Golden Scout Flight Thread

[pantherjon]

Thought I would go ahead and start a thread for y'alls to post to when you fly your Golden Scout!:p Post pictures too! ;)

So who has flown theirs?

I flew mine yesterday afternoon on my day off..Hardly a whisper of wind, clear blue skies with temperature in the low 80's, and so was the humidity..Went down to the school yard down the road from me to launch a few others..

I flew mine on an A10-3T stuck in an old A8-3 spent casing..And WOW! Little sucker really got up there! :eek: Motor kicked back just as it is supposed to and had a perfect tumble recovery and it landed in the grass about 10 feet from the pad..

Here it is on the pad
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/Pantherjon/070108%20Launch/070108Launch003.jpg

Liftoff!
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/Pantherjon/070108%20Launch/GoldenScoutLaunch_10.jpg

On the ground after flight
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/Pantherjon/070108%20Launch/070108Launch004.jpg

Fins were scorched a little but not as badly as I have seen some post..There was also some discoloration at the vent holes from the ejection charge
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/Pantherjon/070108%20Launch/070108Launch007.jpg

Am hoping to get my Flight #103 built and finished up and flown next Tuesday :) Flight #100 is now retired..

[Leo]

Nice :)

[ga1ba2]

Is the masking tape on the engine to hold the shim? :confused:

[barone]

Put mine up today on a 1/4A3-4T. I can't believe how high it went on the 1/4A. Glad I didn't put the A8 in. Here are the on the pad and on the ground shots. Tried to get a launch pic but my grandaughter was pushing the button. She pressed on "one" instead of "launch" but she's learning... :D

[CJU]

Flight number 0065 flew on 7/4/08 on a 1/2A6-2. Unfortunately, under thrust, the engine and shim firmly implanted themselves at the nose cone and never ejected... Came in ballistic and buried itself in the dirt.
:(
It is now officially retired. And Carl will be getting my order for another shortly :D

[Leo]

First official flight in Juli outside the USA to take place in a little town in Germany? :)

Here the first after flight picture of #0611 :cool:

http://www.leo.nutz.de/images/rockets/forums/Semroc_Scout_After_Flight_1.jpg

Video to come today or tomorrow :)

[Leo]

This is my personal contribution to Vern & Gleda Estes toward the 50th anniversary of Estes Industries.

I used an 1/2A3-2T Estes engine. The flight was perfect. The Scout tumbled as it was designed to. In the video you can see it coming down to the right of the launch rod starting at 1:25 min.

Hope you enjoy my little anniversary flight :)

Download Video here ... (http://www.leo.nutz.de/videos/rockets/Scout_Flight_50th.wmv) (11mb, .wmv format)


The Scout right after touchdown:
http://www.leo.nutz.de/images/rockets/forums/Semroc_Scout_Ground.jpg

[space_bus]

Cool video, Leo, and your Scout still looks nice.

Is that an old 18mm casing that your 1/2A3-2T is inside of, and if so, what is it? With the red stripes, it looks almost like an ancient Estes booster.

[space_bus]

Put mine up today on a 1/4A3-4T. I can't believe how high it went on the 1/4A. Glad I didn't put the A8 in. Here are the on the pad and on the ground shots. Tried to get a launch pic but my grandaughter was pushing the button. She pressed on "one" instead of "launch" but she's learning... :DLooks absolutely perfect.

I learned the hard way about the A8 (lost my first Golden Scout back in May), and need to get my replacement ready for a proper July flight.

[Leo]

Cool video, Leo, and your Scout still looks nice.

Is that an old 18mm casing that your 1/2A3-2T is inside of, and if so, what is it? With the red stripes, it looks almost like an ancient Estes booster.

Thanks :)

Yes, it is an old casing from 1988. However it was a German made A8-3 rocket motor.

BTW, I forgot to mention that the 1/2A3-2T motor I used was manufactured in 1981! :)
Kind of fitting for the maiden Scout flight :cool:

[Bohica]

#255 flew at 10am on the 4th. Perfect flight all round'. After I clean off a bit of soot she will be sitting on my desk at work happily retired. :D

[barone]

#255 flew at 10am on the 4th. Perfect flight all round'. After I clean off a bit of soot she will be sitting on my desk at work happily retired. :D
I'm not even going to clean the soot off. Building a display case for rocket and certificate to hang in a place of prominence(SP?). Ok....it'll hang in the bedroom....

