Flight Logs

Other pages:
 Sport Rockets
Flight Logs

Rocket:         To Infinity...
Date Engine Results
3/19/03 5 - 10 mph, clear C11-3 Maiden flight. Straight boost, no weathercock. C11's are awesome little motors! Deployed going up, kevlar shock cord broke at piston mount where epoxied (bad idea). Body tumbled in, dinged fin. Nosecone and piston floated onto private property; lost.
5/4/03 10 - 20 mph, partly cloudy C11-5 CRASH launch. Replaced NC. Steel fishing leader retaining cable with rubber ball anti-zipper. Windy, but vertical boost. Deployed just after apogee. Nice flight on those C11's. Long drift on 16" chute, cut 4" spill hole. Steel cable tied itself around anti-zipper ball and caught half the wadding, but no chute damage. Cable kinked badly.
5/4/03 10 - 20 mph, partly cloudy C11-5 CRASH Launch. Anti-zipper ball removed, cable straightened and wrapped with tape. Launch rod angled into wind, good boost. Deployed headed down, shorter drift but still long.
5/4/03 10 - 20 mph, partly cloudy C11-7 CRASH Launch. Tired of walking, so loonngg delay and angled rod. Deployed coming down fast at about a 150 ft, caught rocket next to launch area. Crowd pleaser. Perfect windy day combo. This is scale model of L1 project, flight characteristics look okay.
5/17/03 5 - 10 mph, partly cloudy D12-5 CRASH launch. Wind induced rod whip, but she left pad headed into the wind! Deployed horizontal at apogee. Longest recovery walk of the day; about half a mile. Otherwise a great flight, no damage. Needs 1/4" launch lugs and rod; airframe catches too much wind on the pad.
6/1/03 10 -20 mph, partly cloudy C11-5 CRASH launch. A little windy, opted for a C and angled rod. Good flight, ejected past apogee as desired. Landed next to range.
6/1/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy D12-5 CRASH launch. Winds down. Beautiful vertical boost, deployed at apogee. About a 300 foot drift with 4" spill hole in 16" chute. Best flight of To Infinity so far.
6/13/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy D12-5 Cub Scout launch. Canted off rod slightly. High boost over small field, deployed at apogee, landed about 100 feet away. No damage, another good flight.
7/6/03 10 - 15 mph, partly cloudy C11-5 CRASH Launch. Added second launch lug near rear. Came off rod straight and she turned into the wind, but not much help. Long drift, no damage. Got to make an E version of this model; very consistent performer.
7/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy D12-5 CRASH Launch. Weather too nice not to launch. Slight cant off rod, deployed just after apogee. Managed to land in one of the few trees around. Recovered with club rescue pole. Slight paint scratches from tree not wanting to give up it's meal. All-in-all, another good flight.
8/16/03 5 -10 mph, partly cloudy D12-5 CRASH Launch. NARTREK "D" engine flight. Touched up from encounter with tree. Launch rod angled slightly into wind, perfect boost. Deployed just after apogee coming down. Drifted back over range, landed about 200 feet away. No damage, good qual flight.
10/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy D12-5 CRASH Launch. Nice straight boost and high flight, again. Deployed NC down and landed 100 feet from range, no damage. Love this rocket.
11/15/03 10 - 15 mph, partly cloudy C11-5 CRASH Launch. Great little motors. Quick off the pad, arced into the breeze, and deployed horizontal. Drifted back over range for short recovery walk, no damage.
4/17/04 10 - 15 mph, sunny C11-5 CRASH Launch. Beautiful but breezy afternoon, HAD to launch something. Canted rod into wind a little and C11 put her right up there. Deployed coming down, landed just outside of range. Perfect flight, perfect end to a good day.

