The BlueJay Glider postscript

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

You may recall that recently, I posted a build thread for the BlueJay glider from Semroc.  I made a big deal over the attachment of the streamer, which was one of the final steps.

However, I went with the crepe paper streamer as it was included in the kit as part of the original equipment.

I launched the glider once after tuning it carefully.  The maiden flight was on a B6-4, and it went well.  I did note however, a slight rip in the side of the streamer, but re-rolled the streamer and packed it away, promptly forgetting about it.

I also shot the glider with a few quick bursts of robin egg blue paint that I had left in a rattle can.  I didn't want to add too much weight to the craft and it looks a little wonky with just the cockpit and front half of the glider spray painted blue.  I also wanted to preserve the laser imprint of Semroc on the rear fins.

While storing the thing, I accidentally snagged it with my shoulder as I went by it on my bookcase, and bent the vertical upright stabilizer, not quite breaking it off.  So, I added another bead of wood glue to it and let it dry on the way to a club launch today.

I loaded a C6-3 into the booster, and while checking the saw tooth pod  attachment, determined that some humidity had made the wood swell slightly.  It didn't release as easily as I wanted it to.  So I took to sand the glider's saw tooth and sanded away the slight excess spray paint that I had over sprayed onto the attachment.  I checked it again and after a few more light passes, I was satisfied that it would release well.

I rerolled the streamer just a little tighter, after packing a little dog-barf recovery wadding down it's throat.

Can you see what I overlooked?

1.  the addition of the spray paint adds weight to the front of the glider, much as we added modeling clay to the nose to trim it before the first flight.  I didn't check this again after the spray paint.
2. while sliding my EZ-Touch hand sander, I failed to notice that the top edge was impacting the lump of clay that I had previously added to trim the front edge.  It wasn't until later that I noticed I had gouged it pretty good.  I didn't know how much had been lost.
3.  I didn't check  the balance between the two wings, and THAT clay may have fallen off.
4.  I didn't check the tuning of the balance between the two wings when I added a bead of wood glue along the vertical stabilizer on one side.  I should have added a bead along the opposite side as well.
5.  And I didn't check the small rip in the streamer before relaunching.

All this adds up to an unusual flight.

The craft took off higher and faster than I had expected, and failed to separate at apogee.  The glider laid over, and after what seemed too long, the ejection charge blew off the nosecone and dragged the streamer out.

Immediately, I knew something was wrong, as the glider didn't separate as smoothly as I might have expected.

Despite my telling two witnesses to watch the glider while I followed the booster back to the ground, I watched the glider fly off in a broad arc to the right, dragging a piece of the orange streamer over the wing.  It spiraled to the right and dropped faster than a glider should, dropping out of sight over the hill.  The booster dropped straight away over the lip of the hill.

Now, I also turned around to turn off the control panel and make the launch pads safe. However, I took my eye off the spot where the booster had vanished into tall grasses. Now, had we mowed the field before launching, recovery MIGHT have been easier, but it did land outside the mowed area, "in the rough".

One of the young witnesses came with me as we walked to the lip of the hill, unsure of where to go. Fortunately, a prior launch had sent a fellow senior rocketeer over the lip of the hill before me, and he was on that slope when the glider came over. He spotted both the booster and tracked the glider as it came down in tall grasses. By the time we got there, he had already picked up the glider and held it up for me. I came halfway down in the tall grasses and thanked him.  But I failed to ask him if he saw the booster.

My fellow young witness and I climbed back up to the top of the hill and began broad arcs through the grass... with no success in finding the booster.  I noted that most of the streamer was still draped over the glider, torn off the length roughly where the small rip had been.  Had any of the original streamer stayed with the booster? It was my only hope of finding it in the tall grasses... colored green and straw, with bursts of white flowers at the top of the stalks.

I must have circled around for a half an hour before giving up.  I began thinking about how much was lost, and how to rebuild it easily from scratch.  Nose cone, body tube, screw eye, Kevlar string, streamer, and three pieces of maple wood that would have to be custom fit to the glider to recreate the pod catch saw tooth shape.

I decided to ask again if anyone had seen the booster.  I got a tip from the glider Recovereer that it had dropped straight down and was along the lip of the hill.  I started back and began walking along the lip of the hill.  Again, this slope was in tall grasses in early June, and I began to fear that I would never see the booster again, that it had fallen vertically into the tall grass that never gets mowed.

Then, ten minutes after walking the lip of the hill slowly, my eye picked out the flash of orange from the crepe paper streamer.  I assumed that it was a remnant of the streamer that had  torn off the booster, as I saw no other parts.  I walked over and leaned down, picking it up. I noticed right away that it was still attached via the Kevlar string to the small bright red nosecone, and I was delighted to have recovered that.  But still no sign of the body tube.

I continued to straighten up, and to my complete surprise and satisfaction, up from the tall grasses came the body tube, still attached. It had been vertical in the grasses, and I never would have seen it from the side. Only the orange of the streamer had flagged me to the location.  I was so pleased.

I was so pleased that I had reinforced the Kevlar string when it tied to the streamer with some clear packing tape, as described in detail at the end of the build thread.  It had paid off, instead of shearing off and going with the glider.

I still don't know why and how the streamer malfunctioned,  but it pointed out to me that even with recovery of the glider itself, there may be a market for replacement of the body tube booster, as it seems to be the part that can get lost most easily.  Your eye follows the glider for the main action.

I am about to replace the streamer, and I am considering either another brightly colored crepe paper 2" streamer with a reinforced tip and hole.  But another more practical substitution might be a narrower orange surveyor's ribbon, of slightly longer length.++   The streamer is of critical importance to help you recover it.  And even on a mowed grass surface, it will catch your eye, saving you the cost of reconstruction.

I suppose if you were to modify all off your gliders, or parasitic boosters to accept the same pod catch saw tooth, you might be able to use the same booster over and over again for multiple rockets.

So, this is the Thrifty Rocketeer saying, check your streamer and retune your glider, or you just might lose it all in the tall grasses of summer.

++ADDITIONAL NOTE:  I spoke with the designer tonight, and relayed the short version of the tale.  I told him I was debating between another crepe paper streamer or a surveyor's ribbon. He heartily agreed that the surveyor's tape ribbon was the superior option.  When pressed for an estimated length, he guesstimates 12-14 inches, but stated "Whatever fits inside the body tube without wedging it in."