N.E.F.A.R. Bunnell Blast, November 14, 2015

November 14 and 15 is the Bunnell Blast, a two day event with night launches Saturday evening.
When I arrived just before 11:00 a.m. there were already 75 cars parked down the flight line. After one long walk to the RSO table I moved closer to the low power pads at the East end of the field.
Today, Low, Mid and High power pads were set up separately. Usually you cycle through all the low power, then mid and high power to recover or load the next bank of rockets. Today and tomorrow these launches were run independently. As long as your LPR model didn't land too close the Mid and High power launchers you could retrieve your models without the wait. A smart move considering how many came to fly. By mid afternoon there were 100 cars!
Weather was cooler than last weeks Orlando launch, about 75 degrees. Winds were up, 15 mph with gusts to 20 mph! Most all launch rods were angled into the wind.

First up was my Quest TOMAHAWK with an Estes C6-5.
This was a textbook flight maxing out at around 450 feet.

Next to the Tomahawk were Cris Morris' Little Green Man and Pigasus from Odd'l Rockets. Both put in very stable flights with C6-5s.

Robert Koenn made some great scale models. Most notably was the Mercury Little Joe I.
Many of the capsule and tower details were 3D printed.





My Quest MAGNUM Flew again with an Estes cluster of two C6-5 engines.
I was testing a Jolly Logic Altimeter Two for Roger Smith. A customer returned it after he couldn't get it to work.
Here's some of the readings:
Altitude - 271 feet, 91 mph, 14 mph descent.

I'd like to think it got more height, but with the wind many models flew into the wind horizontally, losing altitude.

Here's the weird part - 
At ejection the parachute looked more like a streamer.
When I got close I could see the Quest chute was torn in half! It wasn't a stretch tear but a clean "popped" break.
The engine mount had ejected out the back! The mount was still tethered by the Kevlar and elastic shock cord. In all my years of flying I've never ejected a glued in engine mount. That double ejection charge must have been strong! It's easily repaired, no damage to the outside rocket body.

Yet another test of the Odd'l Rockets BREAK-AWAY.
This was a Estes C6-5 and reached a good 650 feet.
At ejection it easily separated into six sections and drifted back close. No damage.





I didn't get a launch shot of my Estes SUPER ALPHA.
With a D12-5 it got up to an estimated 750 feet. Even with the big spill hole it drifted and drifted some more.
I picked it up almost a half mile away in the south west corner of the field. As I got close I could see the parachute was open and dragging the model over the grass. No damage.





Jason Cook launched his Mini Nutcracker with an E9-6 engine. There's some great paint detail on this one.
It was recovered under a 10" parachute. Considering the wind, a smaller chute was the right choice. A perfect flight.





I was apprehensive about launching my UPSCALE TEROS with the E9 engine until I saw the recovery of Jason's Mini Nutcracker.
I cut a 5" spill hole in the Odd'l chute and hoped for the best.
With the E9-4 engine it reached around 850 feet. The Teros touched down next to the high power launchers.

Five flights, five recoveries with a little repair on the Quest Magnum. A great day spent with some great people.
The Honest John build will pick up again tomorrow.