Rocket:         ...And Beyond
Date Engine Results
5/4/03 10 - 20 mph, partly cloudy B6-4 CRASH launch. Maiden flight. About a 20 degree weathercock (probably from swept fins; overstable by about 3 calibers) off rod, but straight thereafter. Deployed at apogee traveling at a good clip. Long drift, no damage.
6/1/03 10 - 20 mph, partly cloudy B6-4 CRASH launch. Put on small 8" chute cause of wind. Straight up. And up, and up ... Oh oh, that was not a B motor. Deployed way too high for the winds. Was probably a C6-5 motor I had placed into an opened B6-4 pack. RTFM! Drifted into lake and recovered by friendly fisherman, but too late. Body tubes and couplers de-laminated. Motor case swollen and WILL NOT COME OUT. She's history. I like swept fins on a BT-50 and will build another one.

Rocket:         ...And Beyond II
Date Engine Results
6/13/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-4 Cub Scout launch. Maiden flight (300 Scouts, no pressure <grin>). Angled slightly away from spectators. Straight boost, deployed at apogee, NC down, landed 50ft away. Gotta love those over-stable, swept fin rockets.
6/21/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy C6-5 CRASH launch. Test launch for 16" mylar competition chute. Great boost and apogee deployment. Shroud lines unfurled, but canopy did not inflate. Came down streamer-like, no damage. Mylar seems to have "set" during drive to field and was difficult to inflate on ground. Will pack immediately prior to flight next time.
7/6/03 5 - 10 mph, partly cloudy B6-4 CRASH Launch. Tried a 4"x40" streamer; bad decision. Good boost, turned into wind, streamer tangled on deployment, landed hard on asphalt road. Cracked fin fillet, body tube split about 1/2" along spiral seam at nosecone (strange), several dings and scratches. CA'd fin crack, seems okay. Glued paper strip along inside of split, also seems fine.
10/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-4 CRASH Launch. Slight arc into breeze, deployed horizontal. Oh oh, chute not inflated. Hit hard on packed dirt, popped one fin and dinged another. No tangles or melts in chute!?!? Repaired on site. Braided steel fishing leader seen to be melting through, only two wire strands left.

Rocket:         PHRED
Date Engine Results
5/17/03 10 - 20 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH launch. Maiden flight. Prospective design for next physics class. Grabbed rod and went about 30 degrees off vertical. Deployed coming down at high horizontal velocity. Heard the mylar chute (space blanket) "pop" open. Long drift, no damage.
5/17/03 10 - 20 mph, partly cloudy C6-7 CRASH launch. Cleaned paint out of launch lug. Positioned with about 2 ft of rod. Whoosh - gone. Thought it was history until I heard very faint ejection charge. Finally located mylar chute waaayyy up there and heading for Alaska. Very long drift, but recovered. Slight ejection charge damage to paint on body tube (very little space inside this airframe). Paper fins performed perfectly, as did homemade mylar chute.
6/21/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy A8-5 CRASH launch. This rocket should be stable with no payload in the nose. We'll see. Used expended engine case a payload. Straight boost, deployed a little after apogee. Chute lines tangled and it streamered in. That's twice today. No damage and stable looking flight.
6/21/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy A8-5 CRASH launch. Replaced payload with section of BT-20. Rocksim shows 1 caliber of stability with C6-7 like this, should be even better on A8. Rats; looks like it grabbed rod on lift-off and did same maneuver as maiden flight. Another hi-speed deployment at about thirty feet coming down fast. No airframe damage, two particle burns in chute. Launch lug is way forward of CG with no payload. Think I will retrofit two wire loop lugs and see how they do.
7/6/03 5 - 10 mph, partly cloudy A8-5 CRASH Launch. Added another lug back aft between fins. Payload replaced with BT-20 section. Slight tail wobble on boost, straight coast. Deployed at apogee. Too close to blast deflector, paper fin root slightly burned. May need some weight in nose with heavier engines.
7/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. No payload test launch on a "B" motor. Kept it away from blast deflector. Very straight, very high flight, 6 second delay perfect. Don't think I'll qualify this model on a "C" motor without any weight in it; 10" rocket is just too hard to track. (I HATE to lose rockets.)
8/3/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. NARTREK Bronze Parachute Duration attempt. No payload, usual 12" mylar chute. Another very high boost. Just a tiny black speck at deployment, still, chute looks kinda small. Yep, it's tangled. Streamered in (again) for 40 second flight. No damage, no qualification.
10/11/03 0 - 5 mph, clear B6-6 Boy Scout Merit Badge College. Outreach demo launch at old AFB athletic field. 1oz payload and new plastic chute (mylar chute seemed to be "setting" due to very tight packing required for tiny airframe). High flight with gentle arc into light breeze. Deployed NC down and chute inflated immediately. Landed 20 feet from LCO table, no damage.

