We had a very tough day. While the sky was clear and the temperature about 45 degrees, the wind was again over 15 mph.  We planned to do 5 test launches and no qualification launches because of the wind. We set the launch rod at a 20 degree angle with the wind.  We used the plumb line to estimate the angle and direction of the launch rod.

We only got off two launches, before we decided to quit.  And those two were not very successful.  One went horizontal and landed in a tree.  The other one opened up and we lost the altimeter.  We spend 45 minutes looking for it.  It may have gone into the lake.

We also had problems with the altimeters.  They would trigger for no apparent reason.  The problems were with the altimeters that we had flown before, so we tried the third unused altimeter.  That is the one we lost.  We think the problems were with the original batteries.

We only had 5 team members, but they work together and operations went smoothly.  We started with good data sheets, but didn't get much data from the flights.

Lessons

• We need to screw the nose cone to the cargo container.
• We need new batteries for the altimeters.
• There are doubts about the stability of the BT70 design.
• The weights of the rockets are creeping up.
• Analysis of the BT80-1 video showed an ejection delay of about 10 seconds for the E9-8 engine.
• We hope April 1 is a calm day.

Our TARC Rockets

Pictures

Launch Site	BT70-3 Ready
Getting ready the Wednesday before	Checking the simulation