We had very good weather for this launch, but attendance was down again. The winds were about normal for us but primarily out of the Northeast so that really put a damper on anything high.
Summary of the motors flown:
| Motor | Saturday | Sunday |
| A | 2 | |
| B | 3 | 2 |
| C | 5 | 1 |
| D | 2 | |
| E | 4 | |
| F | 1 | |
| G | 1 | |
| H | 4 | |
| I | 2 | |
| J | 3 | |
| K | 1 | |
| L | 1 | |
| M | ||
| Total | 28 | 4 |
There were some certifications this weekend. On Saturday, Todd Bowman flew his Competitor 3 on a J425 for a Tripoli level 2 certification. Cory Campbell flew Night Fury on a H100 for a Tripoli level 1. Paxton Lammey, after a time away, completed the level 2 exam to re-instate his Tripoli level 2 certification. Congratulations all of you.
For Saturday, we had one flyer who was extraordinarily busy. Wes Shipley flew Alpha on a A8 and again on a B4, Bid Daddy on a D12 and twice more on E12’s, Amazon on a C6, Baby Bertha on a C6, Crossfire on a C6, Viking on a B6, Hi Jinks on a A8, Code Red on a B4, and Rascal on a A8. That’s a lot of flights, some of which were a decent recovery hike for low power. Richard Powers flew Patriot on a C5, Big Bertha on a C5, and 3 Inch School Rocket twice on E35’s. Dave Morey flew Two Stage Crayon on a F63 in the booster to a D12 sustainer, Stretched Mega Der Red Max on a I211, and Sinister 24 #2 on a G150 with two pairs of D12’s air started in succession, all of which worked perfectly.
Morgan Willis flew The Dream Machine on a J540. Matt Willis flew Punisher III on a J315 that unfortunately started blowing gas out of the forward closure on the way up, popping off the nose cone and doing a little sky writing. I am not sure, but I think the rocket escaped without major damage from the motor failure. Cory Campbell flew Night Fury again after his certification on a H550. Paxton Lammey flew 4” Ugly Phoenix on a H220, Transonic II on a I180 and Estes Phoenix on a D22. Jim Livingston flew Seahawk on a K560 research motor made from white smoke and Carbon High on a L1200 made from JSTB II 4b that didn’t quite go as expected. Liftoff was good but somewhere between about 100 and 200 feet up, the motor casing let go. Examination of the casing revealed that it apparently had a seam in it as it was split from one end to the other along a straight line with a nice shiny stripe down what looked like a step midway through the tubing wall. It certainly looked like a defect in the extrusion. The bottom of the rocket was a total loss and needs rebuilt.
Sunday was a very low activity day. Dennis Hill flew WAC Corporal on a B6 and Big Dawg on a B6. Samuel Kirk flew Shark on a G64 and with his father Robbie, Blue Star on a C6
Hope to see you all at the next launch.
Regards,
Kurt Hesse
Prefect
