Finally, the contest flight: first flight of the Jupiter C, completed the night before (for certain non clear coated values of “completed”).

I figured it needed a C6-3. I had a 16″ chute along but given the wind I decided to use an unreefed 12″.

The up part went fine. The shroud lines tangled, though, and it came in pretty hard. The fourth stage / satellite (the thin pointy bit) broke off and disappeared in the grass — not an entirely unforeseen outcome. The second / third stage (the can atop the nose cone) also broke off, a less predictable failure. But what amuses me? All four of the silly, tiny, fragile, surface-glued hoses or conduits or whatever they are stayed put. Well, so it goes, and it can fly again. All else fails, it can go up without the upper stages. But if I get motivated enough I can probably figure a way to replace the missing piece and more securely attach the parts that broke off. Kind of a big “if” though; I’m not feeling great amounts of love for this one. We’ll see.