As of Thursday we did not yet have a waiver renewal for Bayboro, so we planned on an FAA Class 1 launch. But thanks to Jim Livingston’s work the FAA came through at the last minute.? High power rocketry is alive again at Bayboro.
Saturday was one of the best days ever at Bayboro. A total of eleven adults and numerous children showed up to fly. The winds were out of the East, but very light, with sunny skies and temps in the high 60s. Many rockets were landing right near the pads.
Here is the table of installed total impulse and number of flights:
| A | 4 |
| B | 7 |
| C | 13 |
| D | 10 |
| E | 10 |
| F | 13 |
| G | 10 |
| H | 3 |
| I | 3 |
| J | |
| K | |
| L | 1 |
We had a total of 74 flights, concentrated toward low power as most people prepared for a Class 1 launch. Many people did not read email the night before and did not realize we had a waiver. Just as a reminder, please check the nc-rockets mailing? list the night before, and even in the morning before you leave for a launch, for any announcements. Especially if the weather is bad.
John Meridith made a successful level 1 certification flight (NAR and Tripoli). He used an Aerotech Astrobee D with an H180 motor. The delay was a little long but it came back in one piece. Congratulations John!
Alan likes to call out the best named rocket of the launch. This time it would have to be John Elliot’s Lawn Dart. it was also the largest rocket of the day, flying on an L850 and weighing in at about 40 lbs.? It used a novel rear deployment scheme.? Just as it is tempting fate to name a boat Titanic, one should not name a rocket Lawn Dart! The up part went fine until an early ejection while it was still moving quite fast. The chute shredded and the rocket came in fast dragging the nylon. It was a perfect six foot tall orange lawn dart out in the field to the east. As a testament to John’s construction skills, there was no damage to the rocket. Angling the launch rail away from the crowd kept every one safe.
Looking through the flight cards I see a bunch of altimeter flights by Warren English and Mike Collier. Warren had eight recording only altimeter flights, the highest being his 2069 feet in his Tiny Pterodactyl on a G64.? Mike had two altimeter flights, the highest being his Centurion on a D12 reaching 890 feet. Neither flyer indicated the altimeter used on the flight cards, so I don’t know whether they are testing out altimeters for deployment, or are just interested in knowing how high their rockets went.
I finally got around to testing a Raven2 with a magnetic arming switch. I flew it in a Semroc Hustler and an Estes QCC Explorer, both outfitted for dual deployment.? Both flights were successful.
Matt Raymond had the nozzle of an E9 fail at ignition (a typical failure mode for this motor). It sat on the pad for quite a while and burned a hole in the blast deflector, but luckily it did not do any damage to the PVC piping in the pad. Remember to discard the rest of the E9s from the package if this happens to you, as they have a good probability of doing the same thing. Estes will generally replace the motors if you ask them nicely, Matt.
We had quite a few non conventional rockets with three cluster flights, three two stage flights, and five boost glider flights. Most interesting was probably Tommy Harrel’s cluster glider flying on three C6s for a perfect flight. Craig Anfinsen managed to light three of four F20 white lightning motors for a successful flight in a LOC 4-29S kit. The motors sat there for a suspenseful second or two before starting all at once.
I wanted to mention two new kits from I recently built that represent a new direction for Estes, back to kits for modelers.? The Mega Mosquito is a 2.6″ upscale of the Mosquito. It has laminated through the wall fins and a 24 mm motor mount. Of course, I beefed it up with some fiberglass and three 24 mm motored mounts. It flew nice and straight on three E9s. This rocket has a center-of-pressure at the BASE of the motor mount! The other kit is the QCC Explorer, which has simulated ramjets that are built from lots of interlocking laser cut pieces of balsa wood. For a quite complex shape it was a surprising easy build, and quite inexpensive. Finishing is more of a challenge. Check them out.
Dave Morey
12/3/11
