This year’s October launch at Mansfield was a great event. Unlike previous years, the event was held at the Snell Ranch launch site, and it was unusually warm for an October launch (not a complaint, just an observation). It was also my first launch using the new Canon 30-700mm telephoto lens I had purchased. The new lens works great, and the incredible sharpness of some of the photos I got made it worth every penny (to me, at least). I can’t wait to give it a try on more flights next year.
As for my flights, I made yet another attempt to use the Chute Tamer in Same Old Blues, this time flying it on an AeroTech I245 Mojave Green. Unfortunately, I missed getting a photo of liftoff. The boost was perfect, but when the time delay I had programmed into the Chute Tamer passed, the ‘chute wasn’t released, causing the rocket to tumble drogueless to a landing right in the middle of the gravel road on the east side of the launch site. Fortunately, because I built Same Old Blues like a tank, the only damage was aesthetic. The corner of one of the fins is pretty beat up and the payload bay has a case of road rash on the side it impacted on. With this flight, I decided to abandon the Chute Tamer all together.
My other two flights at the launch went great, both of them with the always-reliable Solar Express. The first flight was on a Cesaroni F59, and the second was on a Cesaroni F36 Blue Streak.
My photo album from the launch can be found at the link below.
Now that the flying season is over (well, for high-power at least) it’s time to start digging into the to-build pile I’ve made over the summer. I have to paint the replacement fin I put on my DynaStar Rising Star (which has been on the work table since the launch in April… of 2010), build the PML Mystic I won in the NARCON photo contest, consider building the FlisKits Proxima Centauri also won at NARCON, and then decide what my next high-power build will be.
Expect more news on new builds later on.
WSC Rocketry 