[Leo]

For those of you with poor vision (like me) :D that can't see in the video the Scout tumbling down here the sequence in pictures:

http://www.leo.nutz.de/images/rockets/forums/Semroc_Scout_Tumble.jpg

[genimijim]

Launched flight #0071 on a 1/4 A3-4T in a A6 casing, perfect flight, perfect tumble recovery.
Launched flight #0072 on the same engine configuration, perfect flight, ballistic recovery as engine and shim wedged up in body tube, crinkled body tube, both will be retired to a display case yet to be built.
There will be an internal investigation on the cause of recovery malfunction.
I'm sure it will take month before any cause or blame is found as department heads like to shift the blame to other departments.



genimijim
(aka Jim)

[Les]

I finsihed mine and flew it today (along with my EMRR Box of Parts rocket). The Golden Scout went up and directly into the sun. There was only me and my son. We looked over the field with no luck. On the edge of the field is a tall weed field (they were at least 3 feet tall). I thought my last view was the rocket heading into that direction. I assume it is in there, and unless I step on it you would never see it.

At least I got to participate in the build and a July flight.

[Leo]

Finaly more flight reports are coming in :)

Sorry to read about the lose of one Scout :(

[PaulK]

At our WOOSH club launch Saturday 7/5, around a half-dozen golden scouts were launched, most of them on 1/2A6-2 motors. All were recovered, though at least 2 lawn darted. One member has #50, which lawndarted with the motor, crunching the BT a bit. My #292, complete with balsa shim, kicked the motor, and hit a gravel road ballistic. When I picked it up, a couple stones were embedded in the NC, but otherwise intact. Undeterred, I removed the stones, bent the hook a bit more, and the 2nd flight tumbled successfully (woohoo!) I then put up a scout clone, on a 1/2A3-2, thinking it would have a bit less ejection force. This one had the motor bounce back from the hook, and came in ballistic. :confused:

[caheaton]

Like so many others, I too flew my Golden Scout (#967) this past weekend. I had hoped for a July 4th launch, but weather and family outings got in the way. Finally on Sunday evening I was able to get in a few flights at the closest launch site at hand...the back yard. ;)

It flew three times. The first was on a 1/4A3-3T.

The second on an old Centuri 1/4A4-2M (date code of 1976...forget which month, but it dates from the year I first got involved with rocketry...I still have those motors as they arrived by mistake, I'd ordered a different motor and didn't have any models that flew these at the time).

The final flight was on a 1/2A6-2.

The mini motors were glued into empty 1/2A6 casings and all flights exhibited a nice tumble. The 1/2A6 showed the markings of "bounce back"...you could see where the hook dented the rear of the motor and swelled the casing out a bit. Overall a very nice little rocket and a lot of fun to fly. :)

Craig

[roktdad]

Golden scouts #748 and #749 were launched in the Garden State on the 4th of July.

We used 1/2a6-2 's on both. Even with shims the engines kicked out. Rockets and engines were recovered without problem.

I had applied foil tape to the fins to avoid burning, but some charring occurred.

Both are sitting on top of the bookcase, waiting for the certificates. We probably will not fly them again, but rather hold on to them.

[CPMcGraw]

I'm at the point of prepping my 18mm casings, having drilled out the clay from eight. Now comes a question:

I see that most of you are flying with 1/4 A3-3, 1/2 A3-2, and 1/2 A3-4 motors. Has there been enough experience with the Golden Scout to say which of these motors produce the most successful flights? Or, just the most pleasing flights?

[cas2047]

I launched three on July 4th using A8-3's. I lost two of them. They just went out of sight of everyone in attendance and were never seen again. I like to think that, in honor of Vern and Glenda they just kept going. :)

The funny part is that this is the first time I've ever used an Estes A engine and I lost two of the three rockets that I launched using the little engine. I never really saw the need to use such a small engine. :o

[Leo]

I'm at the point of prepping my 18mm casings, having drilled out the clay from eight. Now comes a question:

I see that most of you are flying with 1/4 A3-3, 1/2 A3-2, and 1/2 A3-4 motors. Has there been enough experience with the Golden Scout to say which of these motors produce the most successful flights? Or, just the most pleasing flights?

