I've finally posted my pics from PlasterBlaster:
However, only one of the booster motors lit. The resulting off-center thrust made the liftoff a bit squirelly and the rocket corkscrewed a little going up. The pyro release worked fine, though the boosters separated a bit early. A moment later the I211 kicked in, sending the rocket far to the south. It was eventually found south of the railroad tracks. A tangled chute caused minor damage to the rocket. The payload and camera were unharmed, but the inflight photos were no good -- I'd forgotten to disable the autofocus, so every image was focused on the tail of the rocket, leaving the ground a blur. Chuck Pretto shot a terrific series of photos which show all the action from the ground, and has kindly allowed me to post them.
My second flight was a 1.8" diameter rocket on a G80, which was launched alongside the first rocket. It actually passed through the flame of the larger rocket at liftoff, slightly scorching the payload, then passed that rocket. However, the two rockets were no longer at the correct angle in relation to each other, so I didn't get any shots of the bigger rocket in flight. The photos were still fairly interesting.
My third flight was a 4" diameter rocket powered by a K550. It was flown alongside another K550-powered rocket, Roy Palmanteer's Honest John. Again, I was hoping to get pics of the other rocket in flight, but Roy's HoJo came up to pressure much quicker and left the pad before mine. Other than that, it was a perfect flight to 4791 feet, with some nice pics of the flight line and parking areas.
My last flight was a small rocket on an H97, launched alongside a larger rocket which was flown on an M. Unfortunately I don't recall who the rocket belonged to or what specific motor it had. And once again, the larger rocket got off the ground ahead of mine.
There were a lot of memorable flights at PB4. A few that stand out in my mind are:
1=2E Super night launch on Friday night. A rocket powered by a J Redline was packed with hundreds of glow sticks and flashing LEDs, all on streamers, which deployed at ejection. What a sight!!!2=2E A rocket that suffered some type of motor failure shortly after liftoff, and hung in the air for several seconds spewing flame and spinning like a monocopter.
3=2E Andy Woerner's big space shuttle, which flew and performed flawlessly. Everything worked -- the boosters separated and then deployed their chutes, followed by the external tank; then the orbiter glided just as sweet as you please. It was absolutely breathtaking!4=2E The giant N1 launch. A great flight despite some recovery problems on the first stage booster.
5=2E A sleek two-stage rocket powered by L motors. Didn't catch the name of the gentleman who flew it.6=2E The large Bomarc. A nice model and a surprisingly straight flight despite losing its wings halfway up.
7=2E The AZ team's big Saturn V was a work of art, though they didn't get to fly it due to some electronics problems.8=2E Mike Worthen had a neat launch of a boosted dart on an M motor.
9=2E The "Thumper" drag race was reduced to ten rockets but still spectacular. Nine took to the air, and one shredded. This was a very colorful launch, with its mix of White Lightning, Blue Thunder and Redline motors.
- The mass launch of 100 Flis Tri-Glides. Each of these rockets carries three small foam gliders that deploy at ejection and gently glide to Earth. The rockets descended on glittering mylar streamers.
There were many, many other great flights. As usual this was a very well-run launch and a ton of fun. Plenty of amenities too -- not just dumpsters and porta-potties, but also pizza delivery and the ice cream truck that stopped by several times each day. (In addition to the usual frozen treats, he also stocked bags of ice to resupply our coolers!)
Many thanks to all who made this launch possible!
=CB=87