After the previous dismal flight I had to go to a rocket I can trust. The Ricochet was repaired from the last ejection snap-back damage and included a much longer shock cord this time and it worked very well. (Note: Double the length of any Estes shock cord. Trust me.) The rocket took off, burned for 8/10 second and generated 15.1Gs with this light rocket. It reached a top speed of 96 mph. Average acceleration for the flight was 5.4 Gs. After burn-out, the rocket coasted upwards for another 4.5 seconds and slowed considerably when the ejection fired at an altitude of 340 feet, stopping the rocket at 347 feet one half second later. After a well deployed chute, it descended at 6 mph, changing course abruptly as it fell through about 100 feet. After 40 seconds, the rocket was at rest in the grass nearby.

I learned another leson this day. As the rocket was all prepped and ready to go, my finger literally on the launch button, my fiance called and I answered it. About 20 minutes passed before I was again free to launch. I had to remove the rocket, open the payload to check that the altimeter was still on (battery save feature of course), re-pack the parachute sitting in the full sun and hook up the igniter wires again. Meanwhile a spider was building a web - on the launch tower, ignitor wires, everywhere! Thin silk sticking all over my hands. Moral: NEVER answer a cell phone before a launch. Wait 40 seconds and the flight will be over.