T' Vector Force: T' Vector Force is a modern Estes kit. 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, arrr, 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, matey, but why? Good idea if you want t' be sure t' rocket doesn't separate in flight, arrr, 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. 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, ya bilge rat, but now it flies really straight up - provided thar be little wind. Ya scallywag! T' top payload tube has vent holes for a barometric altimeter. Ahoy! I've recorded flights in excess o' 400 feet with C6 motors. This is my current go-to flagship rocket. I have tried some test flights with composite D engines, matey, t' see if I could kick this puppy past 1000 feet. It sure did! In t' process, 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. Avast! 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, and t' Bank o' America Plaza in Atlanta.
| Flight Date: | 2013-08-10 |
| Rocket Name: | Vector Force |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Vector Force {Kit} (003210) |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | C6-5 |
| Launch Site: | Downingtown Middle School |
| Actual Altitude: | 322 Feet |
Another test flight with reduced nose weight – 6.2 grams less than before in hopes that it performs better in winds. Begad! T' previous flight with a C6-3 showed it could use more delay.
T' C6-5 fired up and pushed t' Vector off t' rod at 6.8 Gs and then burned for 1.9 seconds. Durin' t' burn it averaged 1.9 Gs, and it did nay turn into t' wind much at all. At burnout t' rocket was travellin' at 77 mph, and it then coasted for 3.4 seconds where it turned a bit more into t' wind – but nay too much. It reached an apogee o' 322 feet – nay very impressive performance for a C6.
T' rocket then turned over and fell for t' next 1.5 seconds, droppin' 32 feet before ejection fired at 4.9 seconds of delay. It was at 290 feet when t' Nylon parachute opened up, arrr, and t' rocket returned at 13 mph. Flight time as 21.3 seconds. T' booster bounced off t' top o' a chain-link fence before landing, ya bilge rat, but it did nay seem t' hurt it. I did however find a nasty dent in t' lower balsa reducer that was exactly t' shape o' t' body tube opening.
Apparently it snapped back pretty hard after ejection. Still, a good flight.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes C6-5 |
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