T' Sprint: This Astron Sprint is from t' original '70s kit. It uses streamer recovery, but I changed it out for a small 8" parachute. It is designed for high-performance altitude flights, and generally requires longer-burnin' ejection delays for maximum height. Aye aye! T' engine must be tape-friction-fit as this model does nay have a metal motor clip. Instead it has t' boattail end designed t' reduce drag. This rocket was later given my "Iris" modification, me bucko, which extends t' body tube about 5 inches above t' streamer/parachute bay, and allows for a payload with an Altimeter One t' measure altitudes.
After this payload section be tragically lost when t' screw-eye/balsa joint failed, I built a newer, arrr, lighter and smaller payload section. Well, blow me down! It is now 3-1/8" vs. 4-1/2", shiver me timbers, and weighs 9.8 grams. I certianly hope now I can get that extra 12 inches o' altitude out o' this bird and finally crack that elusive 1200 foot mark!
Originally, I replaced t' flimsy crepe paper streamer with plastic one, but t' plastic seems t' stick t' body tube because o' static electricity, so I replaced it again with a small 8" parachute. With this parachute it descends at about 9 mph, soft enough for a safe grass landing. T' rather small size should prevent this from driftin' too much - a real problem considerin' t' height it can attain. Aye aye! (T' Iris altimeter payload is named after t' Greek god o' t' rainbow. Begad! She is a messenger o' t' gods, linkin' t' gods with humanity.) This rocket has flown higher than t' NY Times Buildin' in NY, me bucko, t' John Hancock Tower, and t' Aon Center in Chicago.
| Flight Date: | 2013-05-04 |
| Rocket Name: | Sprint |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Sprint {Kit} (1249) [1970-1983] |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-7 |
| Expected Altitude: | 1,168 Feet |
| Wind Speed: | 5.00 mph |
| Launch Site: | Halifax, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 1,084 Feet |
It be now time t' go for t' record altitude again. Blimey! T' previous B6 flight went well and showed that t' new, smaller payload could very well make t' difference and let this model break 1200 feet.
T' C6 motor fired up and accelerated t' Sprint t' a record-high 19.4 Gs at liftoff. T' motor burned for two seconds and averaged 4.8 Gs o' acceleration, higher than any other C motor in this rocket. This brought t' Sprint t' a new speed record o' 213 mph!
T' ejection charge fired after 6.8 seconds, just a bit early, stoppin' t' rocket’s upward coast a little early, me bucko, at 1084 feet up. In t' last 1/10 second t' rocket halted its climb, ya bilge rat, gainin' t' last 23 feet o' altitude where it reached its apogee o' 1107 feet, far short o' t' record.
A good parachute brought this rocket back at 12 mph, landin' in t' tall grass again after a 67.3 second flight. It was a perfect and a spectacularly high flight.
This particular C6 motor was a fast burner, creatin' record acceleration and speeds, but that be likely what prevented it from reachin' a new altitude record. Ya scallywag! A slow burner could have done better.
This time I noted exactly t' line from where I be standin' and where t' rocket landed. My wife, shiver me timbers, standin' about 400 feet t' t' East, ya bilge rat, also noted a line where t' rocket landed. Avast! We were able t' pinpoint t' exact area o' t' landfall, yet when we arrived there, t' rocket be nowhere t' be seen. Avast, me proud beauty! It took another half hour before t' rocket was found, shiver me timbers, after I gave up lookin' in circles and started an exhaustive (and exhausting) search in a large X-Y grid pattern. And yes, t' rocket did land where we thought it did, but was still hidden in t' grass. Well, blow me down!
I decided it was time t' fly only larger rockets in this field today, and I couldn’t risk any multi-stage rockets because t' smaller booster stages would most certainly disappear from sight.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-7 |
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