NC Rocketry

After the overcast weather earlier in the month, we had a beautiful day for flying rockets on Saturday: mostly sunny, cool and light NW and W winds.

We had a total of twelve flyers and thirty seven flights. The day reminded me of the launches many years ago at Whitakers. Motors ranged from As through Ms with a high percentage of high-power flights. Mixing research and commercial motors seems to be bringing more people out to the launches!

The soybeans to the east of New Ditch Farm Road were being harvested as we were flying. We should be able to return to our normal launch site east of the road at the launch in November. Continue reading →

The rain held off all day long on Saturday, but a low cloud level of about 1000 feet prevented any high flights.

We only had four flyers and Dave Morey graciously ran the show. Everyone that brought high altitude flights just watched the entertainment.
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The high-power rocketry season 2013-2014 is now officially in session.

The fall launch season was kicked off under poor weather forecasts (which were not very accurate) and with a small but enthusiastic crowd.? The fields on the Eastern side of New Ditch Road, where we usually set up the launch equipment, was full of extremely un-ripe soybeans this weekend, so Clifford asked me to set the launch pads up a little more to the west.? Unfortunately, on Saturday morning, the winds, which were fairly stiff and steady, were out of the north-north east, blowing towards the second-closest tree line on the whole, vast, expanse of wide open space.? This inhibited a lot of the higher flights until later in the afternoon, when more experienced flyers began to use ?weather-cocking? to their advantage.

It?s fun to attend a big regional or national launch, where the skies are filled with rockets all the time, and the action is non-stop, but a small, local event like Bayboro, when the action is a little slower, and people can take the time to get to know each other, and talk and just hang out for a while, is also extremely enjoyable.? We only had 19 flights this weekend, so I can forego the usual motor use summary table, and tell you about every flight.? Continue reading →