The launch was on 3/26/00 at a local park that had a baseball field that was not in use. This was my second choice as the first, larger field, was taken up by some sort of flea market.

First to go was an Estes R2-D2 on an Estes motor. This was used to "test the winds" and gauge the launch area. Recovery was very close to the pad so the main launch was a go.

After prepping the rocket and pre-testing the electronic connections I sat there and thought for a second how quick it went together. I guess all that practice testing the ejection charges paid off.

A few turns of the initiating screw and the motor was ready for final install in the rocket. Once the rocket was on the pad I turned on the altimeter and after the 10 second warm-up I armed the ejection charge.

With everything beeping OK I put the nose cone on and instructed my "launch officer" to begin the countdown.

After the fire button was pressed and what seemed like a very long preheat delay (doesn't it always seem that way?) the motor came to life and the rocket lifted off the pad. The burn time seemed a little short as the rocket coasted skyward. At apogee the rocket practically laid on it's side and started tumbling down, and it continued to tumble with no parachute in sight. I decided to give the altimeter a few more seconds to actuate (like I had a choice!) but nothing. The rocket continued to tumble and finally bounced on the grass field.

Stepping up to the rocket my mistake was evident - the rocket never hit the 300 feet the altimeter needed to arm itself, it was still beeping in ready mode. Why - because the rocket was too heavy! Throughout the construction I kept beefing up the rocket to possibly survive a crash. The motor and the rocket I could rebuild, the altimeter is a big dent in my wallet! I guess I put too much faith in the computer telling me it would pass 300 feet. It was a nice flight though.

One other possibility is that I used an older style injector unit. I never got around to machining a newer one and it might have leaked just enough to affect the performance.

So what now? The rocket didn't survive the fall. A fin was broken off the one piece fin assembly and the body tube was bent enough to jam the piston. The altimeter survived!

I will now build a new rocket, keeping it as light as possible and will launch again as soon as possible.

A note on the visuals - You may be asking "where's the smoke and flames?". The Micro Hybrid uses paper as the fuel, so it burns clean with very little smoke and visible flame. The reason my static tests show more visible flame is because I test late in the afternoon to avoid partial shadows in the background. The fuel can easily be changed to a plastic based one that will provide more visuals. (motor performance would need to be retested).

Here's some pics for now:

Park panorama. Scroll right--->

Micro Hybrid rocket on the launch pad.