NC Rocketry

We had a good start to the 2024-2025 flying season.  The weather, while warm, was very good for flying, with moderate winds and decently clear skies.  The only down side to the weekend was the failure of out low power launch controller, which made us  launch those rockets using the near high power control box.  That coupled with a lot of flights, resulted in a line for the pads for a while on Saturday – something we just don’t see often at Bayboro.

Summary of the motors flown:

Motor	Saturday	Sunday
A
B	1	1
C	5	2
D	2	1
E	3
F	3
G	2	1
H	5	1
I	5	2
J	5
K	2	1
L	2	1
M
Total	35	10

There were several certifications this weekend, all on Saturday with several of them for level 2 – always good to see.   Alex Key flew Starcatcher on a J435 for a successful level 2 certification.  Katelyn Yount flew ACME on a J270 for her level 2 certification and Trent Couse flew Madcow Torrent on an I140 and again on a J425 for successful level 1 and 2 certifications.  Nate Orlowski flew LOC Forte on a H100 for a level 1.  Ethan Sites flew Rocket in Progress on a H100 for a successful level 1 and Lauren Wilkie flew Pepto Bismol on an I180 for a successful level 1 certification.  Congratulations to all of you.

Also on Saturday, NC State was out in force and flew a couple of rocket.  First was SQUAKIT, a 3D printed/Duct Tape rocket with a square cross section (why not…) on an I366.  They also flew the more conventional Shake & Bake on a L1940.  Zane Anders flew a couple of rockets, Styx on a H128 and 20/20 on an I200.  Matthew Polanski had four flights, Corkscrew on a B6, Silver Comet on a D12, Double Portion on a C6 to a B6 staged and R2D2 on a C6.  Shriyans Dwivedi flew Send It! On a F35 and H1, a TARC rocket, on a F35.  Neveel Chheda flew Why so Feinious, another TARC rocket on what I believe was an F35, but that information was not specifically listed on the flight card.

Dan Fritsch came back after a long absence and was busy.  He flew LOC EZI on an I305, Big Dog on a F23, LOC HiTech on a H73 and Discovery on a H54.  Mike Nay flew Pink Lady on a K650 that suffered a motor casing burn through and a subsequent “non-optimal” flight.  Richard Powers flew Big Bertha on a C5 and Top Shot on an E12.  Mark Hartmann flew Frenzy on a K805 and DX3 on a J575.  James Holley flew Rocinmtc on a J270.  David Moreno flew Mustang II on a G76 and Kevin Vaughn flew LOC Precision on a H175.  Shyanne Large flew Miss Fortune on a C6 and Cameron Brown flew Mr. Rious on an E12.  Jim Livingston was flying research for the weekend, as usual.  He flew his Carbon High on a L1000 made from the reliable BV5 formula.  Phill Ash flew Pershing 1 on a G74.  Allen Harrel flew Hustler on an E12 and Audry Miskow flew E2X on a C6.  Ceila Smith flew another E2X, also on a C6.

On Sunday things were a little quieter as they usually are.  Just a reminder, on Sunday we generally fly until the people that are there and ready to fly are done and then pack up the field.  We don’t necessarily stay until the waiver expires. 

Robbie and Samuel Kirk flew Shark Claw on a G77 and The Orca on a C6.  Kiatlny Holm flew Hakeln twice, once on an H268 and again on a I218.  Chad Holm flew PML Ariel on an I245.  Mike Nay flew his Double Shot, a two stage on a J760 to a K360 with much better success than the previous day.  John Tolppi flew Estes Executioner on a D12, while Connie Tolppi flew Screaming Eagle on a B6 and X-15 on a C6.  Jim Livingston flew Seahawk on a K500 white formula research motor.

We had a good start to the season, and I hope to see everyone at the next launch,

Regards,

Kurt Hesse

Prefect

The weekend was much better for rocketry than the weather that wound up cancelling the March launch, but it was rather windy at the field.  This resulted in some pretty long walks for high altitude flights, and any flight that put out a chute at over 2500ft or so.  Sunday was actually busier than Saturday from a total number of flights perspective, which is unusual.