Rocket:         Ole Blue
Date Engine Results
7/6/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. Maiden flight. Winds died down. Zing!! Arrowed up like she was on a track. Big mylar streamer took a bit to unfurl as she was almost stationary at deployment. Just over 1 minute flight for my NARTREK streamer model. Thin body tube allowed ejection heat to bubble paint just forward of engine. Elastic shock cord was almost burned through in two places, several holes burned in streamer. Deep seated kevlar cord may be allowing ejection gasses by wadding.
7/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. Another arrow straight boost and coast. Deployed just after turning the corner. 45 second flight was much shorter than last one, not sure why. Still enough for NARTREK 30 second qual. I think a 5" streamer will fit okay, may try one of those. Slight heat damage to paint again in same place but no recovery system damage this time.
8/16/03 5 - 10 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. NARTREK parachute duration attempt. Angled rod slightly into wind. Perfect boost again; this is the best flying rocket I own. High deployment at apogee, NC down. Chute looks small, though. Cripes, its not fully inflated. Strange; there's a couple tears in the body tube about an inch from the front. Still flyable, covered holes with tape. Got to try this one again.
8/16/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. Surface winds down so rod vertical for second NARTREK parachute attempt. Straight up and deploys at apogee; chute looks full this time. Lots more wind up high and she drifts a LONG ways. Timers show 73 seconds and I'll take it. Search for 45 minutes and can't find it. Oh no, I don't have the required picture of this model!! Returned to range by another rocketeer an hour later. Qualification flight signed off. Slight heat damage again forward of motor. Note to self: take pictures PRIOR to flights.
10/11/03 0 - 5 mph, clear B6-6 Boy Scout Merit Badge College. Outreach demo launch at old AFB athletic field. Repaired forward body tube damage, about 1/4" shorter now. Used 4x40 mylar streamer. Another arrow-shot off a rod angled slightly away from spectators. Deployed just coming down. Should have timed it for NARTREK Streamer Duration; a minute easy. Slight heat damage to streamer, nick on leading edge of one fin.
4/4/04 0 - 5 mph, hazy A8-5 CRASH Launch. My daughter attends launch and preps her first rocket in 15 years (finally!). High flight on the little A motor, deploys sideways, gentle recovery on 12" chute with no damage. Burn in shock cord will require replacement.

Rocket:         Ole Blew
Date Engine Results
7/3/05 5 - 10 mph, cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. Maiden flight. 8" x 100" competition mylar streamer. Pretty good surface breeze, so rod angled into wind. Arcing boost (as desired) and too long a delay. Streamer separates from BT which tail slides in and pops a fin. Streamer floats away. Too much work in that streamer to lose it; ignore rocket, jump in car, chase streamer. Recovered about half mile away. Kevlar cord sliced through streamer/tape mount point.
7/3/05 5 - 10 mph, cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. CA'd fin back on, okay to fly. Asked Bruce about better streamer attachment; its really nice to have National Champions fly at most of our section launches. Repaired streamer and up she goes again. Another St. Louis Arch (I have a BUNCH of B6-6 motors) but a perfect deployment and flight this time. Thanks, Bruce!

Rocket:         Dragstar
Date Engine Results
7/19/03 5 - 10 mph, partly cloudy 3 x B6-4 CRASH Launch. Maiden flight. Flew it naked to evaluate flight characteristics before committing to final finish. Slight angle on rod and arcing flight into the wind with all three motors burning. Pop! Pop! Pop! Deployed just past apogee. Came down too fast on 12" chute and broke fin. Easily fixed.
4/4/04 0 - 5 mph, hazy 3 x C6-3 CRASH Launch. First flight after fin repair and nose weight change. Clip-whip connected, "heads up" called, and she powers straight up on all three motors; very cool boost. Deploys still going up at a fairly good clip (C6-5's next time.). No damage recovery on 14" mylar chute. Braided steel fishing leader recovery mount showing signs of melting. Think I'll put a baffle and recovery mount bulkhead in aft section to eliminate steel leader. Great flight, nonetheless.

