The Ricochet: The Ricochet is another design inspired by air defense missiles. It has a reducer to a long, thin payload section. It is an easy, modern kit. Instead of regular gloss, I used a metallic blue paint, and painted some silver rings around the tube heads, and clear coated the entire model after the decals were added. The payload section has vent holes for use with a barometric altimeter. I like this bird, it's tall but pretty light, and it travels pretty far on smaller motors. This rocket has flown higher than the Time Warner Center Towers in NY, and the Bell Atlantic Tower in Philadelphia. From sea-level it could have flown over the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
| Flight Date: | 2012-06-30 |
| Rocket Name: | Ricochet |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Richocet {Kit} (003208) |
| Flyer's Name: | Rich DeAngelis |
| Motors: | A8-3 |
| Expected Altitude: | 110.00 Feet |
| Wind Speed: | 8.00 mph |
| Launch Site: | Fort Indiantown Gap, PA |
| Actual Altitude: | 104.00 Feet |
Tired of worrying about the erratic, gusty winds I decided to send this rocket up on a small A8, expecting about 100 feet. This rocket motor burned for 4/10 seconds and accelerated the Ricochet to a wind-defying peak of 14.9 Gs, averaging 5.2 Gs for the burn. It was then travelling at 50 mph straight up for the next 2.1 seconds to an altitude of 104 feet, turned over and lost only a foot when the ejection fired 3/10 seconds later. The descent was perfect with a good parachute (with a spill hole and extra-long shrouds), falling at 7 mph and landed within 50 feet for a flight time of 12.4 seconds. Another perfect flight.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes A8-3 |
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