LIGHTNING - FIFTH FLIGHT

Prepping this rocket for a high altitude flight at SRA field, motor TBD.

Update 05/24/2019 - Made the motor selection list, all 4 grain CTI. Will make the charges and select the chutes this weekend. Charges made ! Check..

Update 05/25/2019 - Made the Z-ties and selected the chutes, will be an 18" drogue with spill hole and 45"main. Chutes attached and folded and inside bays.

Update 06/15/2019 - LAUNCH DAY I - Well eh eh, weather forecast was not great in the last few days, And Tim told me that Bernie will not be there also (because of the weather forecast!) So I stayed home, sigh !!! It actually turned out the be a great day, low turnout and low clouds till noon, but it seemed that after 1 PM they launched a bunch of high alt rockets. It's just a long drive just to be there and wait for a few hours. I was set for a 9+ K flight so that's why I did not go or was not motivated. Will Fly next time. Moved the launch day to July.

Update 07/18/2019 - All charges made and loaded. Parachutes folded and in Bays... All snug and ready to fly. Will give the I-phone another test, but is will be hot. Winds are on the low side like 7 mph in the morning. Hope to make great images. Double checked with Bernie he has a K740 C Star so that's ready to fly.

Also the new weight of empty rocket is 4127 grams = 9.1 Lbs. Quite heavy, will double check.

Update 07/19/2019 - Stratologgers tested, all charges connected. Checking the AvBay and sled for smoothness, and Iphone setup. According previous flights, the rocket will get more altitude than simmed. So it might reach 9500 feet. Also have to take the motor charge out.

Update 07/20/2019 - LAUNCH DAY - Somehow cloudy day, no wind in the early morning but, got a bit windy around lunch time. Prepping started slowly... got my K740 motor from Bernie, motors getting ridiculousexpensive !! Prepped everything later after Jason his launch and recovery, so my launch was set back to around 13:00 hrs. Jason launched first and took the rocket to 11+ K. Great straight up launch. I had more wind and my angle was around 4 degrees. Great take off into the Sun !, Just saw it on the way down with main open ! Came down in the dense bush. RTX found it but still had to walk like 200 feet into the tall grass and bush. Glad we had our boots with us ! Rocket was draped over the top of some low trees, Had to climb into the tree to get it out. Good thing that Jason was there to help me. He got most of the part out. After inspection there was no damage on chutes and rocket !!!! As I expected, lots of bogus files but no launch data, Iphone must have shutdown while on the pad in the heat ! No problem ! Next time when cooler...

It looks like the rocket performed better, Altitude was 9394 and 0.95 Mach, just not over Mach !!!