I used a 1/2A3-2T. Was a perfect flight. Check out my video.

[barone]

I'm at the point of prepping my 18mm casings, having drilled out the clay from eight. Now comes a question:

I see that most of you are flying with 1/4 A3-3, 1/2 A3-2, and 1/2 A3-4 motors. Has there been enough experience with the Golden Scout to say which of these motors produce the most successful flights? Or, just the most pleasing flights?
My concern was getting the rocket back. I thought I launched with a 1/4A but I see I actually used a 1/2A. I actually prepped two empty 18mm casings with the 1/4As but decided to use a dummy casing for lightness (less possibility of loosing a fin on landing). What I did was use a yellow engine block inserter (you know what I'm talking about) and installed a 13mm tube inside using two CR5-20s. The outside of the CRs had to be peeled down to fit inside the yellow spacer tube. The 13mm tube extended out the aft of the yellow tube about 1/4 inch and the motor, when installed, extended another 1/4 inch. Gave me some redundancy concerning the motor kick. If it missed the motor, the end of the spacer tube still could be caught. Also, if the motor did rebound back into the body tube, I still had most of the remaining mass at the rear of the rocket, thus, would still have a tumble recovery. Looking at the used motor, there is a very prominent dent where it hit the motor hook. Upon recovery, the yellow spacer was inside the BT. I don't know if this was a result of the landing or as a result of a rebound. Since the rocket came in tumbling, not nose first, I would assume that the motor rebounded. But, since the mass was so far aft, it was still able to tumble.

On the 1/2A3-2T motor I used, I saw the entire flight. No instability in ascent. Tumbled all the way to the ground. No charred fins. Sooty around the pressure vent holes.

First picture is of the dent in the motor. The next three show each vent hole.

[caheaton]

I can't speak for the others, but I found the 1/2A6-2 flight to be the best. It flew considerably higher than with the 1/4A motors, yet was still in sight the entire time and still landed close (maybe 60 feet) to the pad. The 1/4A flights were pretty low, but they did land close. One was about 15 feet from the pad and the other about 25 feet (and almost on top of my grill...barbecued rocket anyone? ;) )
Craig

[CPMcGraw]

OK, the GS-348 has flown twice in Mobile, Alabama! I flew it in my backyard using 1/4A3-3T motors. On both flights, the model started off falling just as advertised, in a flat spin, but as the decent progressed, it changed into a ballistic fall. The first flight poked itself about an inch through the grass into the dirt with no damage. The second flight bounced, but still no damage beyond a little skuffing of the finish. There was a bit of paint bubbling between the vent holes from the deployment charge.

The first attempt (not counted) was a partial flight, BTW. The launch controller leads got hung on the motor hook and the model pulled the leads about 8' in the air. It dropped to the ground and the ejection charge fired after touchdown.

[BobCox]

You guys using 13mm motors with adapters are cheating. :p Stick with the 18mm motor, as Vern and the Good Lord intended.

I flew mine on a 1/2A6-2 engine. Too keep it from sliding too far forward and charring the tube and fins, I stuck a bent paper clip into the front of the casing. This kept the rear of the motor flush with the rear of the tube.

I flew mine (#0123) on the 4th of July at the same time as Tater Schuld (#0474). Tater flew his on an A8-3. Both of them whizzed off the pad and disappeared. Fortunately, my nephew spotted mine laying on the ground about 60 feet from the pad. Tater's landed about 150 feet away and just missed the gravel road.

The hook did its job by holding the motor in place. Unfortunately, one of the fins tore loose on landing. It should be easy to repair.

The fins had only a little charring, much less than Tater's. I don't know how much difference was caused by the smaller engine and how much by the paper clip standoff, but whatever it was, it helped.

There was only a small amount of smoke haze down the sides of the tube near the exhaust holes. Hopefully I can wipe it off without damaging the decal.

Now that this Golden Scout has flown in the Sky of Gold event, it will be retired and proudly displayed in a place of honor in my newly remodeled underground laboratory.

