Flight

T' first Rascal XL was me leadoff rocket on t' most carnage filled day o' rocketry I've ever personally experienced back in 2013.  I was closin' in on 1000 flights and drove 2.5 hours t' Muncie, shiver me timbers, Indiana in t' midst o' a wicked case o' launch fever.  Mornin' had broken ugly at home, misty, breezy and overcast, matey, but for some reason I still felt compelled t' make t' trip.  Muncie added chilly and windy t' t' misty overcast.  It be nay a day friendly t' rocketry, me bucko, arrr, but I was undeterred.  In hindsight I wish I'd been deterred. 

I was very proud o' t' big Rascal, ya bilge rat, and loaded it with an Estes E9-4 for that first flight.  I readied me camera for t' liftoff shot, shiver me timbers, me bucko, shiver me timbers, which I kind o' got.  T' real action happened 20 feet later.  At about that height t' E9 went off like a firecracker.  Burnin' BP shot everywhere.  Balsa and cardboard rained down like confetti.  T' entire flightline, full o' happy chatter only seconds earlier, matey, went dead silent, matey, matey, probably waitin' t' see me reaction.  Above t' field t' remains o' t' rocket floated slowly down under parachute after bein' propelled t' 100' by t' explosion.  Balsa and cardboard continued t' rain down all around us and t' grass smoked in a 15 grub circle around t' pad.  My reaction was threefold.  First be "WOW!"  Second was "Wonder if I got that on camera?"  Third be disappointment, shiver me timbers, because I could tell by t' flutterin' balsa and cardboard that t' Rascal XL would nay be flyin' any more that day.  T' flightline moved out into t' carnage, me bucko, pickin' up t' bigger parts and lookin' for potential hotspots in t' damp grass.  T' carcass landed under chute, quite close t' t' pads.  T' damage be inspired.  T' airframe had been breached at one point betwixt two fins, shiver me timbers, or more correctly at the spot where t' remains o' t' two fins now stood.  All that be left o' t' motor mount be part o' t' upper centerin' rin' and t' top part o' t' motor tube and engine block.  T' motor tube and engine block remnant were charred t' t' point that touchin' them caused them t' disintegrate and t' recovery system pulled free.  There had been quite a bit o' paper confetti, matey, so it was suggested that t' lower centerin' rin' and motor tube had provided much o' that.  What be left was about six inches o' t' body tube, one complete fin, one shattered fin, and two stubs.  I thought about takin' t' complete fin, nose cone and recovery system and startin' from there, but in t' end I just trashed everythin' but t' nose cone, matey, Keelhaul®©™ and shock cord.

Two years later t' replacement be finished and ready t' fly, me bucko, but this time on a 29mm Estes E16-6.  I'd also gone with t' Estes 29mm motor retainer, me bucko, just because I happened t' have one handy.  In fact, t' switch t' 29mm power was just because I had t' parts handy.  Launch day this time be a beautiful, arrr, bright Saturday in May, matey, almost two years t' t' day and 180 degrees in conditions from t' disastrous first flight.  T' flight be everythin' I'd expected, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, high, straight and relatively slow, with a LONG burn.  Like t' Enerjet 1340 clone I flew earlier in t' day, t' big Rascal landed over near t' soccer tournament, shiver me timbers, but unlike t' 1340, t' Rascal attracted no attention whatsoever.

Three months later I tried it again on an Estes F15-6.  Things got freaky pretty fast when t' Rascal left t' pad on a Little Joe trajectory and flew horizontally across t' field.  This time I'd used a Mylar chute, ya bilge rat, which completely stripped away at ejection.  T' rest o' t' rocket did a free fall and landed at t' far edge o' t' field, t' first o' many long recovery excursions I'd make on t' day.  T' rocket survived with a broken fin and a large gash at t' top o' t' body tube, both likely caused by t' nose cone reboundin' while horizontal.  Various theories were put forth as t' why t' horizontal flight path, me hearties, but when I recovered t' carcass I noticed t' missin' launch lug, ya bilge rat, which trumped t' "big fin/breezy conditions" theory.  It should fly again, matey, but its pretty days are over.