Date: August 28, 1999

Location: Hartsel, CO

Club: Tripoli-Colorado

I know that the weather in Denver is no indication of what it will be like in Hartsel, but as I was driving down there, it didn't look promising. Fortunately, the skies around the launch site were relatively clear, and the air surprisingly calm. The ceiling was a guesstimated 3000' or so. There was no telling how long the weather would hold out, so we all set about to prepping as quickly as possible.

After the Ariel was a no-go last weekend, I was really looking forward to today for her maiden flight. I prepped an H180-M for her, my largest motor to date. With a Jeff Karpinski home-dipped ignitor, there was no hesitation at lift-off (goodbye Crapperheads!). This was a surprisingly loud motor (I heard a couple of people in the crowd say, "THAT was an H???"). The Ariel screamed off the pad and flew waaaayyy up there, to about 2000' or so. Nice, fast, stable flight. The delay was just a little too long, and she was nosing down and coming in fast when she popped. The 'chute took a couple of seconds to unfold, but during those two seconds I was thinking, "Aww, crap!" Luckily, it opened in plenty of time. She floated down nice and slow, landing about 200 yards from the pad. I retrieved her with no damage. Nice rocket, I'm not so sure I would want to try anything larger in her, maybe an H220T next time?...

After cleaning out the case and closures, I prepped an H128-M for my Goblin. This would be her fifth flight, and the largest motor she's flown on yet. Since the wind was starting to pick up a bit, I replaced the 36" inch 'chute that I ususally fly in her with a bright yellow 30" 'chute. I didn't really feel like chasing her over the hill. She lit right away, and tipped slightly to the left of the pad as she took off. Ejection was right at apogee, and she floated down a bit faster than I'd like on the smaller 'chute. At least she didn't drift far, landing about 100 yards from the pad. I could tell she hit the ground a bit hard, but when I retrieved her all I found were a few extra scratches in the paint.

I cleaned out the motor and started prepping another H128 for the LOC-IV. About this time the clouds rolled in and it started raining. A lot of people packed up and left, but a few of us die-hards stuck it out. Lucky for us, the skies cleared up about a half-hour later, and I finished prepping the IV and got her on the pad. Nice, fast boost, turning a bit south and flying over the crowd. One of the characteristics of this bird is that she seems to float up there forever, especially on an H128. Ejection was right at apogee, and she floated down nice and slow, landing about 100 yards from the pad. Except for a slight dent in the fore end of the body tube from landing, she was undamaged.

Wow, three high-power flights by me in the same day! This was a first for me. Most of the other flyers didn't have the same kind of success that I did. There were quite a few spectacular failures, most of them recovery related. It was also the first time I had used the same set of closures three times in the same day. This was possible thanks to my new discovery -- vinegar! Soaking the casing and closures in a bottle of vinegar loosened up all that gunk and made them much easier to clean than rubbing alcohol and cuts down on the turnaround time.

Thanks to everyone for the help: Jeff, Woody, Ken, and everyone else I forgot. Hello to Steve and Shannon, Todd and Kathy, Mick, and all the other friendly flyers of Tripoli-Colorado. See ya next time!

YTD Motor Count: 1/2A - 2; A - 3; B - 3; C - 6; D - 6; E - 4; F - 7; G - 8; H - 5