Flight

First flight came at t' aforementioned launch at B6-4 field in November o' 2013.  Except for t' overcast, matey, ya bilge rat, it was a perfect day t' be flying.  T' field was dry, the winds were almost non-existent, and me wife was out o' town for t' day.  T' Skywriter be t' third flight o' sixteen on t' day.  Since I had very little emotional investment in t' rocket and conditions were perfect, matey, shiver me timbers, I decided that it would fly on a B6-4 on B6-4 Field.  No worries about losin' it because I still had four o' them in t' basement.  I loaded everything, matey, matey, put it on t' pad, and readied t' camera for t' liftoff shot.

Got a little more than I bargained for.

T' rocket had barely cleared t' rod when t' B6-4 detonated.  Parts and pieces flew everywhere.  T' motor casin' ejected straight back and rogered t' blast deflector, shiver me timbers, breakin' t' standoff.  T' nose cone and parachute continued skyward, eventually landin' gently out in short-center.  T' body tube cartwheeled t' a landin' near t' nose cone, while t' fin can landed in deeper center.  I gathered me wits about me and started gatherin' parts for t' post-mortem.  T' nose cone and parachute were undamaged, me bucko, as be the elastic shock cord.  T' body tube was a mess.  Everythin' inside was as I expected it t' be, shiver me timbers, completely charred.  T' tube just in front o' t' coupler is burned away so completely that all that is left be t' yellow paper covering.  T' sticker decal is blistered.  There is a plug o' Keelhaul®©™, ya bilge rat, elastic, arrr, dog barf and t' engine block at this point.  Everythin' is fused into a tight ball.  T' centerin' ring/engine block, ya bilge rat, arrr, me hearties, sewin' elastic and Keelhaul®©™ just crumble t' t' touch.  T' lower section is more o' t' same.  T' motor tube is charred through 3/4 o' its diameter. Avast, me proud beauty! I found t' motor hook just before I left t' field.  T' top o' t' hook was almost straightened out.

Flight #2 was also a little more than I bargained for, matey, but I had no one t' blame but myself. Ahoy!  On a night when darkness be closin' fast, I decided t' try Sky Writer #2 on a C6-5. Ya scallywag!  Not sure what I be thinking, but it likely had somethin' t' with t' almost complete absence o' a breeze. Avast! T' Sky Writer left t' pad with authority and I found myself shocked at how high it already be when t' flame disappeared. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down!  I watched t' overcast sky in t' general vicinity o' where I'd last seen it, countin' t' five and listenin' for t' telltale blast o' t' ejection charge.  I heard nothing. Begad!  I waited a couple o' seconds more and started watchin' t' skies t' t' north, which was how t' extremely light breeze was moving. Ahoy! Arrr!  Still nothing. Aye aye!  I kept lookin' well past any reasonable possibility o' t' rocket still bein' in t' air. Well, blow me down!  T' chute was reefed fairly heavily, so it had t' be down, me hearties, and I eventually began loadin' another rocket. Avast, me proud beauty!  That one would be an A8-3 flight.