Flight #11 was tough. Likely the last flight of my Estes Astron Avenger, the first rocket I ever cloned back in 2001 when I got everything I needed in an old Estes Designers Special. (Save the nose cone, which was a Carl original.) I recently restored the old bird, basically a repaint with a new payload tube and fin for the sustainer. It looked great, especially with the inclusion of the roll decal, and I was expecting a majestic flight on the C6-0/C6-7 combo that it had flown well on in the past. The flight looked to be in trouble as soon as it left the rod, as it staged almost immediately. The booster dropped just behind the pads and the sustainer took off on the same path as the Taser Twin followed earlier. At ejection it looked like it was going to recover on field, but behind the flightline. It was a matter of about three feet that decided its fate. It just barely caught the top of one of the small trees that line the road. No one had a pole to recover it, and no branch in the tree could support much more than a three year old. There it hangs. My only saving grace is that we've been in a drought of late, and I'm hoping someone might have the recovery poles at a subsequent launch.

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

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

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark