November 19 2023 Launch Report

Today was the last scheduled club launch of the year.   When I got to the club site around 11 am the conditions were 52 F with a 7 mph wind.  After getting reacquainted with a few club members I prepared my new Leviathan for its first launch.  OpenRocket estimated it would fly 650 feet on an Estes F15-4.  I prepped the tape around the engine, installed the Jolly Logic Chute Release after doing a ground test to be sure it would release.  I set the JLCR to release at 300 feet.  I added 12 sheets of wadding, added an ignitor the put it on the launch pad.


I caught the launch and recovery:


and found the rocket in some short grass just below the launch area.



Next I prepped my Super Big Bertha with an E16-6, estimated to fly 860 feet.  Satisfied, I put it on the launch pad next to our club president's Death Star (it blows up at apogee!).


It took off after the countdown but descended quickly without the parachute opening!  It had been so long since I ground tested the JLCR that it must have gone to sleep!  Worse, it went into the thick field of 6 foot tall reeds and cattails.  I spent ~45 minutes stomping around in the area on this map without success.


Exhausted and dejected (cutting my own trail through these thick dried plants was like using a stair master at the gym!), I went back to watch some cool launches and commiserate with club members who all assured me they'd lost some of their own rockets to "the thicket".  An hour later, a young club member came back from looking for his own rocket with my Super Big Bertha!  The top 2 or 3 inches of the body tube were crumpled (below) but should be salvageable.  Most importantly, I got my JLCR back.  This is why I always write my name and cell phone number on the nose cone before launch!

I may need to 3D print a BT-80 (2.6") tube cutting guide since the Estes set I have only goes up to BT-60.

==> See my November 25 repair notes.  Super Big Bertha will fly again!

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