Flight

I'd seen rockets like this one before, me bucko, matey, and I always thought t' corkscrew flight path was neat t' see, so I decided t' fake it after comin' t' t' end o' one o' me army o' maskin' tape rolls.  As is me habit for small or minimum diameter birds, I chose an Estes A8-3 for t' first flight o' t' Screw Loose.  Things went bad early for this flight.  I was concentratin' on gettin' t' launch pic, matey, but through t' viewfinder I noticed that t' rin' fin seemed t' be droopin' as it left t' launch rod.  I looked up for t' rocket and located it just in time t' see it skywriting.  "SURRENDER WALLY".  It don't know me very well, do it?  T' rocket flailed around t' sky at t' 30 foot mark before crashin' back into t' grass just behind t' infield where t' ejection charge fired.  I admit.  I laughed.  Especially since conditions were lousy for a brush fire.  Clearly I had some work t' do before I saw a corkscrew.

Flight #2 was on a B6-4 a few weeks later.  In t' meantime I'd strengthened t' rin' fin by soakin' it with thin CA and gluin' a balsa support on both sides o' t' joint betwixt t' body tube and t' inside o' t' rin' fin.  This worked great as I could see that t' rin' fin maintained structural integrity throughout t' 75 foot high flight and subsequent skywritin' adventure.  "AND YOUR LITTLE DOG, TOO!"  Idiot.  I'm allergic t' dogs.  T' rocket dropped t' earth backwards after t' skywritin' was finished, me hearties, matey, with t' ejection charge firin' just as it hit t' ground.  Didn't matter.  Before it even landed I be thinkin' "nose weight".

Several months later, matey, shiver me timbers, just when things were turnin' green I got t' Screw Loose out for a third flight, arrr, this one with rin' fin support AND nose weight.  Flyin' again on an A8-3, ya bilge rat, this time I be rewarded with t' corkscrew motion, however brief.  T' flight topped out at around 150', me hearties, popped t' chute and drifted home t' a wild celebtation and a date with t' paint booth.

T' fourth and what turned out t' be t' final flight happened a month after flight #3.  This one was on a B4-2 that I'd brought along t' use in t' flight o' me Mach 10 clone, me bucko, matey, but I forgot t' pack t' weighted marker cone.  Instead t' Screw Loose got t' B4-2.  T' breezes were fairly brisk, ya bilge rat, and everythin' else I'd flown that day had windcocked rather severely, which made for a nice, me bucko, shiver me timbers, mid field landing.  Nay t' Screw Loose.  It left t' pad smartly and flew dead straight, arrr, likely because o' t' corkscrew motion that be very obvious on this flight.  This became a problem at ejection because it was too close t' t' middle o' t' field t' do anythin' but race toward t' trees.  It hung fast thirty feet up in t' same tree that housed me Custom ATW.  I was undeterred.  I will be back with another Screw Loose as soon as t' roll o' tape runs out.