[ga1ba2]

#085 took to the sky today. Nice flight but the motor completely ejected . The Scout sustained very minor damage some cracked paint on the nose and very slight burning on the fins. I had used a 13mm friction fitted into an 18mm casing with the 13mm sticking out about 1/4 inch. I think this is why it ejected. It's retired now ;)

[Mikus]

Flight #329 checking in from Needville TX. Flew a modifed Golden Scout (thrust ring added) on a 1/2A6-2. Flew great and the motor kicked back against the hook before tumbling back as designed.

Unfortunately the impact with the dry, hard Texas Tundra broke one fin straight back and another fin to the side. Some fin charring was also present even with the end of the motor sticking 1/4" out of the back side. No soot around the vent holes.

Was too chicken to fly the upscale GS. :o

[shockwaveriderz]

well I was successful in getting Sky of Gold #0189 up for 2 flights on 1/2A6-2's, temperasture was 82 F 40% humidity, clear blue skies and winds of 12 mph from the NW.
Both flights went essentially straight up and landed within 40 ft of the lauch pad.

attached are 3 pics from the flight.

pic 1 ia a shot setting on the launch pad
pic 2 is a shot of flight 2 laying in the grass
pic 3 shows the exhaust damage

terry dean

[JRThro]

I flew Golden Scouts #635 and #636 at the same launch as Mikus, two posts before this one.

Motors used for both flights were 1/2A3-4T's shoved into a used 18 mm motor casing. I didn't use a shim of any kind, and both flights were perfect. Flew straight up very nicely, and tumbled back down very nicely, with the motor retained by the metal hook.

One fin on each Golden Scout was broken about 1/3 of the way down from the root edge. One broke straight back toward the center of the rocket, and the other one broke at the same place, but to the side. Apparently the gel CA fin attachment to the body tube followed by multiple layers of white glue for fin fillets was nice and strong! And apparently landing on the tip of a fin while the rocket is tumbling just results in too much force for these fins to handle.

There was some minor fin scorching and some soot around the outside of the vent holes, but nothing too major.

I'll get both of these repaired and fixed up in time to fly again at NARAM.

Now I'm off to register my flights at the Semroc Sky of Gold website.

[dwmzmm]

Also flew my Golden Scouts # 0378 & # 0836 at Needville, TX as did Mikus and John Thro;
both were launched using the 1/2A6-2 and both flights were textbook perfect with no damage on landing and hardly any scortching of the fins.

I'll be posting pictures once my computer is up and running (at home - I'm using the computers at a library as I type this); we're fixing to have our carpet removed in our living
room to be replaced with floor tiles, so my home computer will be offline for a little while.

More later....

[dwmzmm]

Here's the pics of my two Golden Scout launches yesterday, as mentioned in my previous
post.....

The last picture has both Golden Scouts "posing" for the camera with their spent 1/2A6-2
motor casing (which I may also keep forever).....

[moonzero2]

Launched Golden Scouts Flight #167 and #168, Saturday, 07/19/08, with the C.R.A.S.H. (Colorado Rocketry Association of Space Hobbyists) at their Bear Creek Lake Park launch site. It was a perfect day for launching rockets.

Flight #167 (mine) went up 1st on a 1/2A6-2 with the balsa shim installed and the up flight was great. The ejection ejected the engine from the rocket and it came in ballistic. There are some chips in the paint on the nose cone from the hard landing in the gravel.

Flight #168 (my Grand-daughter Shelby’s) also went up on a 1/2A6-2 with the balsa shim installed, but this time I slightly bent the engine retaining hook slightly inward hoping this would help catch the ejected engine. The up flight was again great, and at ejection the hook did catch the engine and the Scout tumbled down perfectly. The landing was on some hard dirt and it did slightly crack one fin from the body tube.

It was great watching the flights of these Classic rockets and just AWESOME being able to participate in honoring Vern & Glenda Estes’ 50th Anniversary. Thank-you to everyone who made this happen, and especially Thank-you to Vern & Glenda Estes for giving us all such a wonderful hobby. Happy 50th Anniversary! :D

[conleyt]

Flew both of my Golden Scouts today. #295 flew great on a 1/2A3-2T, tumbled like it is supposed to, but landed on asphalt. Knocked a fin loose and dinged the nose cone. #296 also flew beautifully on a 1/2A3-2T, but the engine didn't kick back (too tight) and it came in balistic. It's now about 1/2 inch shorter! :(

Tom C.

