As an encore performance of the spectacular fourth flight of the Zephyr, Burl concocted antother N-impulse sorbitol motor, but improved with more sparky goodness — titanium flecks to jazz up the visual effects. It made for a really cool launch! This flight took place on the April 26 2008 meeting of the AHPRA club. I even became a Tripoli member in good standing just to fly inside the rules of the EX launch. I guess it's about time I added a Tripoli number to my NAR credentials.
I did most of the prep in the days leading up to the flight
|
The day of the launch all I had to do was stand it on the pad
|
Aligning the pad with the rocket
|
The cheese stands alone
|
The first puff of smoke from the igniter
|
Titanium sparks fill the blast radius
|
The Zephyr leave the pad
|
A slight weathercock into the breeze
|
Accelerating — and just beginning to gyrate.
|
The smoke trail reveals the characteristic corkscrew flight path
|
On its way to nearly 5000 feet AGL
|
Descent on the drogue chute. The main had just ejected here.
|
This is an interesting photo. The main chute is just beginning to inflate.
|
All the laundry getting aired out. The smoke is from the backup ejection charge.
|