T' Vector Force: T' Vector Force is a modern Estes kit. Begad! Blimey! This was me first model I made as a BAR. It had very good quality balsa fins on me kit, thick and sturdy. You can see t' design is inspired by air defense missiles. It is rather tall, ya bilge rat, but somewhat heavy because o' t' two reducers. Because it has two reducer stages it has two separate payload tubes. Estes tells you t' glue t' payload tubes, but why? Good idea if you want t' be sure t' rocket doesn't separate in flight, but why waste two very nice payload bays? I just make sure they are always good and tight with some maskin' tape. Mine is painted school-bus yellow and gloss black t' better match t' included decals. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I added about 3 heavy coats o' clear coat for a really deep shine. Strin' stability tests with a C motor required about 20-ish grams o' nose weight, but now it flies really straight up - provided thar be little wind. Ahoy! Blimey! T' top payload tube has vent holes for a barometric altimeter. I've recorded flights in excess o' 400 feet with C6 motors. Avast! Blimey! This is my current go-to flagship rocket. I have tried some test flights with composite D engines, t' see if I could kick this puppy past 1000 feet. It sure did! Blimey! In t' process, me bucko, t' shock cord was torn out from t' mount. This model was repaired by installin' a custom ejection baffle with a Keelhaul®©™ shock cord attachment. Now I think she'll hold up t' a few more D-powered launches and ejections. This rocket has flown higher than t' NY Times Buildin' in NY, and also t' Chrysler Buildin' includin' t' pinnacle, shiver me timbers, and t' Bank o' America Plaza in Atlanta.
| Flight Date: | 2012-09-01 |
| Rocket Name: | Vector Force |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Vector Force {Kit} (003210) |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Launch Site: | Fort Indiantown Gap, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 1,048 Feet |
Since t' rocketreviews site seems t' nay believe this motor exists: It was an Apogee D21-7 (made by Aerotech)
Since this rocket flew well with less nose weight, I wanted t' try it on t' most powerful impulse motor I ever launched. This has flown with a D10 and I expected a similar flight with t' D21. Begad! It was nay t' same at all! T' first two attempts at ignition be met with failure. As it turned out, me hearties, t' supplied Quest G2 ignitor had continuity but was shorted out internally and didn’t fire. Even when tried without t' motor, me bucko, thar was no spark or flame, shiver me timbers, just dead.
Eventually we got this motor t' light, and without delay it tore off t' pad at an unbelievable rate. It burned for only 8/10 seconds, and in that time t' rocket disappeared from sight, havin' accelerated at a peak o' 23 Gs. T' average acceleration was an incredibly high 16.9 Gs, I’ve never seen an average so high on any rocket or motor. Though I could see it was very fast, I was amazed t' find out after t' flight it flew t' a top speed o' 282 mph – an all-time, any-rocket record for me. At that amazin' speed, me bucko, it didn’t turn into t' wind at all.
It took almost t' full 7 second delay t' coast t' an apogee o' 1048 feet (a bit less than t' D10 flight), turned over and dropped 5 feet before t' ejection fired only 1/10 second late. It was at 1043 feet when t' parachute met t' air. T' reliable but small Nylon chute opened, sized specifically for 1000+ flights like these. It descended at 13 mph, me hearties, but still took 61.7 seconds before it reached t' ground.
I did nay see it at all and relied on others t' spot it for me. I went towards t' landin' spot they indicated way on t' edge o' t' field, probably about 600 feet or more downwind. As I got closer t' it a truck drove by on t' roadway and blew t' parachute into t' air a bit and I caught me first sight o' it since on t' pad. It turns out it be nay near t' road but on t' road! At that point me hurried walk changed t' a full sprint. Another car was comin' from t' south and it was lyin' directly in t' middle o' t' road, matey, with t' payload in one lane and t' booster in t' other lane, connected by t' long rubber shock cord. I modified me path t' get onto t' road as soon as possible in hopes t' get t' car t' slow down. If they were goin' t' run over me rocket, they’d have t' run over me too. Begad! (Kids, DON’T try this yourself! I am a large, ya bilge rat, heavy target, I lived a long, full life and I have plenty o' insurance, ya bilge rat, you don’t!)
Still alert, I saw another car approachin' from t' north in t' other lane. My adrenalin level just doubled. Begad! Blimey! I ran down t' center line wavin' me arms until I reached t' rocket, scooped it up and hurried off t' road. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Post-flight inspection showed a heavily dinged nose cone and a fin edge, another fin scraped pretty good from t' wind draggin' it along t' road. But that’s normal in t' life o' a rocket, matey, they get uglier as they get old and have more flights logged. I’d call this a very successful flight, and I have a new number t' brag about: 282 mph. It will probably be a long time before I better that speed.
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