[elbraz]

Flight 560 went up on 20 July, at the Norman Ok. Loco Burro launch site.. Flew on a 1/2A6-2, no damage, no charring. I'm not even taking the spent casing out. The Scout goes on my display shelf. Thanks, Carl and Dr Rocket for the idea and opportunity.
-Braz

[Niteowl]

Got ours off be fore noon. Pics less than stellar as usual.

My son's GS had a textbook flight, the gold sparkling as it tumbled from the sky and landed ~80ft from the pad. I watched mine start to tumble and had the bright idea to take a pic. Lost sight of it in the process and took 15 min. searching in a grid pattern for it. Both landed safely. I was happy to see the soccer fields needed to be cut upon arrival.

[Race58]

I'm planning to launch my Golden Scout this week. I found some old engines I had from the 70's & 80's
They are 13mm as follows:
Estes

A3-4T (1 3/4 " Long)

Aerospace Vehicles Inc
Mineral Point,Ws ( My memory about this company is really vague. I remember having these motors but nothing stands out about the company)

A3-2M (2 1/4" Long)
B3-3M ( same)


Will they work with a little adapting?

[Ltvscout]

I'm planning to launch my Golden Scout this week. I found some old engines I had from the 70's & 80's
They are 13mm as follows:
Estes

A3-4T (1 3/4 " Long)

Aerospace Vehicles Inc
Mineral Point,Ws ( My memory about this company is really vague. I remember having these motors but nothing stands out about the company)

A3-2M (2 1/4" Long)
B3-3M ( same)


Will they work with a little adapting?
Either would work with adapters, but I'd hold on to the AVI motors. Those are much rarer than the A3-4T.

[Race58]

Just had them laying around all these years. I seem to remember having a lot of them but I can only find a few now.
How rare are they and do you know any history behind them??Either would work with adapters, but I'd hold on to the AVI motors. Those are much rarer than the A3-4T.

[Royatl]

Either would work with adapters, but I'd hold on to the AVI motors. Those are much rarer than the A3-4T.

Not only that, but you really want a longer delay than two seconds.

I flew scouts #599 and 600 today at NARAM using 1/2a6-4 motors made in 1981. Perfect flights. Gentle ejection charges, no ping back (I didn't use a shim). Grass at Great Meadow is thick enough I don't think anyone had problems with broken fins.

[Ltvscout]

Not only that, but you really want a longer delay than two seconds.

I flew scouts #599 and 600 today at NARAM using 1/2a6-4 motors made in 1981. Perfect flights. Gentle ejection charges, no ping back (I didn't use a shim). Grass at Great Meadow is thick enough I don't think anyone had problems with broken fins.
I take it they have the OOP motor program running at NARAM? I was hoping they would do that.

[Race58]

Sounds good. I also found a couple of Estes 1/2A6-4's with the date 5-4-73 :eek: Maybe I'll use them instead
Do you or anybody know if Estes used codes for the dates later on? I have some others here but no dates just something like 4P2 and 21P16.
Hopefully I will find out more info on those AVI motors (I'm working on it).Not only that, but you really want a longer delay than two seconds.

I flew scouts #599 and 600 today at NARAM using 1/2a6-4 motors made in 1981. Perfect flights. Gentle ejection charges, no ping back (I didn't use a shim). Grass at Great Meadow is thick enough I don't think anyone had problems with broken fins.

[timorley]

I launched my Golden Scout #1050 twice yesterday. I used a 13mm 1/2A3-2T and it seemed appropriate that I used an 18mm Semroc Engine spacer tube as the motor adapter. Both flights went very well with nice tumble recoveries. The characteristic ding in the engine from hitting the engine catch hook on ejection was present both times. The motor stayed in for both flights on ejection. I did notice after the second flight that the fin to body joint had a hairline fracture at the leading edge on one fin, I assume from the landing, but I'm retiring it, so no matter. Typical residue at the 3 ports. Great little flier. This was a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vern and Glenda Estes' contributions to model rocketry.

