LAUNCH! Schoolyard Soccer Field, June 28, 2021

I tried twice over the past week to launch a few at the Schoolyard. 

The first time the wind was blowing when I stepped out the front door. 

A few days after that I saw the lawn sprinklers on. A second later they shut off. I figured I was good to go - I entered the field and started setting up when I heard a loud voice: "You've got to leave the field. We're testing the sprinklers! I stayed bout 10 minutes hoping the testing would be over - no luck. Small areas had the sprinklers turned on and off, on and off. I walked home. 

Today - Clear skies and no wind.

Two MicroMaxx launches to start. I installed new batteries hoping for quicker ignitions.

The Semroc MMX MARS LANDER was up after holding down the launch button for a full second. It wasn't vertical through the entire flight, only getting about 40 feet in the air.

The next flight was much better, about as high as you can get with the little MMX motors.  

The new ASP MMX JAYHAWK flight peaked out at 100' with streamer deploy at apogee. No damage to either small rocket.

I've never been a fan of staged rockets - this one I do like.

The Estes TWIN FACTOR is the perfect small field two stager. With an A10-3t and A3-4t motor combination it could have reached 175'. 

A little tip off at staging but both landed close.

Here's the Jim Flis designed SPACE RAIDER flew with an Estes B6-4.

Perfectly vertical, draggy boost to 250' or so.

Who says only Space X can land a booster upright? This is how it touched down after the small chute descent. The best launch of the day.

First flight of the new Estes INDICATOR with a 13mm A3-4t motor.

Textbook launch and recovery. Altitude was an estimated 200'.

I did talk to the trees this morning - "Stay our of the tree - stay out of the tree!" It did, and touched down without limb contact.

Almost a perfect day - 

This was the 19th launch of my Semroc ASTRON. I prepped it with one of the loud Chinese Quest A6-4 engines.

Boost was good to 300'. A second after ejection I realized the shock cord had snapped and the nose cone was drifting away under the 12" parachute. The main body landed within 20 feet of the launcher, the nose cone and chute were hung up high in a tree in the nearby homes. 

19 launches? I should have replaced the shock cord by now!

A good, productive start for a Monday.