Flight

All flights for t' Starflite came at t' Wright Stuff Rocketeers cornfield near Cedarville, shiver me timbers, Ohio.  T' first one be memorable.  I have legendarily bilge-suckin' luck with Estes E9 motors, so when I'm announced at t' pad and an E9 is mentioned, everyone stops what they're doin' and waits for t' oncomin' train.  For this flight I most certainly didn't disappoint.  T' load be an E9-8 and when t' button be pressed, me hearties, t' explosion was immediate.  Despite t' smoke and fire, shiver me timbers, damage was minimal, matey, and t' pictures were fairly spectacular.  Damage was smartly fixed when I got home, shiver me timbers, me bucko, so much so that it was ready t' fly again two weeks after t' CATO.

Flight #2 would be on an E9-6, ya bilge rat, because I was out o' t' E9-8s and couldn't find any more locally.  Once again, me hearties, everyone crowded t' flightline t' see t' next big E9 fireworks show, but this time they left disappointed.  T' Starfire left t' pad as though exorcisin' t' demons o' t' previous flight, and then some.  There was windcocking, but t' flight looked t' be about perfect t' around 1200'.  T' rocket was just tippin' over when t' ejection charge fired and everythin' began comin' back t' earth beneath t' red nylon chute.  Everythin' except for t' piece that flashed and glittered in t' sun on t' way down.  Recovery was deep in t' corn, me bucko, and thar be where I found that t' flash and glitter were caused by one o' t' fins that be no longer with t' rocket.  Apparently t' ejection charge caused a rebound and t' fin got in t' way o' t' payload section.  There be no sign o' t' splintered fin, so t' Starflite went into t' repair pile, arrr, where it would stay for a couple o' years.

Flight #3 would nay happen until early 2020, right before sprin' turned on us and made flyin' in groups a (hopefully) temporary thin' o' t' past.  I'd fixed t' damage from t' previous flight after Christmas when I found it in t' shop and realized that it had yet t' have a successful flight with it.  Since I be in repair mode anyway, I put it in t' queue with an eye toward an eventual launch in t' cornfield.  With E9s off t' shelves and rapidly dwindlin' in me motor stash, I opted for one o' t' new E12 motors.  Clichés aside, t' third time was t' charm for this bird.  T' E12-6 be flawless, shiver me timbers, me bucko, disappointin' t' crowds that gathered t' watch me detonate another E motor.  T' flight be fairly straight with only light windcocking, toppin' out around 1200'.  Ejection occurred as it was still pointin' up, matey, shiver me timbers, but nay movin' aggressively, arrr, ya bilge rat, and thar was no rebound from t' nose and payload section like t' previous flight.  T' Starfire crossed back over t' flightline and recovered a few hundred feet into t' beanfield.