NC Rocketry

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 →

This was the last launch of the 2012-2013 Bayboro season, and the weather was almost ideal.? I don?t recall when I have ever had so much fun at a 2-day sport launch!? It was a great weekend, one of those occasions when it was good to be alive.? The weather forecast for the weekend was not promising on Thursday and Friday, but it wasn?t bad enough to consider cancelling, and the reality turned out to be a lot better than the predictions.? Continue reading →

We enjoyed great weather this weekend, and a spring WELD without drenching rains and high winds is a rare event, indeed.? The temperatures on Saturday were in the low ?60s, with winds out of the west and northwest at a brisk speed, but pushing everything out over the emptiest part of the field.? Sunday was even warmer, even calmer, and totally without clouds until we had finally packed the trailer.? Just a few words about the origin of the name WELD for our semi-annual Tripoli Research weekend event:? WELD stands for Whitakers Experimental Launch Days, and these were originally 2-day Experimental events held annually, usually in the spring of the year.? The Whitakers field, and the Tripoli North Carolina, Tripoli East NC, and Tripoli East Virginia clubs that flew there, was the first venue east of the Mississippi to support TRA Experimental launches when the parent club first began to sanction that activity back in the 1990?s.? The original events, called SmallBALLS in imitation of the big daddy of all amateur Experimental rocketry launches, held on Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada every year, was extremely popular and drew flyers from all over the eastern half of the United States.? The SmallBALLS events were really, REALLY big deals, and it was just such an event that was my first exposure to high-power, back in the autumn of 1997.? In the early 2000?s, Dennis Hill, Jeff Taylor, Kelly Mercer and I went to a twice-a-year schedule and changed the name to recognize our own field.? For those of us who actively engaged in Experimental rocketry (or ?Research? rocketry, as I should be calling it) Whitakers will always occupy a special place in our hearts, not only because of the monumental flights we saw there, but because of the people we met there who changed our lives, people like Jim Mitchell, Mark Lloyd, and Ben Russell.

After the motor use summary, we will discuss a few individual flights. Continue reading →