Next Saturday (not "this" Saturday . . .) is Yuri's Night.

So fly something Russian to celebrate man leaving Earth.

Weather permitting, I'm going to fly my scratch 1/64 Vostok with my niece's Girl Scout Troop. It'll be their first flights of their Super Goblins (Semroc Goblin fins on 18" BT-56, Estes plastic nose cone, 12 " Semroc chute, 18mm power).

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NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

I guess I could fly my Wolverine. My Ruskie is still waiting for final paint.

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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Well, as promised, we flew on Yuri's Night.

3 (of 5) Girl Scouts, my 2 sons and I made a total of 15 flights without so much as a dented fin. We got out early because the forecast had the wind blowing strong by mid-day. My sister is the Troop Leader. She and her charges meet me and my sons at a park near her house which turned out to be excellent for LPR. Temperature was 70 with a light breeze from the Southwest.

Picture 1 shows all five of the kid's rockets. As noted in the first post, they are BT-56 body tubes with Semroc Goblin fins and the ubiquitous Estes black plastic nose cone. Semroc 18mm engine mount and parachute and Apogee Kevlar and elastic finish the kits. My sons made them in Cub Scouts 3 years ago. The girls built theirs over the winter.

Picture 2 was a pretty good lift-off picture of my son's rocket on an A8-3. On the second pad is my Vostok.

Picture 3 is slightly blurry but is the Vostok on D12-3.

Picture 4 is Vostok recovery: capsule on the left, booster on the right. Chutes are Top-Flight thin mill as its darn near impossible to fit two large chutes in 15" of BT-55.

Picture 5 is what its all about: moment of ignition. My son holds the controller for one of the girls (to prevent an accidental tug) while one of the dad's and his young son watch. The girls were first and second graders but their build quality was the equal of the fourth grade boys. The finish color choice was different.

The girls all flew three times. I flew the Vostok twice and my sons each flew twice. When the other two girls are feeling better (stomach virus), we'll launch again.

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

Looks and sounds like it was a good session. Great way to involve the younger set and teach some space history to boot.

Today also marked 33 years since STS-1, believe it or not. Almost seems like yesterday on one hand, three lifetimes ago on the other.

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970