow. I found her half-buried in the snow about 100 yds from the range. This was the Big Daddy's second flight.

Next was my Patriot clone. When I built the Patriot, I designed it with a 24mm motor mount so I could fly it with Estes D motors. I had flown it twice previously with Cs, and today was the first time I flew it with a D. Nice, straight, stable flight to about 1000 ft. (according to RockSim), with ejection right at apogee. The 18" 'chute turned out to be way too big, and she drifted a good 200 yards. Not too big of a deal, but the hills and the snow and mud combined with the altitude kinda kicked my butt. I retrieved the Patriot with no damage. I think it's time to cut a spill hole in the 'chute...

I flew my Vaughn Bros. Javelin next. This was the rocket I got my L1 cert with last month at Springfest. For her fourth flight I tried an F52 -- my first Blue Thunder. Nice, loud, nearly smokeless flight to about 1000 ft. The delay was slightly too short, and ejection occurred just before apogee. By this time the wind had started to pick up just a little, and she drifted over the hill where my Patriot landed. After another trip through the snow and mud, I retrieved the Javelin with no damage.

The first time I flew my Prowler, I used a C6-3. The delay on that flight was a bit short, and the 'chute ejected while it was still on its way up. This time I thought I would be smart and try a five-second delay. The Prowler took off and proceeded to point itself directly into the light breeze. (Second note to self: don't fly the Prowler in anything other than dead calm.) It turned out the five-second delay was TOO long, and for a moment it looked the Prowler was going to dart also. About 200 ft. above the ground the 'chute finally deployed, and she floated down nice and slow on her 18" nylon chute.

My last flight of the day was on my Estes Python. I'd flown it before on a D12 and an E15, but all I had for today was another D12. It was a nice, straight flight, just slightly up-range to about 600 ft. with ejection right at apogee. Good flight; one of my favoritest rockets. This was the first time she didn't chip a fin when she landed.

Now that I live in Denver, I'll be joining CRASH for more club launches. I finally got to meet Todd and Bruce and Tom and several of the other CRASH members. Nice bunch of people.

Motor Count: 1/2A - 2, A - 3, B - 1, C - 4, D - 5, E - 2, F - 5, G - 1, H - 1