[jadebox]

I launched my Golden Scout (Flight #1096) four times today. I used 1/4A3-3T motors wedged inside used 18mm motor casings.

Instead of using a shim, I used a stiffer wire for the "motor retaining wire." By bending the wire inward after installing the motor, the wire keeps the motor from bouncing back into the rocket (most of the time).

The rocket tunbled correctly three times and came in nose-first once.

I've created a high-speed (slow-motion) video of Flight #1096. You can see it at:

http://www.payloadbay.com/video-7946.html

You can either view the lower-resolution YouTube version or click the link at the bottom of the page to view a high-resolution version using your media player. (Or "right-click" the link and save the video to your computer.)

-- Roger

[barone]

Nice video.... :)

[Ltvscout]

I've created a high-speed (slow-motion) video of Flight #1096. You can see it at:

http://www.payloadbay.com/video-7946.html

You can either view the lower-resolution YouTube version or click the link at the bottom of the page to view a high-resolution version using your media player. (Or "right-click" the link and save the video to your computer.)
That's really slick, Roger! Great job!

[ga1ba2]

Fantistic video :)

[moonzero2]

Amazing video! Just AMAZING!!!!

[Leo]

Sehr schoen :)

[mojo1986]

I flew my Golden Scout (flight number 0379) yesterday and was unable to enter the flight information on the Semroc website. Anybody else having the same problem?

Joe

[Race58]

Now , that was a really cool video. :cool:
Thanks

[DaveR]

Launched my Golden Scout Friday 07/25/08. Nice boost on a 1/2A6-2 with tumble recovery within 25' of the launch pad. There was a bit of a thud when it hit, but apparently it ws just the motor sliding back into the nose cone. The 'lil dude was fast so I missed the lift off.

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/dpmmrichardson/Pic12.jpg

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/dpmmrichardson/Pic13.jpg

[Eagle3]

Cool video Roger.

I flew #89 yesterday at the JMRC July launch. Great flight on an A8-5.

[jadebox]

Thanks for all the kind comments about the video I posted. My wife and I had fun making it. And our neighbors are probably still wondering why I was laying on the grass in the front yard while my wife repeatedly threw a little golden pointy thing at me. I should put together a "blooper" reel. :-)

-- Roger

[jetlag]

Thanks for all the kind comments about the video I posted. My wife and I had fun making it. And our neighbors are probably still wondering why I was laying on the grass in the front yard while my wife repeatedly threw a little golden pointy thing at me. I should put together a "blooper" reel. :-)

-- Roger

Roger,
That was a fantastic video!!!!!!! If Semroc chose to do a TV commercial for rocketry products, that would be a great one to use!

Launched #'s 1062 (mine), 1063 (my buddy, George's), and 1064 (my son's---he is 11 yo---add the #'s up ;) ). All were launched one time with 1/2A6-2's. All had perfect flights, except George; his flew beautifully, but on the return trip, it hit the only rock in the whole field! Just broke the fin in half, which was CA'ed later. My son wants to display his with the motor still in it with the Certificate. Not a bad idea, I thought.
Thanks, Vern and Gleda (is it Gleda or Glenda? I've seen it both ways).
Thanks Carl and RD for all the encouragement and support, and making this possible for the rest of us to enjoy!
We fired quite a few rockets yesterday, which I'll talk about elsewhere on YORF.
As usual, a great time was had by all of us, thanks mostly to Vern and Gleda! :D
Allen

[dtomko]

Golden Scout #1046 flown today on an A8-3. Perfect boost and tumble. Unfortunately, it caught a bit of a breeze on the way down and landed in a wooded area next to my son's elementary school. :( No chance of finding it.

Drew

[Race58]

What did they say when she hung you in the air to follow it up and down? :eek: :D Thanks for all the kind comments about the video I posted. My wife and I had fun making it. And our neighbors are probably still wondering why I was laying on the grass in the front yard while my wife repeatedly threw a little golden pointy thing at me. I should put together a "blooper" reel. :-)

-- Roger

[ECayemberg]

I've been lurking on YORF for a while, and figured what better time for a first post than in the Golden Scout flight thread.

