Sunday, March 12, 2017

N.E.F.A.R. Launch Bunnell, FL March 11, 2017


There were a LOT of cars at the field by the time Lonnie B. and I arrived at 10:00 a.m. More cars extended just as far to the right side of the picture.
The low power pads were busy. In addition to the mid-power and high power away pads there was also a hybrid competition.
Check out the flag, the wind restricted many possible flights.



My Quest X-15 was launched first with a German Quest B6-4. After reaching an estimated 325' it drifted back to the flight line and hit a truck tailgate. Two fins were broken off, only one was found.







The upcoming Odd'l Rockets F-16 had another test flight with an Estes C6-5. Some altitude was lost when it flew into the wind. I had switched out the 12" chute for a long streamer. The clear canopy popped off on landing.
My final launch was the Estes SOLAR WARRIOR with a D12-5. It probably got to 750'. The spill-holed chute was tangled and it fell fast. One fin broken off.
Recently I've had a string of great launches with little damage. Then you have a day like today with too many broken fins.

I only had three launches today. I had hoped to launch my Estes Nike Smoke with an Enerjet smoking nose cone but thought the smoke effect could be lost in the wind gusts.
I also wanted to try the Skydart but couldn't even do any test trim glides with all the wind.

6 comments:

  1. Too bad about the damage - wind can be a real pain! Glad you didn't launch your Enerjet Nike Smoke and end up damaging it, that would be heartbreaking.

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    1. Hi Openroad,
      Even though the models were landing on a grass field, the chutes were smaller with good sized spill holes to compensate for the wind. Yesterday recovery walks were long! The models were falling faster than I would have liked.

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  2. Always glad to see your F-16 on the launch pad. That means with each launch were getting closer to bring it out for sale. I'm ready to pull the trigger on it when it's ready.

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    1. Hi Frank,
      Tonight I spent another three hours working on the instructions! Some suggestions at the launch led me to change the order of the steps. This is a great flyer with B6-4 and C6-5 engines.

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  3. I am looking forward to seeing the F-16 available also.

    If you have not tried it - Micro Krystal Klear is excellent for gluing on and holding canopies in place.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Moontana,
      Thanks for the tip! I haven't tried the Micro Krystal Clear. I don't know if I should add that to the instructions, I like list "tools and supplies" as things the average modeler already has on hand. I will check that stuff out though -

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