Back Yard Launch, June 3, 2012
The wind has blown and blown this year. Finding opportunities to launch rockets hasn't been easy. So when I found the weather darn near optimal for rocketry, I had to fly some. I laid out and prepped nine rockets and was all ready to head over to the local farm where I launch.
Unfortunately, I found my crew (the kids I usually launch with) all sick and/or recovering from injuries. So, setting my sights lower, I prepped four low-fliers and wandered out to the back yard.
Click the pictures for a larger view.
Lil' Ivan ready to fly.
First up was my Lil' Ivan, on an A8-3. It went up fast, and came down fast too, landing within the "field" (which is hardly guaranteed in my back yard).
Lowball on the pad and taking off.
My Lowball went up next on an A10-3T. It took off relatively slowly, but it was a pretty flight, ejecting about half a second past apogee. The streamer didn't fully deploy, for no reason I could discover, but it came down so close to the stand that I actually caught it.
Cobalt on the stand.
I launched my 13 mm converted Quest Cobalt next, on an A10-3T. It took off really fast, deployed its streamer perfectly, and amazingly I caught it also.
Mini X24 Bug on the stand.
Last to fly was my Mini X24 Bug on an A10-3T. Considering that it recovers nose down, it shouldn't be surprising that I declined to catch it, though it landed so close to the pad that I could have gotten under it.
I do a lot of other things besides building and flying rockets. If you're looking for one of those other activities, click here.