We launched on Sunday, which here was a hot, hazy, very humid day with the threat of thunderstorms. Winds were fairly beefy early on (10-15mph) but eased up as the day wore on... and no rain!
My L1 certification flight was "Opportunity Nox", a ~5 lb scratch built, powered by a Skyripper H155. Went like a dream. Motor lit right up, boosted the rocket clean and fast. Left the APCP folks shaking their heads and going "Hmm. That wasn't too bad at all." A loooong recovery walk, thanks to the wind and apogee only deployment (controlled by a GWiz LC), but recovered complete and with no damage. Certified. Certifiable. Whichever...
Later I lofted "Noxious Nellie", my 6lb+ rocket that had orginally been intended as my cert bird. Again, on the Skyripper I147, a fast clean boost, and textbook performance. Video shows no roll at all during boost. Dual deployment, with a parachute burrito secured with 15lb fishline as the low altitude release. The only really nerve-wracking part of the flight was the period between hearing the charge on the burrito pop and the actual deployment. According to the GWiz MC aboard, there was a 4.5 second, 150 foot lag. I never knew 4.5 seconds could seem like an hour. Reported apogee was 2450', within 100' of predictions.
I had a couple of folks taking video, but like many amateur rocket videos they leave something to be desired. Yet there are some decent frames which supply information that is at least useful. When juxtaposed with the MC data, it's interesting what emerges. For example, on the I147, at 1.1 seconds into the flight there is a transient 2G increase in acceleration as recorded by the MC, and the video at that point shows the flame to suddenly jump to 3x it's length, then back, all in less that 1/15 of a second. Oh, for a high-speed camera.... 30 frames per second just doesn't seem to grind fine enough.
Once I've picked out the best frames, I'll post them to abmr for anyone who might be interested.
This weekend confirmed (to me) that I made the right choice in deciding to shoot hybrids for HP. Other folks were commenting about how complex and intricate the motor assembly process was, and how with APCP you could "slap a couple of pieces together, pop it into the rocket, and away you go!" I guess they just don't get the idea that I've *done* that, over and over. It's the very complexity of hybrids that attracts me, and I can see that this hobby is going to be way worse a money pit than my house. Oh well. Time to start scouting my L2 engine.
My thanks to all for the support and advice offered. I'm hooked.
Kevin OClassen