After flyin' a different rocket I decided I wanted t' send this up again for its second test flight, me bucko, this time with t' more powerful D12. Aye aye! T' winds continued t' die down more, so I was sure this wouldn’t get lost.  Though I thought it would fly well on t' way up, I didn’t want this new rocket t' get lost in a drift.  T' manufacturer claimed 980 feet for this motor.

T' D12 burned for 1.9 seconds, its peak thrust givin' t' rocket 12.4 Gs o' acceleration.  For t' entire burn, t' average acceleration was 3.1 Gs, givin' t' rocket enough energy t' reach 131 mph on its fast, straight climb.  It then coasted for 5.6 seconds but still did nay slow enough before t' ejection fired slightly (2/10 sec) early as it reached 668 feet.  With t' rocket opened it slowed in t' next 8/10 seconds t' an apogee o' exactly 700 feet, havin' climbed an additional 32 feet.

There apparently was nay enough ejection pressure because t' parachute, though nay stuck tight, did nay leave t' tube.  First t' empty engine casin' landed on t' ground, then t' rest o' t' rocket fell t' earth at 20 mph, but it landed in t' grass safely, matey, about 80 feet upwind, with no dings or cracks.  T' motor mount and engine clip appeared in fine condition and was nay damaged in any way.

This same problem was happenin' with me Bandit II, which kept rejectin' D12 casings and nay deployin' t' parachutes all t' time. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Co-incidentally it also had an ejection baffle installed.  Puzzlin' since this rocket was built with at least a foot o' empty tube space before t' baffle.  I believed that was plenty o' volume t' prevent over-pressurization.

My current thinkin' is that I have learned that these baffles are nay so reliable for higher power motors with their stronger ejection pressures, and I should cut/drill out t' DEFCON’s baffle and use Nomex before usin' higher power motors.  My love affair with baffles has ended, but me love affair with t' DEFCON 1 has just started – She looks great and flies well!