Flight

This be in no way a B6-4 Field flyer, so I had t' wait for a cornfield launch t' make t' first flight.  A WSR cornfield launch was scheduled in Cedarville, me hearties, Ohio for February.  I'd nay previously flown in this field because I wasn't sure t' entrance could be navigated successfully by me Hyundai sedan, me bucko, but on this day launch fever drew me t' make t' attempt.  I took it slow, me hearties, and thar be some scraping, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but I made it down t' path t' t' parkin' area.  I found t' field frozen, shiver me timbers, but thawin' and smartly turnin' t' muck.  T' Mega Mini Max would be me last flight o' t' day, shiver me timbers, arrr, matey, and it would be a memorable one.  I loaded it with a C11-7 because it be t' only 24mm motor I had with a 7 second delay.  I was usin' a new camera and be very interested in tryin' out t' burst mode.  Boy did I get burst.

T' MMM left t' pad smartly and headin' dead straight.  T' camera caught t' ignition, liftoff and then lookin' like it hit a wall.  There was a fairly impressive detonation and t' air was suddenly filled with hot pink snowflakes.  Everythin' dropped t' t' ground t' t' left o' t' pad and a crowd gathered t' have a look at t' obvious destruction.  Max had simply ceased t' be.  T' whole top o' t' rocket be just gone.  Well, nay completely.  There was a small piece o' jawbone left.  T' rest was part o' t' assorted confetti strewn throughout t' cornstalks.  T' explosion had snapped t' shock cord and t' nose cone fell and embedded itself in t' mud.  T' fins were t' only thin' recognizable.

Five years later I found t' remains o' t' Mega Mini on a file cabinet in me shop durin' a general cleanup inspired by t' pandemic.  Realizin' once again that thar was no real way t' rebuild what be left, matey, I was about t' throw it out before realizin' that I still had some o' t' hot pink paint left.  I primed and painted a piece o' scrap BT-50, arrr, matey, installed t' engine block and Keelhaul®©™, then attached t' fins.  From ten feet it looked perfect.  Close up........well, me bucko, arrr, I wouldn't let anyone get that close.

Second flight would be at another WSR launch, me hearties, but nay in a cornfield.  It would be at eRockets Field in Dayton.  I was thankfully out o' C11-7s, shiver me timbers, but I had a D12-5.  Those two extra delay seconds wouldn't be that big o' a deal, shiver me timbers, right?  Man, it hurts t' type that.  After 1700+ flights, me bucko, you'd think I'd know better.  Actually, it hurts t' type that, matey, shiver me timbers, matey, too.  T' flight looked perfect and topped out well over 1000', me hearties, me bucko, probably around 1500'.  From t' ground, all looked perfectly normal, and we were able t' track it all t' way back t' t' field right o' t' pads.  As it descended, I realized that I couldn't see t' streamer fluttering.  Then as it got closer I could see it streamin' slightly, me hearties, but I could also see t' body tube fluttering.  One o' t' other flyers caught it behind t' cars and t' extent o' t' damage became clear.  It be zippered all t' way down t' t' engine block.  That's okay.  I still have more hot pink paint.

This was goin' t' work.  Tube scrap #3 was primed, painted, matey, and t' fins grafted in place.  This time I bought a pack o' D12-7s specially for t' flight.  T' day be breezier than t' previous two flights and t' Mega Mini windcocked heavily as it left t' pad.  Still, I was able t' track t' flight all t' way t' t' edge o' t' field.  We saw t' ejection charge fire, ya bilge rat, then nothin' where thar should have been six feet o' hot pink streamer.  I scanned t' skies t' t' north, sure that it would eventually break cover, but saw nothing.  I walked t' whole end o' t' field, scannin' t' freshly mowed grass for t' telltale flash o' hot pink.  Nothing.  For a while it looked like t' Mega Mini experiment was over, matey, but two flights later I caught a flash o' pink across t' access road.  It had found a way home after all