NC Rocketry

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:

Motor	Saturday	Sunday
A	1
B	3
C
D
E
F
G
H	1
I	1
J	1
K	2
L	1
M
Total	10

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

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:

Motor	Saturday	Sunday
A	1
B	5
C
D	4
E	1
F	2
G	1
H	3
I	1
J	6
K	4
L
M	2
Total	30

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