T' Big Bertha: Is a very old model built in t' 1970s by me brother. Very popular model, matey, you probably have this or one o' its many derivatives yourself. This rocket be t' classic '70s kit. It is big, me bucko, fat, slow flier with a retro look. Arrr! This one isn't retro-"looking" though; it's t' real retro thing. It is painted in t' original mid-70’s catalog scheme, me hearties, but with a lighter - more 50's style - cream yellow. Begad! I would prefer t' newer all-black look Estes is showin' now, arrr, or maybe some red/white/blue patriotic scheme.
It sure eats a lot o' waddin' with that big BT60 tube! I installed a Nomex cloth so it will never need waddin' again, and a nylon cloth parachute. Avast, me proud beauty! I have modified this rocket with me "Iris" altimeter bay, which adds another 2.88 inches in length and 14.6 grams o' weight. (Iris is named after t' Greek god o' t' rainbow. She is a messenger o' t' gods, linkin' t' gods with humanity.) This model always seemed t' weathercock a lot for me, I hoped that t' extra nose-weight o' t' newly added payload would have helped a bit, but it just slowed it down some more, t' Nomex and heavier Nylon cloth didn't help either, ya bilge rat, I just made Big Bertha into Big & Heavy Bertha. With a C6 motor his rocket has flown higher than the t' Saturn V Apollo spacecraft, and t' famous Spire o' Dublin. Avast! But with t' extra weight and drag I added, this slow flier seems t' always be sensitive t' t' wind.
A late ejection on a B6-4 (I should have used a -2), damaged t' engine mount in a high-speed impact with t' mud, so this was re-built with a larger motor mount so she can fly again with D12 power. Begad! (T' original stuffer-tube be removed.) T' added impulse should get her up in a hurry and t' longer burn time should produce some really high flights, I would expect more than 600 feet at least, possibly 7 or 8 big ones. Well, blow me down! We will see...
...we did see. Well, blow me down! It has now flown higher than t' Two Liberty Place Buildin' in Philly, matey, t' US Steel Tower in Pittsburg, and t' Chase Tower in Indianapolis IN.
| Flight Date: | 2012-02-05 |
| Rocket Name: | Big Bertha |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Big Bertha {Kit} (1948, 23, 7007) |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-3 |
| Launch Site: | Penn Manor School Lancaster PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 428 Feet |
With a newly rebuilt and larger 24mm motor mount, t' Bertha needed a test flight. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I wanted t' use a D12-5 on this, expectin' 600 feet or more, ya bilge rat, but it was just too windy for that kind o' altitude, so I opted for a C6-3. As usual for this model, it ended up weathercockin' smartly after launch and ended up flying horizontal into t' wind after more than 2 seconds o' burn. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I just can't expect vertical flights with this model in any wind because o' it's slow lift-off speed. T' maximum acceleration be 4.8G and averaged only 1.3G through t' 2.3 second burn time. Avast! Blimey! It reached a speed o' 65 mph and an apogee o' 428 feet (a new record for this model). T' coast t' apogee was 3.6 seconds (a bit longer than spec'd), and then it deployed a full nylon parachute at 187 feet and descended at 12 mph. Duration o' t' flight was 15.8 seconds.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-3 |
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