The firefly was our first Hi-power rocket. It is a 54mm phenolic
kit made by Rocketman Enterprises. We
built ours with a Slimline tailcone which includes a motor retainer.
One of grandfather's friends put on the wild paint job with
flames.
Grandfather and Tyler getting
ready to launch the Firefly
Lift-off at Black Rock
Strobe &
electronics bay
Our first Firefly crashed at a
night flight in Livermore. It was up about 1,500' and when the
deployment charge went off, it blew the side out of the motor tube.
Without a chute, the rocket came back ballistic and hit a house.
Happily, no one was injured and the damage to the roof was repairable.
The extent of the damage caused by a 3 lb. rocket was pretty sobering.
This is the crater that the Firefly made when
it crashed once at Black Rock
Our second Firefly crashed at a
Back Launch. It was up about 5,000' and when the
deployment charge went off, it blew the tail end off the airframe. The rocket came
back in a flat spin and did remarkably minor damage. We repaired it and
flew it again that summer.
