Launch Report, Bayboro, February 26, 2022

This weekend’s weather was rather brutal for rocketry, but the die-hard Bayboro rocketry enthusiasts showed up and made the best of it. While the temperatures weren’t the coldest we’ve experienced, the consistent 15mph winds made the ‘feels like’ temperature much lower and exceptionally difficult to stay comfortable. We didn’t even bother with trying to fly anything on Sunday as there was a 100% chance of rain, and the temperatures were hovering in the low 40s. Here is the motor table summary from Saturday’s events.

As always, certifications are the most important part of any launch. John Lindquist joined us on Saturday and flew his Loc Precision 4″ Hyperloc 835 on a Cesaroni I-216CL with an 11 second delay for a Level 1 certification attempt with Tripoli. John’s rocket was equipped with the Jolly Logic Chute Release and had a picture perfect flight. Congratulations John, and welcome to high power!! Tommy and Alan Harrell were on site with their?Black Leader rocket, which flew twice – the first flight was on a CTI G-57CL and the second was on a CTI G-126WT.? Mark Peot made the trek down and flew two rockets, both of which were perfect. First was his rocket named Lydia the Rocket on an Aerotech J-540R, and the second was his Orion rocket on an Aerotech J-540DM sparky motor. We’re beginning to see Sebastian Lindquist at launches more and more often, and this time he brought along a rocket named 2″ Airmail X1 which flew on a CTI H-295SS for a nice, fast flight.

Most of the regulars made the trip down to Bayboro despite the weather conditions and flew at least one project, if not two. Mike ‘two stage’ Nay(I just made that up) flew his Double Shot two stage rocket on a CTI J-357BS to an Aerotech J-180T for a wonderful flight. Blue motors in overcast conditions are always cool because you can really see the violet-blue flame against the clouds. Mike later flew his Estes Sahara on the classic Aerotech G-80T. On the topic of two stage rockets, Joe Hill put up his Terrier-Sandhawk two stage rocket on the highly regressive Loki I-405W to an Aerotech H-112J for a nominal flight. He also flew his Motorholder rocket on a central H-210R with two Enerjet G-74W outboard motors. Brent Bierstedt brought out his beautifully finished Honest John which flew on an Aerotech G-64W. Dennis Hill had 3 flights on Saturday. First up was a tribute to his favorite band, Cheap Trick. This rocket is outfitted in black and white paint (Cheap Trick’s signature colors), and has some really cool Cheap Trick decals on it. He flew it on a Loki I-377CT for a perfect flight. He later flew his Wac-Corporal rocket on an Estes B6-4, and one of David Rushing’s old Big Bertha rockets on an Estes C6-5. Kurt Hesse got the research flights going and flew his 54mm diameter Shape Shifter on a 3-grain 38mm H motor filled with Everclear propellant. Alan Whitmore followed Kurt’s flight with a research 2 grain 54mm J motor in his Astro-Mollusk 6 rocket.

We had two universities join us this weekend – UNC Charlotte, and NC A&T out of the Greensboro area. UNC Charlotte flew their project Draco on an Aerotech L-1390G for a nice, loud flight. The green flame really popped against the cloudy sky, beautiful!! They had their scientific payload tethered to their payload section, which would take images upon descent. I believe one of the sections had the main deploy at apogee, but they got the whole project back unscathed. NC A&T flew their Aggie Comet rocket on an Aerotech L-1520T, which turned in a perfect flight. A quick shout out to NC A&T’s rocketry team/department – I get so excited every time they join us because they have come so far, so quick and do a great job every time they fly something. They’re working exceptionally hard, and it shows. Love to see it! 

Even though the weather was rough this past weekend, it was still nice to see everyone nonetheless. Join us at the end of March for the next launch if you can.

Joe Hill

Prefect,Tripoli East NC