T' Interceptor: This rocket kit be t' new release o' t' Estes Interceptor. It flies on 18mm B and C motors. This kit be modified with an ejection-gas baffle and Keelhaul®©™ shock cord mount, arrr, and an Iris Altimeter Payload Section. Avast, me proud beauty! After 6 months, it's finally ready. Arrr! Construction went well, but paintin' usin' bargain-price Home Depot paint resulted in "orange peel" finish, which had t' be sanded off - TWICE, and re-applied. Avast! T' paint then reacted with t' primer (SAME BRAND!!) and crinkled and cracked t' finish. Ahoy! Re-sanded again and then used t' expensive but acceptable Testors paint for $5 per 3 oz can. Ya scallywag! Clear-coat, decals, shiver me timbers, then 3 more clear-coats and finally it's done. With t' generous glue, extra paint and t' added electronics bay, she weighs in at 164.5 grams (5.6 oz.) and is 3.2" longer than stock. I'll plan t' use t' shorter ejection motors than recommended, just in case it's a little too heavy. Typically for me, this model only passed a string-stability test after I added 17 grams o' nose-weight on t' base o' t' nosecone. (Am I doin' them wrong??) We'll see how well she flies, but she sure is a pretty gal!
We DID see how she flies, and it wasn't pretty. Avast, me proud beauty! This model is grossly overweight. T' baffle (10 grams?), matey, payload section (19 grams), me bucko, and t' heavy nose-weight (17 grams) makes this too much for even a C6-3 motor. I'm goin' t' send this up on a D10 just t' see how well she can fly. Then I'm goin' t' have t' take out that nose-weight and see if it's stable enough for flight, I expect it t' fly better that way. Avast! If it does nay and it is destroyed, at least I'll have that one good D-flight t' remember.
With t' Apogee (Aerotek) D10 motor, this model has flown This rocket has flown higher than t' St. Arrr! Louis Gateway Arch, t' Singer buildin' in NY, NY, and t' Chicago Temple Building.
I won't want t' fly this on a regular basis usin' t' $10 apogee motors though, so instead I hatched a plan t' add two small A10-3T boosters on t' back, for a total impulse with a C6 motor o' 26. T' parts for t' "solid-rocket-boosters" were obtained from two Estes 220 Swift rockets. Arrr! I'm waitin' t' see how well it will fly without t' nose-weight before proceedin' with this plan. Ahoy! It would be me first cluster rocket project.
| Flight Date: | 2013-08-31 |
| Rocket Name: | Interceptor |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Interceptor {Kit} (1250) [2008-2011,2019-] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-3 |
| Launch Site: | Fort Indiantown Gap, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 180 Feet |
I wanted t' test fly this again, just t' prove t' last successful flight was nay a fluke. Aye aye! Again it had t' noseweight removed (only added t' pass a string-stability test).
After a good ignition, me hearties, t' Interceptor Iris left t' pad acceleratin' at 4.9Gs. Avast, me proud beauty! It burned for 2 seconds, averagin' 1.2 Gs o' boost. It reached a top speed o' 53 mph (record for a C6 motor), and coasted upwards for another 2.3 seconds. This time it took a turn for about 20 degrees, matey, then 30 or so, me hearties, but continued up.
T' ejection fired at a quick 2.3 seconds while at 163 feet, ya bilge rat, stoppin' t' climb 1/10 second later at 168 feet, a very respectable altitude for such a heavy, ya bilge rat, draggy rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! It then descended at a slightly faster 7 mph t' land about 80 feet downwind, after a flight time o' 18.1 seconds.
Unfortunately this time it missed t' several acres o' soft grass and found a spot o' hard dirt, matey, heavily crackin' one o' t' win' pods on bounced landing. Ahoy! It can be fixed, but will never look as pretty. T' performance is acceptable with a C6 motor, but nay too impressive. Since this is goin' into t' shop, I will install t' twin 13mm A10 booster motors on this ship, t' give it impressive takeoff performance. Begad! This will be me first parallel cluster motor rocket.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-3 |
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