Once again, Mother Nature dealt us a hand that wasn’t exactly extraordinary for rocketry. Operations were cancelled on Saturday due to rain and overcast skies, but Sunday turned in a wonderful day for flying. The day started out cloudy, breezy and cold, but around noon, the sky opened up and temps rose to a semi-comfortable 55 degrees. Here is the motor table summary for Sunday’s activities.
| Motor | Saturday | Sunday | Total |
| A | | ||
| B | | ||
| C | 3 | 3 | |
| D | 1 | 1 | |
| E | 1 | 1 | |
| F | 1 | 1 | |
| G | | 2 | 2 |
| H | 2 | 2 | |
| I | 6 | 6 | |
| J | 2 | 2 | |
| K | 5 | 5 | |
| L | 1 | 1 | |
| M | | ||
| N | | | |
| O | | | |
| Total | 24 | 24 |
We had an exceptional amount of flights in the certification department; six successful Level 1s, and one successful Level 2. I usually talk in some depth about each flight, but that would result in a lengthy paragraph, so I’m just going to list the stats below.
Successful Level 1 Certifications;
- Christopher Luzzi, Just in Time, Aerotech H-242T
- Kennedy Anderson, Purple Pointer, Aerotech I-140W
- Gabriel Valenzano, Splatterbug, Aerotech I-140W
- Thomas Owens, Tech 20, Aerotech I-140W
- Lorenzo Botter (all the way from Italy!!), Loc IV, Aerotech I-140W
- Jonathan Grose, Hi-Tech 45, CTI H-125C
Successful Level 2 Certification;
- Parker Rhyne, Ugly Dragon, Aerotech K-535W
Congratulations are in store for everyone! Job well done!
Other than the several certification attempts, we had the usual club fliers on site. Jim Livingston started the day off with his Carbon High rocket which took his tried and true White Smoke propellant formula. The designation this time was a L-1100, and took the Carbon High to 4500′ with a nominal recovery. While we’re talking about research motors, Alan Whitmore put up two rockets, both of which came home just fine. The first was his 5 Point 5 on a propellant he calls Alan’s Accidental Achromatic. The motor was a four grain 54mm K and took 5 Point 5 to just under 2000′. The second flight Alan had was in his trusty Astro*Mollusk 7, which took a six grain 38mm I motor filled with Thing propellant. Dave Morey showed up with his 4″ Darkstar rocket, which went up on a classic Aerotech K-550W. While Dave was on site, he oversaw the Jordan High School BOTR team who put up their Taurus rocket on an Aerotech J-500G. Joe Hill brought out his workhorse 4″ rocket that he calls Iron Moon and flew it on a K-550W. Brent Bierstedt had three successful flights – a beautifully done 5.5″ Honest John scale model on a CTI K-670R, a smaller 2.6″ scale model Honest John on an Aerotech G-64W, and a plastic UFO saucer that took an Estes D-12. Our local club member, Robbie Kirk, kept the low-power pads busy with several flights, and Nathan Potvin finished the day out with his Karat rocket which went up on an Aerotech J-500G.
Our next launch is April 8th and 9th, come join us if you can!
Joe Hill
Prefect, Tripoli East NC
