Date: October 23, 1999

Location: Hartsel, CO

Club: Tripoli Colorado

Now, why couldn't the weather have been this nice last month for Octoberfest??? Sure, it was a bit chilly when we arrived, but what do you expect at 8,800 feet in mid-autumn? The wind was dead calm, and got no worse then lightly breezy a little later in the day.

First up was the Javelin on a G64-7 for her sixth flight. Last time I flew her out here on a G64 I used the 4-sec delay. I thought it would be interesting to see how she did on the 7-sec delay. Since I had modified her to incorporate the zipperless design, I wasn't worried about her getting damaged if the delay had been too long. As it was, she flew very nicely on the G64 to about 1500 feet. Ejection was about 1 or 2 seconds past apogee, but that was perfectly acceptable. Very nice flight. She landed to the left of and a bit behind the line of cars, and was retrieved by a very... um, "helpful" kid.

Next I prepped the Endeavour for her second flight, this time on an I211. Last time I flew her on an I161, which was a nice, slow flight to about 2,000 feet. This time she ripped to about 3,000 feet. Ejection was right at apogee, and she drifted down on her bright orange and blue 'chute. She hardly drifted at all in the dead calm, landing in the range right behind pad #1. She's such a nice, stable bird, her flights so far have been beautiful and majestic. This is quickly becoming my favorite rocket; unfortunately, she costs about three times as much per flight as the Goblin or LOC-IV.

My Estes Big Daddy was next on an E15-7 -- talk about regression! She zipped off the pad, making Ken remark, "Gee, that Big Daddy flies pretty good on an 'E'!" She flew to about 1,500 feet, and ejection was right at apogee. She landed about a hundred feet away at the right (easterly) edge of the range. I retrieved her with no damage.

My last flight of the day was the LOC Norad on a G54-M for her third flight. The last time I flew her here was on an F40 and she suffered a blow-by. This time the flight was picture-perfect, with ejection right at apogee at about 1,000 feet. I think I over-did the ejection charge, because the nose shot out of there rather violently. Fortunately, she received no damage. One of these days I'm going to have to paint this rocket...

It was nice to end the Hartsel season on such a positive note: perfect weather and four excellent flights. Hopefully, I will make it to Turkey Shoot in Vegas; otherwise this will be my last launch of the season.

YTD Motor Count: 1/2A - 2; A - 3; B - 4; C - 7; D - 8; E - 5; F - 7; G - 13; H - 9; I - 2