NC Rocketry

April is usually one of the most active months in our rocketry year, because it contains 2 launch weekends: The historical WELD event held the second weekend of the month, and the regular 2-day launch held on the fourth weekend. It is also the last month in the spring for high-power activities, as we leave the Paul farm to grow crops, and we switch over to low-power events at Butner. I?ll put in the combined motor use summary and then get to some details, day by day.

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March is the one month where weather forecasts at Bayboro have shown themselves to be the least reliable. I have found that the best policy in March is to just pack the truck and go, and see what happens. So I went.

Saturday turned out to be a perfectly fine day for everything but extremely high flights, and this was because the winds were out of the southeast, blowing everything towards the northwest, where lies the closest tree line, about 0.7 miles away. [Think about how many rocket club launch sites don?t have any tree lines as far away as 0.7 miles and try to appreciate how good we have it here as guests of Clifton Paul and his family.] The cloud ceiling was high, the temperature was mild, and a lot of people showed up. I?ll insert the motor use summary and then describe some of the specifics.

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North Carolina is currently experiencing an early spring, and we benefitted from this fine weather last weekend for our regular February launch at Bayboro. All the regulars agree that Saturday was the best day ever at the Bayboro site, with more people, more rockets and more action than ever before. High power is alive and well in Eastern North Carolina. Let?s have a look at the motor use summary, and then get down to cases. Continue reading →