I got out today and last weekend, too. Mixed results, but a great time

Last weekend, I finally got the Li'l Dougie out for its maiden, and probably final, flight. This thing was too many years in the making, and turned into a bit of a Spruce Goose for me.

My recovery crew included two of my daughters and my wife, plus my son (not shown).


There were three pieces to recover, plus I wanted a launch pic. And my son shot video - our first ever time taking video at a launch. So everyone was needed, and, as it turned out, a couple more would have been helpful.

The Li'l Dougie had a cluster with a B4-4 in the center, a 1/2A3-0T on one side, and an A3-0T on the other. The two Zoomies each had a 1/4A3-3T. The idea was that the Zoomies would light in succession and put on a good show. I spent way too much time trying to get these things trimmed for a decent glide, and finally just stuck them on and crossed my fingers One had several flights on it while the other was making its maiden flight, the latter showing decent glides from hand tossing while the older one was a little more unpredictable.

If you've ever flown a Zoomie, you know they can be trimmed for boost or trimmed for glide, but getting them to boost straight and glide requires a PhD in rocket gliders or a last name of Holverson My thinking was that, with the booster taking them aloft, even if they looped under power, they would still be high enough to get in good glides.

My task was to get a liftoff shot, then track the booster. My wife and one daughter were to track one of the Zoomies and my other daughter the second. My son would shoot video.

I got everything set up, then we gave the countdown. At ignition, things started out well enough, but it went downhill quickly after that

Here's a decent shot of the ignition. You can see all three motors burning. The stick protruding to the right is for the burn string.


My first model rocket launch, circa 1969, caught me off guard. At the time, all the rocket launches I had seen were Saturns, and they took a while to clear the tower. But that first Alpha was more like: 5-4-3-2-1-pffft-wtf did it go? Ever since, I've been much better at not getting surprised.

But this launch did in fact catch me off guard again. It seemed like everything happened so fast, too fast. I was expecting the first Zoomie to stage higher, then some delay before the second one, but it seemed like it had barely cleared the rod when the first Zoomie went. Then pop-pfft the second one had staged, too.

And my ground crew were caught off guard as well. They sorta had a fix on one Zoomie, but the other was gone in a blink. In hindsight, I should have had them farther away from the pad for better perspective, and should have had a more veteran flier assigned the second Zoomie.

The video was pretty bad with only the sound track having any value. You can hear the sequence of events. Pffft-pop-pfft-pop-pfft-pop-pop-pop. It happened surprisingly fast.

My youngest recovered one Zoomie while I retrieved the booster, then the 5 of us lined up and used a Boy Scout company front to scour the field, but the new Zoomie was not to be found. I was a little bummed, but I can live with its loss. It brought as much grief as it did joy, so its loss is bittersweet.

If I tried this again, I'd start with a couple of Tinees and then rig them to gap stage ala the CiCi2 with a long stuffer tube from each booster to the glider/sustainer. But for now, I'm content that I finally got this project moved to completion, even if it wasn't very successful.

...

Today, I went out to the DARS launch, and enjoyed seeing the guys. Most of the people there I had expected to be in Kansas, but it was good to see them, so I'm glad they didn't go (to LDRS).

My first flight was an upscale Midget (Quest T30 size) on a B6-0 to B6-6 with a streamer. Great flight. Tore the hook out of the booster, so I'll have to figure out an easy way to repair that. The next flight was a Priority Mail Stealth pyramid on a Road Runner F35. Kewl.

My new BT-55 Midget upscale was next, also on a B6-0 to B6-6 combo with a 12" chute. It hung forever on that chute appearing to catch a thermal soon after ejection. But the walk wasn't too long and it was a great flight.


Last flight of the day was yet another upscale Midget, this one based on Quest T40 tubes, flying a C11-0 to C11-7. I had intended to use a 15" chute, but after seeing the earlier one, I instead used the 12" chute. It was a great flight.


It was recovered in fine shape, but I did notice something unusual. The motor seemed to delaminate around its circumference. I've never seen this before. Not a big deal, but it looks pretty strange. Doug.



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