ROCStock 17

I camped out at the launch site the night before and began prep work early, about 7:00. The rocket was completely prepped by 11:00, however lunch, motor assembly, and a last minute trip into town to get igniter dowels held up the launch until 2:00 or so. Thankfully, the winds stayed calm and allowed us to get TEU into the air without worry. We loaded the rocket onto Bill's Pad 39A and armed the RRC. After raising, we armed the ALTACC, and checked continuity on all four deployment circuits. We installed the igniters, posed for a couple last photos, and retreated to a safe distance. Jeff Gortatowsky called out the count, I slammed down the button, and Chris started snapping away at photos. The rocket lifted majestically off the pad, took a little turn to the right, and roared into the air. The 7 second burn of the M1419W is awesome. After burnout, the rocket could barely be seen. Knowing the size of this vehicle, we could never have imagined it going that high on just a baby M. Deployment was seen clearly, and TEU began its descent on the R7 Pro-EX drogue. It was being tossed about like a 40 lb rag doll. At 1000 feet, the charges fired and the pilot chute was deployed, fully inflating the main parachute within a second. This End Up was recovered 100% intact about a mile away. Other than some major smoke to the bottom end, she is ready to tear another hole in the sky.

The previous hybrid flight was so great that I had to do it again. The rocket had been prepped since September of 2002, but never flown due to weather and other projects. Finally, I got the chance to fly it at ROCStock 17. We loaded it on the pad early, about 8:30 AM, and it filled fine. The rocket lifted right off and cocked a little to the right, then proceeded on a straight course to apogee. It fired the charge, but decided to come down in two pieces after it burnt through the shock cord. A man was nice enough to pick up both pieces for me, since I lost track of them on the way down and he saw where they were. Close to a success -- it's getting a Kevlar shock cord next time :)