Summary of the motors flown:

Motor	Saturday	Sunday
A
B
C		6
D		6
E		6
F	1	4
G	1	3
H	7
I	3	2
J	2
K	4	3
L	1	2
M	2
Total	21	32

There were several L1 certifications this weekend. Elizabeth Garmon flew Liz Laugh Love on a H128 and David Chrostowski flew Anderious 1 for successful NAR level 1 certifications.  Max Wolff flew Lambda 1 on a H100 for a successful Tripoli level 1.  James Garmon flew Planet Express Rocket on a I180 for his Tripoli level 1.  Aditya Chudha flew Oblivion on a H148 for his level 1, and Emma Cavanaugh flew Whoah Nelly on a H100 for her Tripoli level 1.  Congratulations all around.

Several team flights were made on Saturday.  NCSSM flew Cardinal on a J800.  NC State had three flights.  Don’t Touch flew on a J420, TOOB flew on a F20 and Pencil Pusher, a 54mm minimum diameter rocket flew on a L1000 to an impressive altitude and an impressively distant recovery.  UNC Pembroke had two flights, Andy on a K560 and PCR on a I500.

Parker Rhyne flew Live, Laugh, Launch on a M2500.  Jacob Catanzarito flew Smokescreen on a H100.  A special guest showed up unexpectedly, Joe Hill, who together with his father Dennis Hill, flew Honest John on a M1297.  There were several “HoJo’s” flying Saturday with Brent Bierstedt flying three more of them.  The smallest, Honest John, flew on a G64, a mid-size Honest John flew on a I236 and another larger Honest John flew on an EX K600 white smoke motor.

Zane Andersen flew Proxima on a K1103.  Shriyans Dwivedi flew LOC BBX on a H130 and Mike Nay flew Double Tube, a two stage tube fin rocket on a J800 staging to a J350.

On Sunday, the Harrell’s were out in force.  Jesse Harrell flew Green Tip twice, both times on a D12.  Everett Harrell flew Egger on a D12 and Stretch Lil’ Ivan twice on C6 motors.  Sophia Harrell flew The Meadow on a C6 and Sophia’s Screamer three times, all on E12 motors.  Richard Powers flew Patriot on a D20, Modulus on a E35, Big Bertha on a D16 and 3 Inch School Rocket on a E35.

Jared Moorman flew Ghost Chaser on a C6. Briana Thomas flew Chiller on a C6 and Adrianna Keene flew Alpha on a C6.  Alan Whitmore flew Astro Mollusk 7 on a 6 grain 38mm EX motor in Livingston White and Extended Irene on a 6 grain 29mm EX motor in BV3 formula.

Mike Nay flew Blue Iguana on a K185.  Nick Pyrtle flew Enceladus on a L1390 and Ardent Hawk on a K1275.  Samuel and Robbie Kirk flew The Shark Claw on a G79.  Jim Livingston flew Sea Hawk on a L850 EX motor.

David Moreno was quite busy.  He flew Mustang 2 twice, once on a F15 and once on a F39, Double Trouble, a cluster rocket (which seemed to live up to the name with motors failing to light and one CATO), three times, on a pair of D12’s, a pair of E12’s and a pair of E15’s, Initiator on a G53 and Barracuda on a G64.  Nathan Potvin Flew Boosted Bertha, a two stage, on a C6 to a C6 and Save 2 on a K1103.

See you all at the end of the month for the last launch of the season.

Regards,

Kurt Hesse

Prefect

We finally got a good weekend to fly rockets and the attendance and launches were up substantially.

