T' Interceptor: This rocket kit be t' new release o' t' Estes Interceptor. Begad! It flies on 18mm B and C motors. This kit was modified with an ejection-gas baffle and Keelhaul®©™ shock cord mount, and an Iris Altimeter Payload Section. After 6 months, shiver me timbers, it's finally ready. Construction went well, but paintin' usin' bargain-price Home Depot paint resulted in "orange peel" finish, ya bilge rat, which had t' be sanded off - TWICE, and re-applied. T' paint then reacted with t' primer (SAME BRAND!!) and crinkled and cracked t' finish. Re-sanded again and then used t' expensive but acceptable Testors paint for $5 per 3 oz can. Clear-coat, decals, then 3 more clear-coats and finally it's done. With t' generous glue, extra paint and t' added electronics bay, me bucko, she weighs in at 164.5 grams (5.6 oz.) and is 3.2" longer than stock. Avast! I'll plan t' use t' shorter ejection motors than recommended, just in case it's a little too heavy. Well, blow me down! 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. Arrr! (Am I doin' them wrong??) We'll see how well she flies, me bucko, but she sure is a pretty gal!
We DID see how she flies, ya bilge rat, and it wasn't pretty. Avast, me proud beauty! This model is grossly overweight. T' baffle (10 grams?), payload section (19 grams), and t' heavy nose-weight (17 grams) makes this too much for even a C6-3 motor. Begad! I'm goin' t' send this up on a D10 just t' see how well she can fly. Avast, me proud beauty! 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. 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, arrr, this model has flown This rocket has flown higher than t' St. Louis Gateway Arch, arrr, t' Singer buildin' in NY, NY, me bucko, 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. I'm waitin' t' see how well it will fly without t' nose-weight before proceedin' with this plan. Begad! It would be me first cluster rocket project.
| Flight Date: | 2011-11-06 |
| Rocket Name: | Interceptor |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Interceptor {Kit} (1250) [2008-2011,2019-] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-3 |
| Launch Site: | Penn Manor School Lancaster PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 200 Feet |
I was (emphasis on past-tense) proud o' this rocket when I brought it out t' t' flight line. Begad! It be lookin' sharp! It took off kind o' slow, weather-cocked a lot in t' strong breeze t' 90 degrees or so, and seemed t' have a late delay. It was a long 3 seconds at maybe 200 feet. Arrr! It appeared t' come down OK and was nay damaged at all, except that I found ALL 6 shroud lines ripped from t' parachute plastic. Need t' go nylon on this model. Ya scallywag! Shortly thereafter, me hearties, Scott B.'s Interceptor flew well in t' wind on t' same C6-3 motor. Begad! On top o' all that, t' altimeter data came out totally in error. Begad! It read 6 feet, 39mph, said it only burned for 1 second (a C6 burns for 1.86 seconds). It did say t' peak acceleration was 3.2 G's and averaged only 1.7 Gs - that may have been correct. T' rest o' t' data was missing, but I do know t' whole mess be over in 10 seconds. This be t' first o' 4 out o' 7 flights with bilge-suckin' altimeter data, ya bilge rat, I suspect t' thin' was pre-triggered in t' breeze while sittin' on t' launch pad.
UPDATE: After correspondin' with Jolly Logic (maker o' Altimeter 2), it turns out that t' model '2 is nay triggered by pressure like t' '1 is. It senses acceleration - and I'm sure I knocked t' rocket around some and triggered it before launch - that explains t' bad data I've been getting. Ya scallywag! Stay tuned for some valid data on upcommin' flights!
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-3 |
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