The first launch of 2025 started out very promising weather wise. By the time Kurt Hesse and I had completed the pad set-up around 9:30, the frozen ground felt like a great start to the day. By 11:00 am we were all standing in a wet ankle-deep mud bog. As this was my first launch as Prefect, I was happy to see a good turnout on Saturday despite the field conditions. I also want to thank Jim Livingston, Kurt Hesse and the other volunteers who assisted with pad set-up, pad operations and take down. Your help is greatly appreciated.
| Motor | Saturday | Sunday |
| A | 1 | |
| B | ||
| C | 2 | |
| D | ||
| E | 3 | |
| F | ||
| G | 1 | |
| H | 4 | |
| I | 3 | |
| J | 4 | |
| K | 1 | 1 |
| L | ||
| M | ||
| Total | 19 | 1 |
On Saturday we had a couple of certification flights. Adrian Tejada flew Cygnus I on a H180 to achieve his NAR Jr. Level 1. With Dave Morey as his mentor, I look forward to more flights from Adrian. Next up was Abigail Kuppler flying her Asteria on a Aerotech H550 Super Thunder for a successful Tripoli L1. Congratulations to both of you.
NC State High Power Rocketry Club was out in full force on Saturday flying Legacy twice on J500’s for successful flights with key objectives to obtain data from the airbrake system. The team also flew Barbenheimer – a 2-stage project on a H550 with this flight objective focusing on the sustainer as a boosted dart and completing a boost and separation events. It is great to see teams get involved in multi-stage projects which opens another level of complexity in electronics and staging events.
Starting the day off was Mark Hartmann Flying a DX3 on a J460 and Pitbull on a H268R. Nate Orlowski flew Tempest on a K1275 to around 6600 feet. Allen Harrell Flew Tsar Bomba on a G106. Jake Miskow flew his Pitbull on an I435. Dave Morey tried to fly his Prasa Spool on a C11, but the C11 blew out through the forward end like a Roman candle. Greg Hanson flew his Speed Banana on a J250. Ethan Sites flew MCRN Cydonia on a I140 to celebrate his graduation. Robbie Kirk and son Samuel Kirk made an appearance, and I think they had the record for the day walking back and forth to the pad testing battery connections. Once a good battery was in place, Robbie flew his 3.9R1 on a I300 while Samuel Kirk flew the Scar on two B4’s from the low power pad. Richard Powers had a couple flights as he gets ready for a future L1 attempt. Richard flew his 3 inch school rocket on a G74 and Modulus on a E35. Katherine Jackson flew Hi-Flyer on a E36 and Saturn on a E16. Cambria Holley made a trip to the low power pad with the Star on a A8. That was all for Saturday.
Sunday morning started off just as wet and muddy as it was Saturday. Brett Michal was the only flyer brave enough to fly and recover a rocket from the muddy field and had intended on flying a test launch before his level 3 certification flight in the same day. Brett flew Leo on a K1000 for a perfect flight and decided to defer his level 3 certification flight to a later date after the muddy recovery was completed.
Will see you all at the next planned launch weekend: February 22-23.
Mike Nay, Prefect