I decided at the last moment to purchase 3 Golden Scouts from Carl before he left for NARAM. I figured I'd build one, fly it, and hoard the other two for collectors sake. After mentioning the "Sky of Gold" to my Dad, he offered to take a Golden Scout off my hands, build and fly it. I later mentioned "Sky of Gold" to my uncle, who had an original Scout in his younger years, and he decided it'd be fun to participate. So much for keeping an unbuilt kit or two :) Oh well, kits are meant to be built and flown anyway.

Package showed up last Thursday, Scouts were built over the weekend, and the launch date Tuesday, July 29 was upon us. Skies were mostly cloudy, with winds at a steady 10-12 mph.

The first flight was a wind test, Baby Bertha on a B4-4. After a nice boost with a little weathercocking, the 12" nylon chute deployed and the rocket drifted back within 15' of the pad.

A group shot wast then taken with our Scouts (photo 1). From left to right: Eric (me), Tom (my Dad), and Kevin (my Uncle).

The first Scout of the day was then placed on the pad, Kevin's Golden Scout #1113 on a 1/2A6-2 (photo 2). Kevin installed a thrust ring just aft of the vent holes, and did not use any shims for his flight. Following a quick boost, the motor kicked back as designed, and the Scout tumbled back to earth. Despite the proper descent and grass landing area, a soft balsa fin broke about 3/8" out from the root.

The second Scout was Tom's #1114, also on a 1/2A6-2. Tom didn't use any shims, but did place a balsa spacer forward of the engine to prevent the engine from pushing too far forward. Scout #1114 turned in a stellar performance, boosting straight, and tumbling back to ground with no damage about 30' from the pad it left from (photo 3).

The third Scout was Eric's #1112 (photo 4), which was to fly on another 1/2A6-2. Ignoring the two previous nominal flights, I followed all the recommendations of installing a shim opposite of the engine hook. As prescribed, the motor was slightly snug, but still could be moved in/out with little effort. Following a quick boost, Scout #1112 had a quick recovery...read that ballistic. The motor failed to slide aft, resulting in a lawn dart and a slight crinkle in the body tube just aft of the nosecone (photo 5).

Seeking redemption, I flew #1112 on another 1/2A6-2, this time around using no shim. I simply bent the motor hook in slightly, and allowed the loose fit in the airframe. This time, the Scout turned in a fully successful flight (photo 6).

Tom prepped his Baby Bertha again, this time flying it on an MRC A8-3. After a majestic liftoff, the Baby struggled for altitude. The 3 second delay was more like a 5 second delay, and the Bertha popped it's chute about 10' AGL, slowing the descent somewhat. No fins were harmed, but the front end of the body tube was bent up a bit.

I just couldn't ignore the opened pack of B4-6's sitting in the range box. Tempting fate, Scout #1112 was loaded up with a B4-6. After a long boost :eek: , my eyes were straining to see the little dot in the sky. Tom and Kevin had already lost sight of it. When the 6 second delay elapsed, the tiny dot started tumbling down. The steady winds were carrying that little bird quite a ways however, so I started walking, then running in the direction of the drifting Scout. I followed the tumbler all the way to the ground, where it landed on asphalt behind a set of chain-link fence. :mad: :rolleyes: After determining the "easiest" method of getting to #1112, I hopped two fences, grabbed the Scout, hopped back over the fences, happy that the Scout survived the B4 attempt. See photo 7 for damage. A slightly dinged fin, a small scratch or two on the arm, and a big rip in the seat of my pants (that pic omitted out of courtesy for any onlookers :D )

That's our Scout adventure! Thanks to Vern and Gleda for getting the whole thing started 50 years ago, Carl and the Semroc gang for doing up the kits and flightlogs, RocketDoc for the idea, and all others who contributed. We were happy to have participated.

-Eric Cayemberg-

[Leo]

See..., now that post didn't hurt ... did it Herr Lurker :D

[Niteowl]

Great post Eric. Thanks for taking the time to share!

[ECayemberg]

Niteowl, Leo,

Thanks for the comments guys!!! Happy to jump in and join the fun!

Didn't hurt much at all! You know it's a good launch when you can walk away from the launch after shedding some blood, sweat, and tears :D .

