Subject: [LAUNCH REPORT] MTMA #3! Time for Tubby Bye-Bye!... or, Po Hits Max Q! Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 00:29:47 GMT From: blankreg@nospam.ever.net (Hilty Information Systems) Organization: APK Net Newsgroups: rec.models.rockets The Mantua Township Missle Agency again assembled at the aging remains of the Mantua Sod Farm for our first annual "Po Memorial Launch". Mantua is situated in Portage county, NE Ohio, sorta midpoint between Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown. The weather was _beautiful_! Temps were in the middle 70's, blue sky, with cumulus clouds. It was dead calm when I arrived on the field at 8:15AM, but the wind started up around 9:30, lightly, from the N, NE. We did enjoy several, almost dead calm, periods throughout the day, along with several fairly "hairy" gusts, so the launcher angles were varying constantly. The MTMA launch team consisted of Mark Recktenwald, Chuck Straka, Randy Miller, Stan Mikush, and myself. It was great to see Randy, and Stan again, as they were unable to attend the MTMA #2 launch. Notably absent was Bruce Levison (aw man!... no teflon!). Hope you can make the September launch Bruce! The MTMA "Po Memorial Launch" was a success, although we were apparently unable to lose the little Teletubby! Mark Recktenwald graciously supplied a "camera-less" CR4, and an NCR F62-6 Darkstar for our first "Po Loft". The first Po was a 2oz, 2in.x5in. plastic figurine with moveable head, and antenna. I particularly liked this one as Po has a look of "surprise"... or maybe "astonishment" on her little Tubby face. I had wanted to fly her in my Phoenix, but her little Tubby elbows would've had to have been removed in order to fit the BT of the Phoenix. I was "pushing the envelope" anyway with my 2yo, and chopping off Po's arms, _in addition to_ launching her to some ungodly altitude would've scarred her for life, so Mark picked up the ball by using the 4 inch airframe of the CR4! After reaming a hole through Po's antenna with a screwdriver (Ow!), a 12 inch Estes parachute was attached. The CR4's boost was _picture perfect_ straight up, with the rocket almost seeming to do a bit of a tailslide on the delay, just before nosing over to eject. The CR4 deployed both chutes, and Po's 12 inch'er inflated perfectly. Both the CR4, and the Teletubby were recovered with no damage on the field! Chuck was getting the whole CR4/Po "incident" on his notebook computer utilizing a digital movie camera... At the point when Mark got to "1" in the countdown... Chuck ran out of disk space!... What was that Chuck?! Paybacks for me missing the Mars Lander crash?! I was able to launch a "Burger King" beany type Po in my Estes Phoenix later in the day! After deftly extracting the plastic clip thingy, I attached a mylar streamer to her antenna, and loaded her atop the 24" nylon 'chute in the Phoenix's airframe. Phoenix was fitted with an AT E15-4W, and launched. The boost was _great_ (MAN! I love this motor/rocket combination!), and the Phoenix arced out over the "Field of Thorns [tm]" and ejected. Phoenix's 'chute inflated, and Po, on her streamer, began their descent into the thistles. I had a line on the rocket, and Mark followed Po down. I found the rocket, no damage whatsoever (that's one advantage of recovering Phoenix's in armpit deep weeds), but my younger rescuer bailed on the search for Po due to massively scratched legs! I backtracked following Mark's bearings, and almost gave up (meaning we _would've_ accurately recreated Adrian Hurt's launch of 08/28/98), but I noticed the glint of magenta colored mylar about 20 yards away. Lo, and behold there was Po, a little dusty with dog barf from the ejection, but otherwise in perfect shape! Needless to say, there was great rejoicing from the "child-folk" crowd when I emerged from the thistles! On to the other flights!... Stan Mikush, being a Tripoli member at L2, flew exclusively medium power. He started off with a V2, kit-bashed from an Estes Silver Comet. There was a slight departure from normal "kit-bashing" construction, as