With clear skies and little wind, we couldn't have wished for better weather. This was to be our last official meeting of the year and so the weather left us on a good note. The venue was Hornchurch Airfield as it will be until further notice.
I decided to attempt to re-create Dave's big flame/slow motion lift-off from the last meeting by modifying engine nozzles. A larger nozzle did result in less height and a different noise but not much else. Dave, how did you do it? (even Dave doesn't know). My Gemini 1 rocket was the test vehicle and flew 3 times. I also flew Fab Toy twice and an unamed rocket once. This rocket had no engine mount and so the engine flew to the front. The engine couldn't work properly and it only lifted a few feet. It made a funny noise too. It was quite interesting. LLOL Snr rocket was there on display only as I've no engines for it. This takes two D-12-0s and two D-12-7s.
Peter, James and Carol came over and flew the Astrosat several times with its satellite payload. It flew very reliably and the satellites were easy to spot. Their Skywinder had a few close shaves with the ground with its last flight resulting in a confrontation with the grass which it lost! Splat! Long delay engines seemed to be the problem. Look out for the rebuilt rocket next time with short delay motors. Their Sabre landed on the path after its chute didn't open but it was OK. James caught Ivan's Thunderhawk model after a nice flight and an even better catch.
Chris and Sam brought their Super Vega model. This is a big rocket with an unusual design. It went well several times on D-12 motors until its last flight when the chute got jammed and it dived towards the earth. On landing it lost two wings and had a slightly crumpled nose - nothing that a bit of glue and several hours hard work won't cure! It will fly again though. Their Firebird gave Chris a very long recovery walk (never accuse rocketry of not keeping you fit).
Freefall flew again on A motors. Michael brought this rocket today and promised that next year he will have a fleet. Freefall flew well as per usual. No repair work today.
One of our new members, Ivan, turned up with a great assortment of 'weaponry'. His Impulse did a couple of memorable flights. This rocket is really nice and fires on two D-12 motors. His Broadsword gave us all a fright (Ivan more so) when it decided to open its chute just 20 feet from the ground. It was running a D-12-7 which was probably too long a delay for it. A D-12-3 would suit it better. The 12-7 meant that it was diving fast as the shock cord came out and it ripped up the body tube. Ivan was a bit unlucky with the Nighthawk too. This small twin bodied black rocket was a little beauty but it disappeared into the grass after a C engine flight. Everybody was looking for it but none of us found it. It disappeared into the 'Airfield Triangle'. This kit is no longer made either.
Peter and Gary flew their green Big Bertha which opted to land behind some trees but Gary found it OK. It flew on a C6-7. I'm sure they flew some more but I was too busy searching for the Nighthawk at the time.
Whilst over there we saw another rocket flying in the distance. Hmmm, competition from a rival we thought and so we launched some bigger ones. Eventually our opponents came over and introduced themselves and will hopefully fly with us next year. They are Scott and James and they live nearby. Their yellow Silver Streak looked great from a distance. Mike also arrived and took some pictures. He couldn't fly anything due to his pet cat decimating his fleet when it knocked over a box at home.
Sorry if I've left any flights out (I'm sure I have) but all in all it was a nice end to the club's meetings this year. Thanks to everyone who came. See you next year.
If anybody fancies writing a launch report or article for the newsletter next year, please volunteer your services.