June 18th 2023-Father's Day Launch Report

Laurie, Sarah and Andrew joined me for a club launch at the East Branch Forest Preserve in Glendale Heights.  

The first rocket I launched was my newly completed Doorknob using a 29mm E16-6 engine.  That's the biggest engine I've ever used, and OpenRocket predicts the Doorknob should fly 705 feet on this engine. 

Based on that and the ~10 mile an hour wind I decided to use my new Jolly Logic Chute Release for the first time.  I studied the instructional videos on their website and talked to one of the club members for help before launching.  He showed me the recommended way to pack the chute when using a JLCR and we performed a ground release test to be sure it was working correctly.  I set the release for 300', packed the chute and put it on launch pad #9.  After the five second count down I pressed the button and it flew straight and high!  The chute was ejected after the six second delay, but it tumbled gently for several hundred feet until the chute opened, returning the rocket to the launch pad (I almost caught it!).  Andrew captured the launch and recovery for me (below):

The next launch was my DE' FatBoy using a D12-5 engine, projected to fly 623 feet.  

The rocket leapt off the pad and flew straight and true, then ejected the parachute and started drifting.  Andrew caught the launch but lost it in the sun:



The rocket drifted north over some trees, where the club members told me there was a pond!  I walked through the bushes
I finally spotted my FatBoy floating in the middle of the pond, being blown across Sunfish Pond.  By the time I hiked around to the north side it was caught on some Lilly ponds floating ~30 feet offshore.


I decided not to swim for it and headed back to the launch area.  By the time I got back the wind had strengthened and I decided not to try launching anything else today.


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