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. Ya scallywag! It is big, shiver me timbers, fat, arrr, slow flier with a retro look. This one isn't retro-"looking" though; it's t' real retro thing. It is painted in t' original mid-70’s catalog scheme, but with a lighter - more 50's style - cream yellow. Arrr! I would prefer t' newer all-black look Estes is showin' now, 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. 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. Begad! 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, matey, and t' famous Spire o' Dublin. Ahoy! 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. Ahoy! (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, shiver me timbers, I would expect more than 600 feet at least, arrr, possibly 7 or 8 big ones. We will see...
...we did see. Well, blow me down! It has now flown higher than t' Two Liberty Place Buildin' in Philly, t' US Steel Tower in Pittsburg, and t' Chase Tower in Indianapolis IN.
| Flight Date: | 2012-06-10 |
| Rocket Name: | Big Bertha |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Big Bertha {Kit} (1948, 23, 7007) |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-5 |
| Launch Site: | Halifax, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 277 Feet |
This was t' eleventh and last flight o' t' day. Ya scallywag! I vacillated over which model t' fly before choosin' t' venerable Big Bertha. T' choice o' motor be more difficult. Arrr! T' D12 is a great choice, shiver me timbers, although it would produce altitudes a bit too high for me comfort today, and I be savin' them for another rocket t' carry a camera. T' C11 was t' next best choice, but I didn’t have any. I would have t' use t' 18-24mm adaptor and a C6-something. T' -3 was a bit short on delay time, but a 5 second delay could be a repeat disaster if this wind-cock-prone model caught a gust on liftoff and veered horizontally. It was generally calm but late in t' afternoon occasional gusts would appear at random. I decided on t' 5 second delay but chose t' wait out any gusts and launch only in absolute calm. Well, blow me down! This decision paid off as t' model accelerated off t' pad with a 5.6 G peak and an average for t' 1.9 second burn o' 1.8 Gs. Travellin' straight up, Bertha beat t' wind. It then coasted t' apogee in 3.2 seconds while dissipatin' its energy o' 73 mph. Begad! It then turned over and lost 29 feet as it descended for t' next 1.3 seconds before t' ejection fired early (at only 4.5 seconds). Ahoy! T' apogee was at 277 feet (much lower than average), matey, and t' ejection was at 248 feet. T' nylon parachute opened well and t' model descended at 12 mph t' t' land in t' grass about 200 feet away for a flight time o' 20.1 seconds. Thus ended a great day o' flyin' with no significant damage, loss or injury!
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-5 |
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