Rocket:         SCARAB
Date Engine Results
10/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy 5 x B6-6 CRASH CMRC XIII. Maiden flight and B Cluster Altitude record attempt. Very fast boost with five motors blazing. Slight coning during boost and coast. Deployed going up fast at preliminary altitude of 393 meters. Long drift, still smoking when recovered! Balsa shroud smoldering and extensive heat damage to motor pods and tubes. Gaps between motor tubes allowed balsa sheathing to catch fire. Unsafe to fly again. Kicked a motor and flight DQ'd. Will retire this one and build another actual competition model. These 5 motor clusters are awesome. (Winning model had preliminary altitude of 493 meters.)

Rocket:         MK II
Date Engine Results
10/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy 1/2A6-2 CRASH CMRC XIII. Maiden flight and Open Spot Landing attempt with 25mm x 300mm streamer. Whoa! Higher and faster than I thought it would go. Shock cord knot slipped (no glue) and NC-piston separated from body, dinged fin. DQ'd flight, but performance was very good on 1/2A motor.
10/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. NARTREK Streamer Duration flight. High and fast flight. Deployed at apogee for 48 second duration with tattered 4x40 mylar streamer. Good qual flight. Model flies better than anticipated.
10/19/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. Had to do it again. Arcing boost into slight breeze, deployed horizontal. Longer duration than previous flight (of course). I love pistons; no wadding required.
11/15/03 10 - 15 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. Nice straight boost and high flight. Deployed streamer with NC down and landed right next to range. Several small tears in streamer, all on same side; ejection issue? No damage to rocket.
11/15/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. Surface winds down for drag race. Off the pad first and both rockets climb into breeze. Whoops, winds aloft still going strong, drifts 500 feet downwind. More and worse tears in streamer, all on same side again. Piston might be pushing forward edge of folded streamer into snap swivel on NC. Streamer tears in half while being inspected, rocket okay.
6/18/05 0 - 5 mph, clear B6-4 CRASH Launch. New, heavier 4x40 inch mylar streamer test. Removed snap swivel from elastic. Straight, fairly high boost, deploys NC up. Very long flight (didn't time) and drift compared to older streamer material.
7/3/05 5 - 10 mph, cloudy B6-6 CRASH Launch. 4x40 inch mylar streamer; timed test. Another good flight from this rocket. Flies much better than Ole Blew, even though HD construction means she is heavier! Deploys just after apogee. Total flight time: exactly 60 seconds. (Timer showed 60.00 seconds.)

