LAUNCH! Tampa TTRA December 17, 2011

Robert Synoski flew his upscaled BIG BERTHA with a Gorilla K1185.
He estimated the altitude to be between 2,000 and 3,000 feet.
This was a well done build with vinyl by StickerShock.





Enlarge the picture of my Dr. Zooch SATURN SA-5. This is how it landed.
After a straight boost with a C6-5, at ejection the nose cone pierced the scalloped fairing when it snapped back.
The parachute never fully opened. I wrap a square of wadding around the parachute before sliding it into the body tube. The parachute punched through the wadding square and reefed the chute!

With clear skies and the winds low, I finally got up the nerve to fly the Defender with three Cs. This rack had two 3 engine C6-7 clusters.
That's Wayne Gray with his Starlight SEIRON 3. His cluster was launched right before my DEFENDER. Wayne used Estes igniters, I used the Quest Q2G2s.
With the longer leads you didn't need a clip whip, just be careful which wires are twisted together.
Winds were up to 10 m.p.h., the inset picture shows the reefed shroud lines on the two, 12" parachutes.
According to the Semroc estimates, both models got around 1,670 feet!




Mike Nipper's beautiful NIKE HERCULES had an impressive start with four D12 engines in the booster.
The E9 in the sustainer didn't ignite!
Mike said it should be rebuilt by next month's launch.







Scheduled to fly on Sunday is the Ex Group's FAT MAN.
Built by Gary Horwood and Terry Johnson, this model had one of the best gloss finishes I'd seen in a long while.
The Ex Group makes their own propellant. This one should fly the equivalent of an M1100 with a seven second burn!






Astron Mike Kochel brings gliders!
This is the ECONOGLIDER, the largest in his fleet, flown with an F21

Long glides are always followed by long walks for recovery.
He only lost one in the trees.
In the picture you can see how far away the trees are.



Also flown:
DUH! PHANTOM with an Estes C6-5. Altitude was about 750'.
Odd'l Rockets UP! CUP with an Estes C6-3. Noisy and undamaged.
Hot Rod Rockets BELL BOTTOM with an A3-4t. Good flight, streamer recovery.
FlisKits HEMV 4 with a Micromaxx engine. At a club launch, I'm always surprised how many haven't seen a MMX fly. It did, to a whopping 60 feet!