Launch Report, Bayboro, February 24-25, 2024

We finally got a good weekend to fly rockets and the attendance and launches were up substantially.

Summary of the motors flown:

MotorSaturdaySunday
A  
B13 
C 3
D11
E12
F6 
G3 
H13
I5 
J13
K61
L13
M11
Total3917

There were numerous certifications this weekend, two of which were level 3.  On Saturday, Mike McKeon had a successful level 3 certification with his rocket Pete on a M2050.  On Sunday, Abirham Kondagunta had a successful level 3 certification with his rocket Hive on a M1340.  Congratulations to the both of you.

Saturday saw something we don’t see often, a successful level 1 and level 2 certification by the same flyer.  Matt Williams flew WristLOC on a I175 for his level 1 and

Saturday also had Aidan McCloskey fly Pizza Planet on a I218 for a successful level 1 certification.  James Holley flew Rocinante on a I140 for a level 1 success.  Nathan Meyer flew Shamrocket on a I180 for level 1 success and again on a J415 for a successful level 2 attempt.

Sunday saw Dave Moreno fly Black Stealth on a I211 for a level 1 success and David Autry flew Zepher on a H213 for another level one success.

That is the most certifications I can remember in a single weekend.  Congratulations to everyone.

Other Saturday flights included a contingent of Royal Rangers flying a lot of low power flights.  Mason Ormond flew Estes Long Ranger on a B6 and Riptide on a B6.  Mason Hardison flew Nuke1 twice, both times on a B6.  Malachi Jarman flew Orange Bullet twice on B6 motors.  Laytham Rogers flew Boom Boom Bang on B6 motors twice as well.  Matthew Polansky flew Fly to the Moon twice, both times on a B6.  Bo Polansky flew D Qazzy Wazy on a B6.  Richard Prada flew his Thing on a B6 and Carter Johnson flew Wreckless Racer on a C6.

The Jordan High TARC team flew three times, Sparks on a F51 and Just Like Heaven twice, both times on F51 motors.  The NC State High Power Rocket Club flew Shake n’ Bake on a L1940 and UCN Pembroke flew Andy on a K560.

Sebastian Lindquist flew Little John on a K750.  John Libdquist flew a rocket with no name on a K160 that we were a little worried about the marginal thrust to weight ratio, but it flew just fine.  Nick Pyrtle flew Enceladus on a K750 for a nice flight.  Alan Whitmore had the trusty Astro Mollusk 7 out for a flight on a 38mm research motor with Kosdon Slow propellant formula.  Mike Nay flew Prometheus on a K850, a nice sparky motor.  We don’t normally allow sparky motors but with the lower winds and the recent rain coupled with the corn stubble being well deteriorated, it was a go this time.

Brent Bierstedt was busy with several flights.  He flew Thomahawk on a J180, Bandit Upscale on a G64, Cherokee D Upscale on a F52 and Patriot on a F52. Robbie Kirk flew Red & Black on a D13 and Spike II on a G53.  Dave Moreno flew Mustang 2 on a G53, Stage 1 on a F15, Ashes to Crashes, a two stage, on a F15 to a F15, and Double Trouble, a cluster on a pair of D12’s.

On Sunday, Emma Cavanaugh flew Whoah Nelly! On a H100.  Nathan Potvin flew Save 2 on a J420 and in addition to his level 1 success, Dave Moreno flew Base Jump on a H238.  Robbie Kirk had multiple flights.  He flew Multi-roc on a C6, Star Orbiter on a E12, Nike X on a C6 and Galaxy on a D12.  Allen Harrell flew Red Max on a C6 and Wyggle Wamp (I think…) in a E12. 

Nick Pyrtle flew Fever Pitch on a L1520.  Jim Livingston flew Carbon High on a L1200 white smoke research motor.  Alan Whitmore flew Bertrand Brinley’s Beta on a two grain 54mm research motor that had mixed blue grains (one with aluminum and one with magnesium as the metal fuel).  Paul Kraemer had two flights. One was his LOC V on a K400 and the other was Hat Trick with a cluster of three K185 motors that was nicely impressive.

This was a great weekend with a lot of flights and many certifications.  I hope that the last three launches of the season go just as well.

Regards,

Kurt Hesse

Prefect

Posted in Launch Reports | Comments Off on Launch Report, Bayboro, February 24-25, 2024

Launch Report, Bayboro, February 17, 2024

This was an unscheduled launch to give some college teams a little extra launch time given that the January launch was cancelled.