he built the fins from aircraft plywood, and glassed the entire airframe. The thing was built like a tank! It lofted first on an F39 for a beautiful boost, and recovery in the "Field of Thorns [tm]". Later Stan flew it again on an F20-7 Econojet which I believe was recovered on the field. Stan flew a LOC Li'l Nuke on an F20-7 Econojet for some _serious_ altitude. Unfortunately, it snagged on the power line down the road on its way down. Mark's brother-in-law, (who just so happens to work for Ohio Edison Power... whadda break! :) was able to recover the rocket with a fiberglass pole that he just "happened" to have in his truck! Stan put his LOC Calliber up on a G64 for another amazing flight, and a long walk down the field for recovery. Stan had a flight on an NCR Darkstar, but I'll be darned if I can remember what it was. Mark Recktenwald's other flights of the day started with his RMR DESCON Glider Launcher on an A8-3. Boost was great, but the 'chute failed to deploy properly, and the gliders kinda nose dived. No damage tho'. Mark's Bubba (Big Bertha's little brother :) went up beautifully on a C6-5, and recovered with no damage in the "Field of Thorns [tm]". The kids were able to scrounge up a small Praying Mantis for inclusion in Mark's Estes HiJax flight. Boost was nice, and slightly to the north. HiJax was recovered, and Mr. Mantis was definitely "praying" to be released... which of course, he was! Mark's Shadow V flew on a D12-7 core, and 4 C6-7 outboards! I yelled at him, "WHAT!? Yer puttin' that thing on an Estes Porta-Pad!?". The Shadow boosted _spectacularly_ with all engines burning! Perfectly nominal recovery. Mark's sport scale Saturn V went up on a D12-3, with a non-ejected chute. It didn't land in the "Field of Thorns [tm]" this time, but hit on the sod and cracked a fin. It'll fly again, I'm sure! :) Mark's final flight of the day was an Estes Maniac on a D12-7... WOW! I _love_ those long delays! Recovered with no damage. Mark and I had an Estes Sidewinder drag race earlier in the day. Both of us loaded our Sidewinders with C5-3's, countdown was issued, our boys, acting as LCO's, hit their launch buttons, and off they went! Mark flat out wasted me right off the pad! He informed me today that the video tape indicated that my delay was shorter than his. Dunno... my models tend to run heavy due to paint... it was _way_ fun anyway! Randy Miller picked up the "Volume Flyer Award" of the launch by putting up 11 flights to Chuck Straka's 8! Randy put his LOC Aura up on an E30 to start things off. That model *seriously* hums on an E30. His LOC Graduator went up next on an E30 for a perfectly nominal flight. Dropping down to modroc level, Randy's son sent up a Custom Icarus on a B6-4 which I believe had a seperation at ejection. Randy put up a scratch built Honest John for a wobbly, low, but perfectly nominal flight on a B6-4. Reverting back to mid power, Randy's LOC Aura went up this time on an F25 for some _serious_ heat and altitude! Unfortunately, it kicked the motor, but landed undamaged in the front yard of the field owner. One of Mark's boys even found the expended casing! Honest John flew again, with much more determination on a C6-5, and Randy's LOC Onyx followed later on an E30 for a good flight. Estes Sentinal was fired on a C6-5 next with great recovery due to Randy's *constant* use of 'chutes with spill holes! A Custom Twister went up on a 1/2A6-2, followed by an Estes Firebird on a C6-5. Randy's final flight of the day was a LOC Li'l Nuke on an F25!... WOW! It was outta sight! We _did_ finally get a lock on it after ejection, but, by catching a few thermals it drifted the full length of the field, and ended up in the woods to the west. Sorry Randy! :) On to Mr. Straka! Chuck started the day in the customary manner with his Estes Snitch on a C6-0. Perfect "Snitch-like" flight! One of Chuck's more *interesting*, or maybe *unique* flights was that of the "Flying Pringle's Can". We really didn't have any onlookers at that point during the launch, so it appeared to be a good time for an "experimental" launch (OOOOooo! Scary!). Chuck had built a BT with fins, and a launch lug into the *inside* of a Pringle's can. The whole guts of the thing were cleverly concealed by the container so the illusion was that of just the can sitting on the pad! Chuck prepped 'er with a C6-5, counted down, and hit the launch button! Well... it was an interesting boost! The *can* rose nicely off the launch rod, but then began to pinwheel under thrust. After the burn, it dropped harmlessly to the ground, and ejected. Back to the drawing board eh Chuck? In preparing for his upcoming Mars Lander launch, Chuck offered an Estes Mosquito, as a sacrifice to the Rocket Gods on a 1/4A8-3. Welp... we found it undamaged.... Oh well, we'll try again! His Estes Yankee Clipper went up on a C6-7 for a perfectly nominal flight. Chuck's Rastrocam was up on a C6-3 with an arcing flight to the east. Should be a spectacular shot of... ummm... the road? The Rocket Gods liked this one, as both sections hung up in a spruce tree. The tree was climbed, and both parts were recovered with a bit of damage to the camera section... happy now Prang-RA?! Chuck had just primed his Aerotech Arreaux, and it was launched on an AT F20-7 Econojet. Boy! Are those things _loud_ or what! Perfect flight and recovery! Chuck's crowning moment was the flight of his 1.6x Mars Lander on an AT G80! The Lander had crashed at MTMA #2, but Chuck had repaired it... added additional nose weight... and now it was as good as new! Countdown was issued, and WOW! What a liftoff! Loud, and slow, with lot's 'o flame! The Lander boosted perfectly straight, and ejected both 'chutes right at apogee! It landed without incident on those *spiffy* Lander legs. hehe... Chuck was "high-fiving" the air as he jogged off to recover the model! Whadda sight! After he had calmed down, Chuck fired the Mosquito once again on a 1/4A8-3. Chuck, Mark, and I tracked what we thought was the rocket, but turned out to be the motor casing. Duh! Then, we hear a *thunk* on the trailer behind us. Yep. There was the Mosquito! Suffered a broken fin, but we found it! Chuck finished up a fantastic day with his Estes America on an A8-3! Yeah... the author fired a few in addition to the above noted flights! Big Bertha was first up at 8:15AM on a C6-7 to check wind... of which there wasn't any at that time... and consequently it landed 20yds from the pad! My BAR rocket, a poorly finished Estes Firestreak, which is a veteran of over 30 flights, was properly retired on a C6-7. Perfectly majestic flight, and recovery! I recently bought another kit to replace it, and my BAR rocket will reside on my bookshelf! Pulled the stops out with my Estes Black Brant II on a D12-7 with streamer recovery. _WAY HIGH_ flight, and it was tracked all the way down to the "Field of Thorns [tm]" for recovery without damage. My Custom Bullet went up on a D12-5, but the streamer seperated at ejection. No damage to those stumpy little fins tho' as the rocket almost *glided* down! My decal-less Estes Gemini DC made its maiden flight on a C5-3. Perfect deployment of both 'chutes, and it also *perfectly* hangs itself up in a pine tree. DOH! It was recovered by a friend's kid, who happened to be light, and deft enough, to climb the tree. Recovered in perfect shape other than a couple of trashed 'chutes! I owe him a rocket kit! I helped a friend of mine put up an Estes Big Daddy three times on D12's. One flight hung up on the rod, and went ballistic, but the other two were fine. Another friend's kid's Sidewinder went up twice on C5's. We had a couple of Generic E2X's up on C's (one lost in the woods), and a Cub Scout showed up with his Alpha, which we fire twice on A8's! Sorry this ended up so long, but man!... whata ball! These guys are _great_ to fly with! tah Tod A. Hilty NAR #72099 Hilty Information Systems "I'm going to put the wheels of the bus back on... just in case" - BlankReg, Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future "I speak for myself _and_ my corporation! Deal with it!" - blankreg - remove nospam.ever, and replace with apk for reply