FAR September 2016
September 2016
/ Mojave Test Area
1 flight, 3200 N-sec burned
I needed to drop some motors off for the NPGS dudes, and finally remembered to bring a rocket with me to fly! It was a reasonably calm day in Mojave, and after chatting with everyone for an hour or so, I finally got my flight off the rail. Scott and I headed back in to town after watching a few more flights, and were back in LA by 3 or so--FAR is quite convenient!
Flight 1: Competitor 4, TDK L1100
I had been itching to mix ever since moving back, and I finally got around to collecting all the bits and pieces needed to give it another shot. Turns out you can just barely fit a 3 grain 75mm motor in a small mixer, along with a couple of 38mm grains to make a test motor from. Back-of-the-envelope figuring put the motor at an L1100 or so--perfect for the Competitor in almost any conditions. Since I was the first to fly this morning, I also had to collect all the bits and pieces of the launch system and hook it all up. Once that was done, we got everyone's attention, counted down, and hit the button. The motor lit right up and hauled the Competitor into the light breeze. Deployment was on-time, but the main shook loose at apogee (really gotta go to 3 pins on this one), leading to a slightly longer-than-planned walk in the desert. No matter--the tracker led us right to it!
