October Skies 2019

I knew the Competitor would do well on a motor of rough size—see last year's performance at this field on the 98mm version—but the heavy fiberglass airframe could really use a little more punch than the graceful long-burn 98mm provides. Any propellant in the 75/7600 becomes a little ignorant, and that once again proved to be the case here. Dan helped me haul the bird out to the pad and get it vertical (much easier with two sets of hands, I think there's a "The Lobster" reference in here somewhere) and before I knew it, we were ready to go. I also remembered the weirdly-exposed photos from the year prior and positioned myself to try and get a better shot. The motor came right up to pressure and the bird really scooted off the pad, almost faster than I could follow! It weathercocked a bit to the north, following almost the same trajectory as last year. Apogee and main deployments were both visible, and the Competitor came to rest in nearly the same location as its previous flight. Needs a bigger motor next time around :)