LAUNCH! N.E.F.A.R. Bunnell, Florida March 12, 2011

The weather at NEFAR was about as good as it gets yesterday.

The temperature was in the mid 70s and winds were from 5 - 10 mph.

The PIGASUS rebuild finally flew on an Estes C6-5.

I was concerned about the swept back ears and card stock goggles might effect the vertical flight, but all was stable and straight up! Recovery was good with no damage.

The Bruce Levison design CORKSCREW certainly spirals better without the clay nose weight.

Two flights were made using Estes A3-4t engines.

The local Boy Scout troop provides Bar-B-Q for the NEFAR launches. That's scoutmaster Daryl Casey.

While the burgers and hot dogs are prepared on a grill, making the morning coffee is another story. Two percolators are connected to the car battery using a DC to AC inverter. The engine idles until the coffee is finished.

Look close under the hood. Yep, that's a launch rod (with a blast deflector still on) holding the idle open for the coffee maker power. I didn't buy any coffee today.


Here's Robb Haskins prepping his BIG MONGOLIAN CLUSTER.

He's flown it in the past with a central K motor and 3 H engines on the outboards.

A impressive rocket on display and in the air.

Also flown:

The WHISTLER with 1/2 fishing bobbers glued on the fin sides to produce a whistle. With a B6-4, no whistle was heard!

The UP! CUP on a C6-3. Stable and noisy!

Dr. Zooch SATURN SA5 flew much higher than expected. Open Rocket predicted 873 feet with a C6-5.