The weather for this weekend was essentially identical to the weekend of October 10-11:? Saturday was perfect rocket weather ? warm, very calm winds, sunny with a few scattered clouds, and a perfect wind direction out of the southeast.? Sunday featured heavy rain and dense fog.? I?ll put in the flight summary and get into the main events.
| Size | No. |
| A | 1 |
| B | |
| C | 2 |
| D | 2 |
| E | 4 |
| F | 2 |
| G | 1 |
| H | 3 |
| I | 3 |
| J | 1 |
| K | 3 |
| L | 1 |
| M | 2 |
| N | 1 |
| O | 1 |
| Total | 27 |
As you can see, there was a very broad representation of rocket and motor sizes.? The activity was very well-balanced between low-power and high-power action.? The super-fine weather brought out a lot of projects that were destined for great altitude, so the ?away cell? was busy all day long, a total of 5 flights on Saturday needed to be out at the 1000? post and beyond.? Jim Livingston, Frank Schneider, Kurt Hesse, Alan Whitmore, and Brent Bierstedt all made flights from that pad.
The big news for every launch event is the certification flights.? We had three successful cert flights this weekend, and I am very proud of all these members.? First, new flyer Mark Peot qualified TRA level 1 with a flight of his rocket Eric on an Aerotech H100W.? Then, Dorsey Delavigne, who first visited us in September, made another successful TRA level 1 flight with his Talon using the Aerotech H135W.?? Finally, Kurt Hesse made a perfect TRA level 3 flight with his Junebug on a Loki M2550 blue flame propellant.?? This time there was plenty of powder in the charges, and all the parachutes came out right on schedule.?? Congratulations to all of our successful flyers, and enjoy your new level of possibilities!
A few of the more notable happenings:??? Jonathan Moore came in from Rolesville to fly some low-power on the big field and see what sort of action happens at a high-power event.?? He had a Herculean struggle with at least one bad motor and some balky ignitors, but overcame.? He flew his Crossfire on a C6, and the Skywriter on an A8.? Mike Nay really enjoys the complex and challenging.?? This time he attempted a? 3-stage flight with his Triple Trouble with an Aerotech J570W in the first booster, an Aerotech I205W in the second booster, and a G80T in the sustainer.?? Most of that project made it back home, but it didn?t go exactly as planned.?? The motor in the second stage did not light, and there is some confusion as to whether the third stage lit.?? The flight recorder in the 3rd stage indicates some acceleration after separation, but the fin section of that sustainer was never recovered, so he doesn?t know for sure.?? No-one on the ground heard the G80 light up.
Frank Schneider has one of those telemetry packages that talks to you, and his flight of the Eiphaistos on a CTI N3301 reported itself at more than 15,000 feet at apogee.? John Allman flew one of those Semroc revivals of the Estes Defender on a cluster of 3 Quest D18 motors.? There was no tracker on this little beast, but I later saw in in John?s hands, so he certainly kept his eye on it.
The homemade propellant contingent gave us the awe-inspiring flight of Jim Livingston?s Viper on a 115mm, 7-grain O6000 made from his white smoke formula.? This was truly spectacular.? The altimeters reported about 10,500 feet, and the Raven download showed more than 900 feet/sec at motor burnout.? That is truly a lot of speed for a 136 lb scratch-built rocket.?? Alan Whitmore brought out a new rocket made (99%) with stuff already in his basement, the 5point5 (named for its diameter) on a homebrew 3-grain 76mm L motor filled with Jim Scarpine Tribute Blue #4b propellant.
As always, my sincere thanks to those who helped with set-up and tear-down.
Alan Whitmore, Prefect, Tripoli East NC
