Competitor 5

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 :)

After pulling some LCO duty on Saturday, I finished buttoning up the Competitor 5 for its maiden M voyage. The big pad at TCC's away cell is a little tough to load by yourself, but I was eventually successful by putting the rail on the rocket first and then levering the whole thing into the pad like some sort of weird christmas tree. After locating and pinching myself on a ladder, I finally was all set to go. James pushed the button, the motor pressurized, and the bird steamed off the pad at a leisurely clip, arcing slightly to the north as it continued on its long burn. Drogue and main were both visible, and the rocket landed under full R14 canopy just off the road one field over. Nice flight!

The weather was holding so I elected to proceed with my shakedown flight on the Competitor 5. This had been a long time coming; I started the rocket back in 2006, so it only took 11 years! After final assembly and shear pin installation, Andrew helped me load up. A few happy snaps with the rocket and then back to the middle row for photos. Gregg called out the count and the rocket lifted off cleanly on a nice spike of blue fire. Drogue and main deployment were visible, and I got to the rocket before it dragged too far on its R14 main. A nice first flight.