During the October 21, 2006 launch, it was windy with very brief moments of lighter winds. There was a good turnout, but not the high volume that normally we normally see there. I figured that most people decided not to come because of the wind (or because they knew that Jim Flis would not be there due to other obligations )
Like most people at the launch, I stuck mostly with low power rockets. First of my ten flights was my Fliskits Do-Hickey which had a perfect flight with a second generation MicroMaxx motor. It is amazing how high this little rocket can go. It is bigger than the original plastic Micromaxx rockets, yet they still go higher because they are lighter! They also move! Very hard to take a picture of one in flight, but I nailed this one!
Then I flew my Semroc Astro-1 and Texas FireFly with A8-3’s. The Texas Firefly as affected by the wind so it did not gain much altitude. My Quest Aries performed nicely on a C6-7 motor. It produced a nice long smoke trail during the seven seconds of delay, allowing the rocket to loose some altitude before popping its chute. I keep getting this rocket back ;) I dusted off my Estes Gaurdian and flew it with a C6-5 for a perfect flight.
Estes recently re-released the old Cox X-15 plastic ready-to-fly rocket. I have always been interested in these “flying bricks” so I bought one. I decided to fly it with a C6-3. After a great boost, a loud bang was heard when the ejection went off. The Estes motor had a M-80 ejection charge. It completely split one side of the rocket open, and blew one of the wings off. After collecting the pieces, I then flew my Semroc SLS Skyhook with a D12-7. I lost sight of where it landed because I looked away to watch another rocket launch. It wasn’t where I thought it landed. Later on in the day, I discovered it lying on my table. Robert DeHate found the rocket alongside the road, and knew it was mine, and returned it to me :).
Then I decided to fly some composites. First up was my Nubular Super Tube which I chose to fly on a D13-4W motor. It is interesting to see how the smoke on these motors sometimes turns dark as the motor ages. On calm days, I have flown my PML 2.1 Bull Puppy with E18-4’s. Today I decided I needed more kick, so I flew the puppy with an E28-4T. Perfect flight. Then my last flight of the day was my Jolly Green with an AMW I271 Blue Baboon motor. Awesome motor! I loved the flame and smoke of this motor. However, I did not reef the chute enough, and it landed in a tree. It was too high for the pole to reach.
