RoboRocketry Launch July 11-12, 2009

Brenda, Naomi and Alan all launched rockets early Saturday and Sunday mornings, July 11th and 12th. We had a lot of good flights including the maiden launch of the RoboRocketryOne which I will be using for a NAR Level 1 certification flight at SARA's August launch outside of Tucson.

A two stage flight of a Semroc Centurian with an added Semroc Booster-16 booster stage. The Booster-16 is powered by an Estes A10-0T Booster motor. We may even have the last stash of these rare motors. If you know where to buy more, let us know...

Alan prepares a rocket he won in a raffle at SARA's Desert Heat 2009 2-day launch.



Alan and Duane by the Quest X-15 just before launch.


Alan loads his Estes Skywriter onto pad #3.



Brenda retrieving the Skywriter.

Preparing a Semroc 1965 Retro Repro Hawk boost glider for it's maiden launch.

The Hawk just before it lifts off...

Well... the Hawk had a great flight until the ejection charge on the Estes 1/2A6-2 motor blew the fuselage in half.


Brenda wasn't so happy with the Hawks temporary demise... Since then the glider has been repaired and should be flown again soon. Maybe over the coming weekend.


Brenda with her Estes Cosmic Cobra. It's a pretty cool little rocket with helicopter recovery for the nose cone. They are a favorite at launches.



2nd flight of the X-15 on an Estes C6-3 motor. It had flown unstable on an Estes B6-4 motor earlier.

The flights took off nice and straight, but after a little altitude, the tail tried to whip around. We then rechecked and found that this rocket, that had been built exactly as the plans called for, needed weight to be added in the nose cone to move the CG forward. A good lesson in double checking to make sure the Center of Gravity (CG) is at least one body tube diameter in front of the Center of Pressure (CP) of the rocket. (We added 1/2 oz of Aves Fixit epoxy putty to the inside front of the nosecone and flew a great flight the next week...)

Showing off some RoboRocketry swag. :-)

Alan prepares his Semroc V-2 for launch.





Brenda prepares her Estes Cosmic Cobra for flight.

Brenda with RoboRocketryOne. the rocket is based on the Semroc SLS Brighton kit.

The Quest X-15.


Alan's reaction after the 2nd lopsided flight of the X-15...

He REALLY loves his rockets...

Brenda with RoboRocketryOne on the day of its maiden flight. It was a great flight except for the parachute not deploying fully, but no damage except for a couple tiny scrapes on the paint of one fin... It's ready for the Level 1 Cert flight!