I loaded up my Excel with a CTI H120 Red Lightning. The first ignition attempt failed, surprisingly enough — maybe I didn’t have the igniter in far enough. I tried again with an igniter made by one of the club members. That worked, but the flight didn’t go as planned.

Forward closure failure. There’s been a known problem with Pro38 forward closures, but the notice seems to say the bad resin causing it was used beginning 22 October 2015 while this motor was dated 27 August 2015, so I assumed it was not affected. Maybe it’s a different problem. I’m going to file a MESS report and inform CTI. The Excel’s airframe was destroyed; some of the fin can might be salvageable, if I decide it’s worth it. The chute and nose cone were thrown clear after the harness burned through and are in good shape. Well, I guess I won’t be redoing that paint job after all.