T' Viper: A '70s kit offered t' Estes Aerospace Club (EAC) members. Ya scallywag! It uses T motors. It is a good, economical flier with parachute recovery. Arrr! T' small 12-inch parachute is a good choice for this rocket, since it is limited t' A-power only. Well, blow me down! I wouldn't waste t' time usin' 1/4A motors unless it's extremely windy or you have an extremely small field, arrr, t' larger motors are so much more satisfying.
This particular Viper was painted with Purple and Orange instead o' t' Purple and Yellow. I suppose that was because I had orange dope and no yellow, but that was 35 years ago, who knows?
This rocket was later given my "Iris" modification, which extends t' body tube about 5 inches above t' streamer / parachute bay, me hearties, and allows for a payload with an Altimeter One t' measure altitudes. Aye aye! With it’s most powerful A motor, me bucko, I can’t seem t' get this above t' 200-foot mark. Avast, me proud beauty! (Iris is named after t' Greek god o' t' rainbow. She is a messenger o' t' gods, linkin' t' gods with humanity.) This rocket has flown higher than t' Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in NC, ya bilge rat, t' tallest lighthouse in t' USA.
| Flight Date: | 2012-04-01 |
| Rocket Name: | EAC Viper |
| Kit Name: | Estes - E.A.C. Viper {Kit} (0820) [1972-1986] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | A10-3 |
| Launch Site: | Penn Manor School Lancaster PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 146 Feet |
First flight o' t' day. Begad! Weather was cool, cloudy and a bit breezy. T' Viper flies well in winds, me bucko, but I chose t' A10 over t' A3 t' get up smartly before t' winds could affect t' flight too much. T' one-second burn accelerated t' rocket rapidly straight up, with t' highest recorded peak Gs for this rocket ever at 19.7 Gs.
Average acceleration for t' burn was 2.4Gs. It reached a speed o' 51 mph and coasted for 2.2 seconds t' an apogee o' 146 feet. After descendin' 22 feet in another 1.2 seconds t' ejection charge fired t' deploy t' parachute, which was left inside-out on one shroud line, so it descended a bit fast although safely at 12 mph.
It landed after a duration o' 11.3 seconds within a hundred feet or so. Good first test flight. Begad! As usual, t' Estes A10 produced about 33 feet less in altitude and flew about 12 mph slower than t' A3, because it has only about 90% total Ns power o' t' A3.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes A10T-3 |
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