| Eleven members along
with some parents and advisors converged on the National Pike Park
launch site on Saturday, October 20, 2007. It was a clear windy
day, but not cold.
We launched six rockets -- the three Patriots that
we built the preceding Wednesday and the Executioner V1 from last year.
We had some other plans, but the we didn't want to challenge the wind. Sometimes we had
to hold the launch for the wind to slow down.
It was a good day for some of the new members to
learn about the launch process. Here is a
video of the launch day
preparation.
Lessons
- It takes teamwork to use the long rocket retrieval pole.
- When launching in windy conditions, reduce the engine size to keep
the rocket from the trees.
- Two eggs can be packed in the nose cone and altimeter cargo unit of
last year's Executioner model. We will need an additional cargo
unit for the altimeter this year.
Launches
|
Rocket |
Weight |
Engine |
Results |
| Black Patriot (video) |
98g |
C6-5 |
It flew nice
and high, but just landed in a tree about 200 yards away. |
| Red and Orange Patriot in Drag Race (video) |
102g
105g |
C6-5 |
Only one
ignited because the ignitor clips had fallen off the other one.
It just missed the trees. The second was launched but not
videoed. |
| Executioner (video) |
Two wooden
eggs |
E15-7 |
Didn't get
too high, but was a nice launch and recovery. |
| Red and Orange Patriot in Drag Race (video) |
|
B4-2 |
Very cool
launch, but not too high. |
Pictures
The launch site
Checking in
 |
| We got the black Patriot caught in a tree. It took teamwork
to get it down. And we did! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Is
this right?
It
Looks OK!