Leo, your site is a work of art! I admire the collection!

-Eric-

[Leo]

Thanks Eric :)

Welcome to the fold :)

[Race58]

My Golden Scout #1029 which was graciously traded to me by "moonzero2" (Thanks So Much:) :) ) so I could have that particular number was finished today.
I'll go out and fly it tonite.
Have to let paint and decals dry first. Talk about getting in under the wire.:D
Pictures and hopefully video to follow.

[Tau Zero]

Talk about getting in under the wire. :DJoin the party! I (finally!) started building mine a week ago, primed it last night, sanded it and hit it with gold this morning! :eek:

Liftoff in Idaho was at roughly 8:25 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time on the College of Southern Idaho campus in Twin Falls, Idaho. The preflight photo shows the Herrett Center for Arts and Sciences in the background, with the Centennial Observatory featured prominently. :cool:

The first and only flight of Golden Scout #51 (thanks Carl, Sheryl, and Bruce!) was on an Estes 1/2A6-2. The rocket climbed into the golden sky ('cause the sun was setting, see :rolleyes: ) and nosed over. Unfortunately, as you can see in photo #2, touchdown was nose-first in the nearby parking lot (ouch!), with damage to the outer edge of one fin, and typical exhaust charring on the trailing edges of the fins (photo #3).


I'm going to sign and retire this one. ;) :D


Thanks again to the McLawhorns and Ken Montanye (along with Vern and Gleda Estes) for a *more* than fitting 50th anniversary celebration of model rocketry! :D


Cheers,

[DaveR]

I flew mine last Friday, but MS is still not colored gold. :(

I assume Carl hasn't updated the map since NARAM.

[DaveR]

I flew mine last Friday, but MS is still not colored gold. :(

I assume Carl hasn't updated the map since NARAM.
Mississippi is now gold.
Thanks Carl. ;)

[cas2047]

Massachusetts/Rhode Island/New Hampshire

I bought three and launched all three in MA on July 4th. I lost two of the three.

I bought three more and launched two in RI on July 26 and one in NH on July 28th.

[Race58]

As some of you read in another post I was looking for Golden Scout# 1029.
It was my Star number before I retired from the Chicago PD after 30yrs.

Bob Forgacs "Moonzero2" saw the post and traded mine for his.:)

Keeping with the reason I wanted that number I thought that I would finish it differently than the normal all gold color.
I thought about it for awhile and came up with a design that resembles the CPD "Squad" car.

Here is what it looked like when I finished it.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q276/rvfulltime/IMG_1030.jpg

[barone]

I figured there was some significance to the number but couldn't figure it out. I knew your birthday wasn't in October..... ;)

[genimijim]

Race58, that is a neat looking Golden Scout, the paint scheme to resemble a CPD squad car.

Congrats on the 30 yrs of public service, your Golden Scout tops of those years of service.

genimijim

[moonzero2]

As some of you read in another post I was looking for Golden Scout# 1029.
It was my Star number before I retired from the Chicago PD after 30yrs.

Bob Forgacs "Moonzero2" saw the post and traded mine for his.:)

Keeping with the reason I wanted that number I thought that I would finish it differently than the normal all gold color.
I thought about it for awhile and came up with a design that resembles the CPD "Squad" car.

Here is what it looked like when I finished it.
It was well worth making the trade,... as that is one GREAT looking Golden Scout! :D

[Rocket Doctor]

As some of you read in another post I was looking for Golden Scout# 1029.
It was my Star number before I retired from the Chicago PD after 30yrs.

Bob Forgacs "Moonzero2" saw the post and traded mine for his.:)

Keeping with the reason I wanted that number I thought that I would finish it differently than the normal all gold color.
I thought about it for awhile and came up with a design that resembles the CPD "Squad" car.

Here is what it looked like when I finished it.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q276/rvfulltime/IMG_1030.jpg


Great detailing....
Thanks for your participation and your support.

RD

[Race58]

Thanks,, Genimijim, Bob (Moonzero2).
Ken(RD),, It was my pleasure and I wouldn't have missed it. I was a little worried that I wouldn't get it done by the end of NARAM. I saw that no one else was doing one in Arkansas so it gave me more incentive to finish on time.