On the last launch of 2025, we had a good turnout and a great mix of flights and certifications.
Starting with our L2 certifications, Lauren Wilkie flew Strawberry Sunset on a J800 for a great flight. Danielle Stacy followed with Hanson Doom Part 2 on another J800. Our newest group of L1 flyers were next with Craig Abell flying What Goes Up on a H550, Vishant Patel flying Flying D Rocket on a H100 and Luis Martinez flying Ace on a I140.
Special congratulations to long time flyer Richard Powers for achieving his L1 flying his Kronos on a H135. Richard had a little more of walk with the H motor than his normal D-G motors to recover his rocket, but the rocket came back in great shape and ready to fly again. Congratulations to all our newly certified flyers!!
Among the regular flyers, Mark Harmann was back again flying his Frenzy XL on a K2050ST for a super quick flight off the pad. Dave Morey and the Jordan High School team brought their Upscale Citation Patriot with a five motor air-start cluster consisting of a main K700, two J270W and two I211W. The J270s lit, but the I211s did not due to too much arc on the flight path. Matt and Morgan Willis had a couple of flights with Matt flying Punisher on a I500 and Morgan flying Chuffed to Bits on a J540R – all great flights. Jackson Tesofo flew his Darkstar on a K2050 and Mike McKeon followed with Bob on another K2050. Mike also had time to fly his Wildman Standard Arm on a J1799. Samual Patterson flew Redemption on a long burn I40. Chad Holm tried to launch his Go Devil on a research K860 but had issues with the forward closure keeping the rocket grounded. Dennis Hill flew Tiberius with a camera attached with high-speed rocket tape on a K550 for a great flight. Mike Nay flew a 38mm rocket with a H130 with a “unknown” delay. Ejection occurred just after apogee for a nominal recovery by the NC state team.
On the low power pads, we had two flyers that held all the flights – Richard Powers flying Patriot and New Sheppard on C5’s before his L1 flight. Eric Braschwitz was busy with SLS RTF on a D16, Astro Cam on a C6-7, So Long Sing Stage on a E16-6 and a Aspire on a D12-7.
Thank you for another great year of flying rockets. We have a great field, location and landowner with Clifton. I also want to thank Dave Morey, Dennis Hill, Jim Livingston and Kurt Hesse for making Tripoli NC East one of the best locations to fly on the east coast. Have a great Christmas and holiday with family and friends and we will see you all at the next planned launch weekend: January 24-25, 2026.
Regards,
Mike Nay
Prefect, NC East Tripoli