Summary of the motors flown:

Motor	Saturday	Sunday
A
B	13
C		3
D	1	1
E	1	2
F	6
G	3
H	1	3
I	5
J	1	3
K	6	1
L	1	3
M	1	1
Total	39	17

There were numerous certifications this weekend, two of which were level 3.  On Saturday, Mike McKeon had a successful level 3 certification with his rocket Pete on a M2050.  On Sunday, Abirham Kondagunta had a successful level 3 certification with his rocket Hive on a M1340.  Congratulations to the both of you.

Saturday saw something we don’t see often, a successful level 1 and level 2 certification by the same flyer.  Matt Williams flew WristLOC on a I175 for his level 1 and a J415 for level 2.

Saturday also had Aidan McCloskey fly Pizza Planet on a I218 for a successful level 1 certification.  James Holley flew Rocinante on a I140 for a level 1 success.  Nathan Meyer flew Shamrocket on a I180 for level 1 success and again on a J415 for a successful level 2 attempt.

Sunday saw Dave Moreno fly Black Stealth on a I211 for a level 1 success and David Autry flew Zepher on a H213 for another level one success.

That is the most certifications I can remember in a single weekend.  Congratulations to everyone.

Other Saturday flights included a contingent of Royal Rangers flying a lot of low power flights.  Mason Ormond flew Estes Long Ranger on a B6 and Riptide on a B6.  Mason Hardison flew Nuke1 twice, both times on a B6.  Malachi Jarman flew Orange Bullet twice on B6 motors.  Laytham Rogers flew Boom Boom Bang on B6 motors twice as well.  Matthew Polansky flew Fly to the Moon twice, both times on a B6.  Bo Polansky flew D Qazzy Wazy on a B6.  Richard Prada flew his Thing on a B6 and Carter Johnson flew Wreckless Racer on a C6.

The Jordan High TARC team flew three times, Sparks on a F51 and Just Like Heaven twice, both times on F51 motors.  The NC State High Power Rocket Club flew Shake n’ Bake on a L1940 and UCN Pembroke flew Andy on a K560.

Sebastian Lindquist flew Little John on a K750.  John Libdquist flew a rocket with no name on a K160 that we were a little worried about the marginal thrust to weight ratio, but it flew just fine.  Nick Pyrtle flew Enceladus on a K750 for a nice flight.  Alan Whitmore had the trusty Astro Mollusk 7 out for a flight on a 38mm research motor with Kosdon Slow propellant formula.  Mike Nay flew Prometheus on a K850, a nice sparky motor.  We don’t normally allow sparky motors but with the lower winds and the recent rain coupled with the corn stubble being well deteriorated, it was a go this time.

Brent Bierstedt was busy with several flights.  He flew Thomahawk on a J180, Bandit Upscale on a G64, Cherokee D Upscale on a F52 and Patriot on a F52. Robbie Kirk flew Red & Black on a D13 and Spike II on a G53.  Dave Moreno flew Mustang 2 on a G53, Stage 1 on a F15, Ashes to Crashes, a two stage, on a F15 to a F15, and Double Trouble, a cluster on a pair of D12’s.

On Sunday, Emma Cavanaugh flew Whoah Nelly! on a H100.  Nathan Potvin flew Save 2 on a J420 and in addition to his level 1 success, Dave Moreno flew Base Jump on a H238.  Robbie Kirk had multiple flights.  He flew Multi-roc on a C6, Star Orbiter on a E12, Nike X on a C6 and Galaxy on a D12.  Allen Harrell flew Red Max on a C6 and Wyggle Wamp (I think…) in a E12. 

Nick Pyrtle flew Fever Pitch on a L1520.  Jim Livingston flew Carbon High on a L1200 white smoke research motor.  Alan Whitmore flew Bertrand Brinley’s Beta on a two grain 54mm research motor that had mixed blue grains (one with aluminum and one with magnesium as the metal fuel).  Paul Kraemer had two flights. One was his LOC V on a K400 and the other was Hat Trick with a cluster of three K185 motors that was nicely impressive.

This was a great weekend with a lot of flights and many certifications.  I hope that the last three launches of the season go just as well.

Regards,

Kurt Hesse

Prefect