LAUNCH! Schoolyard, May 4, 2011

I won't be able to make the Orlando R.O.C.K. section launch this Saturday, so this morning I flew five to get it out of my system.

The ASP MMX JAYHAWK was first up.

Great altitude but a little tight spiral on boost. It's fast off the pad, but I didn't have any problem keeping an eye on it. It landed without damage using nose-blow recovery.

I'd never flown my Semroc SQUIRE before today.
This is the same model shown on my:
http://www.howtobuildmodelrockets.20m.com/
opening page.
Overall a great flight and parachute recovery on an Estes A8-3. Estimated 250' altitude.

For a while I was raving about the Quest A6-4 engines. I'm not so sure now. I like the slow lift-offs and the extra second for apogee on minimum diameter models.

I had my Semroc ASTRON with an A6-4 aboard. It flew off towards the school, 15 degrees from vertical. The parachute ejected fine, but I had a walk to pick it up. It probably reached 275'.
This is the third recent Quest A6-4 that has veered away from a vertical flight. A classic model like this with trailing fins should be stable with any engine!


My rebuilt Semroc THUNDERBEE had a high flight with one of my few remaining 1/2A3-5m MPC Minijets.
As always, a perfect flight.

I rebuilt this one after breaking off two different fins on two different flights.

This one landed close and I saw it bounce on the low grass.
The streamer is plenty long enough, but there is still a root edge crack.


Also flown:
FlisKits HONEST JOHN with a Quest MMX engine. High and reliable.