Dayton, WA
March, 2000

I finally managed to make a trip out East to Dayton, WA. A small town in between Spokan and Walla Walla. Great bunch of people, loads of fun! The launch site is somewhat unnerving at first, its located in the bottom of a small bowl and is surrounded on all sides by steep hills. However, the number of rocket hazards are low, all you have to do is walk and you'll get it back.

Here is a shot of the launch area and flight line from a nearby hillside. The trees directly behind the flight line are the only ones around, and weren't very hungry. Despite the unusual terrain, its a great launch site and tough to lose a rocket in.
We had 5 flights. 2 on the raptor (an E and an F) and 2 on my son's Estes Banshee (a C and a B). Before those, I put up the Triad on a cluster of 3 H180's. They all ingited simultaneously, and liftoff was perfect.	The Triad continues upwards on the 3 H's. The trajectory was near-perfect, and drouge deployment was right on top.
There was a problem with the main 'chute, though. It was overpacked, and did not deploy. Here I am assessing the damage while the 'troops' maintain a perimeter.	I was expecting more damage after falling from nearly 2000 feet on the small drouge 'chute. The airframe and all other components were undamaged except for this partially sheared fin, which seemed to absorb the brunt of the impact. Only problem now is figureing out how I want to repair it. The fins are pretty integral, replacing one will involve a lot of cutting...