Summary of the motors flown:

MotorSaturdaySunday
A1 
B3 
C  
D  
E  
F  
G  
H1 
I1 
J1 
K2 
L1 
M  
Total10 

We had a new young flyer with us, Charlie West, who had four flights.  He flew his Crossfire ISX on a A8 once and his Amazon on B6 motors, three times.  Donald Gemmel flew Astrolizzicist on a J270.  From the old guard, Mike Nay flew Demon on a H399 and Jim Livingston flew L2 on a research I motor made from CP5 propellant.  Sailor Koeplinger had a very impressive flight, with an equally impressive recovery walk, of Changes in Altitude on a K2050.  By my numbers, the liftoff was at about 60G.  Yes, it basically just disappeared.

From the college teams present, William Vitola, the flyer of record for the UNC Charlotte team flew The Brass Knuckle on a K1000 as part of preparation for SLI.  NCA&T flew their SLI rocket, Pluto Sr. on a L1250. 

Regards,

Kurt Hesse

Prefect

Posted in Launch Reports | Comments Off on Launch Report, Bayboro, February 17, 2024

Launch Report, Bayboro, December 16, 2023

This was one of those weekends where we had one good day for flying.  Saturday was about perfect, especially for December.  Sunday on the other hand was a complete washout and was cancelled.  We had four new certifications and a few new to Bayboro flyers out as well, which is great to see.  This was an unusual launch in that there were no research motors flown.  We need to rectify that.

Summary of the motors flown:

MotorSaturdaySunday
A1 
B5 
C  
D4 
E1 
F2 
G1 
H3 
I1 
J6 
K4 
L  
M2 
Total30 

We had a successful Tripoli L3 certification this weekend with Mike Pudlo flying his A Momentary Lapse of Reason on a M1419 for a nice flight.  I don’t know what the final altitude was, but the prediction was for 12,000 ft.  Congratulations Mike.  A L3 certification is something that should be respected.

A successful Tripoli L2 certification was done by Johnathon Grose with his Sparrow on a J293.  We had two L1 certifications as well with Grayson Amendt flying My Star on a I180 and Lucius Craig flying The Dark Knight on an I216.  Lucius’ rocket decided to play hide and seek in the field when his GPS cut out but it was eventually found in excellent condition.  Congratulations to all.

John Meredith  flew a two stage Terrier Sandhawk on a I140 in the booster and an I140 in the sustainer.  The sustainer didn’t fire for whatever reason and I’m not sure what became of it.  The boost portion of the  flight was nice though. 

Morgan Willis flew two rockets, both of which performed flawlessly as usual.  First was The Dream Canteen on a K700 and second was a small diameter yellow rocket covered in smiley face stickers called Chuffed to Bits.  This flew on a K1275 and left the pad rather quickly.

Richard Powers had multiple flights, more than his usual.  He flew Modulus on a E35, Patriot on an A8, Arcturus on a D12, and Big Bertha twice, both on D20 motors.

Dave Moreno had several flights as well.  He flew his Initiator on a G64 and his Mustang twice, both times on a F15.  Copperhead ignitor woes scrubbed a launch of the Mustang on a G64.

Harry Shrager and his brother Michael had three flights together.  Sword flew on a B6 and Monarch flew twice, both times on a B6.  Harry also flew Mile High Club on a J760.

Robbie Kirk was also busy with four flights.  No-name flew on a D12, Modified Cherokee-E flew on a D20, Sunward flew on a B6 and Red & White flew on a B6.

On the college team front, NC A&T flew Baby Pluto on a H268 and NC State High Power Rocketry Club flew Purplish Nurple on a J435.  Both flights were successful.

Sailor Koeplinger flew Wofine Express on a K375, a nice dual thrust motor with a long burn time.  Dave Morey flew Velociraptor on a J460 and Starfire on a K780 for two nice flights.

Donald Gemmel flew a completely 3D printed rocket called Astrolizzicist (I think…) on a H550.  This flew well and his fins were surprisingly strong.  Anyone wanting to fly a 3D printed fin can should look Donald up for advice.

Nathan Patvin flew Carrot on a J500 and Brent Bierstedt flew Patriot on a M2050.  Patriot is a good size rocket at 7.7 inches in diameter and 11 feet tall weighing in at 50 lbs.

Again, I want to sincerely thank everyone who helped with setup and teardown.  This makes putting on a launch so much easier.  Your efforts are genuinely appreciated.  A special thanks to Matt and Morgan Willis for helping me with the trailer early in the morning.  Your backs were much appreciated.

Regards,

Kurt Hesse

Prefect

Posted in Launch Reports | Comments Off on Launch Report, Bayboro, December 16, 2023