Rocket:         Reverse Causality
Date Engine Results
11/15/03 10 - 15 mph, partly cloudy C11-5 CRASH Launch. Maiden flight. Canted rod into wind. Slight bend at body tube joint causing 3/16" rod to rub body tube just aft of NC. Quick, straight boost, then goes horizontal and shows everyone a perfect deployment. Good recovery on 14" mylar chute. Piston retaining strap is not even discolored; amazing protection by motor baffle system. Time for the E shot.
11/15/03 0 - 5 mph, partly cloudy E9-8 CRASH Launch. Surface winds down, but they've been tricky at altitude all day. Oh well, it was made to fly E's; set rod vertical and hope she stays in sight. Whoo(3 seconds)oosh! Perfectly vertical boost off 4' rod. Now for an 8 second coast. Stays vertical for about four seconds, then begins slow turn into wind at high speed. Loose sight of her while climbing, then tracking smoke appears. She's WAY up there. Can see deployment but chute is just a speck and hard to track. Drifts back over range still a good 1,000 feet up, lands a quarter mile downwind about 5 feet from another rocketeer out looking for his rocket. Piston retaining strap still as white as recovery side elastic; I think the baffle is proven. No damage, very cool flight.
4/4/04 0 - 5 mph, hazy E9-8 CRASH Launch. Relocated launch lugs to eliminate tube interference. Final finish applied and she's ready to go. Used 16" chute with 4" spill hole. Vertical boost and long burn draws ooohs and aaahs from crowd. Loose sight of her while climbing. Tracking smoke, then brief orange flash of sun off chute. Loose sight of her again until a youngster spots her many seconds later. Landed within 2 feet of edge of small cliff above stream. Close call. No damage and a second perfect E flight.
4/17/04 10 - 15 mph, sunny E9-8 CRASH Launch. Little breezy, used 16" chute with spill hole. Canted rod slightly into wind. Whooooooosh... very little arc into wind, almost vertical. Way, way up there at deployment, chute just a speck. Hmmm, which way is she drifting? Several seconds later I hear a comment, "..its getting SMALLER!" Sure enough, she's in the same spot in the sky, but not coming down. I click the lap timer on my pocketwatch. At 4 minutes and 17 seconds, I finally notice a definite drift. At 7 minutes and 43 seconds she drifts behind a hill about a half mile away. Found in tall grass after an hour search about 3/4 of mile away, no damage. Lucky to get her back.
6/18/05 5 - 10 mph, sunny E9-6 CRASH Launch. 14" mylar chute. Zoomed off rod with very little arc into wind, just like last flight. Not what I expect with over 4 calibers of static stability. Deploys high above launch site, recovery walk looks to be a long one. Oh, oh, another thermal and she's just drifting horizontally. Disappears behind hill, guesstimate a mile away. No joy after long search. Lost.

Rocket:         Payloader 1
Date Engine Results
7/17/04 0 - 5 mph, cloudy D12-5 CRASH Launch. Maiden flight. Finally! First launch in 3 months. Single motor test flight, naked finish, no payload. Straight up, arcs over, and ejects the laundry like a cannon. Slow, close recovery on 24" reefed chute.
7/17/04 0 - 5 mph, cloudy 2 X D11-P D12-5 CRASH Launch. Argh, forgot dummy electronics payload so loaded a baggie with 175 gms of dirt and sent it up. Straight up on inline cluster showing 3 nice exhaust flames. Deployed NC up and landed in parking lot; split one basswood fin, CA'd on site. Ready for some electronics testing now.
6/18/05 0 - 5 mph, sunny 2 X D11-P C11-7 CRASH Launch. Rockets off pad and turns almost horizontal at about 25 feet altitude. (Did an outboard motor fail to light?) Very long and impressive cruise missle demonstration, until... here it comes... she deploys going about warp factor 8. Chute shreds and rocket flat spins into Bear Creek Lake. Returned by fisherman, but body tubes have delaminated and outboard motor mounts are split by swollen motor cases. And, all three motors had burned! I ponder the cause of the flight profile until I realize that flights with outboard motors REQUIRE nose weight to maintain stability in this rocket. A stupid and potentially dangerous mistake on my part. Rocket destroyed by high speed deployment and water landing.

Rocket:         Fast Boy
Date Weather Engine Results
6/18/05 5 - 10 mph, sunny 3 X D12-5 CRASH Launch. Maiden flight, no finish, 150 gms total nose weight for 0.7 caliber of static stability (same as stock Fat Boy on C6-3). "Stumpy", as my sister calls it, weighs 4.5 Newtons in this flight configuration. Put slight angle into wind on 1/4" rod and awaaaaay she goes. Fast boost on three motors with slow arc into wind (was worried about severe arc into wind). Very slight tail waggle during boost and coast. Delay perfect and 24" nylon chute deploys right at apogee. Close recovery and no flight damage, except some scorching of the tail due to exhaust.
7/3/05 5 - 10 mph, cloudy 3 X D12-5 CRASH Launch. Final finish applied and Stumpy looks pretty good. Impending rain forces an impromptu drag race with a single D motor rocket. Stumpy motors straight up with flames obvious under dark clouds and just edges other rocket on boost. She's still climbing when other rocket deploys and I lose sight of her. Then, visible sparks from ejection charges and I can see chute deploy at well over 1,000ft. Lands about 500ft downwind. An awesome flight for this little rocket, my favorite BAR launch thus far.
Top Sport Rockets
Last modified: 7/23/2006