Launch Report, November 17-18, 2012

Posted on December 12, 2012 by admin

The November launch saw the return of typical Bayboro weather, cold and windy. Luckily, the rain held off until Sunday.

The NC State University Student Launch Initiative team came by to test their subscale rocket. The NASA USLI project requires the team to build and fly a high power rocket to 5280 feet with a scientific payload. But first they must fly a subscale model to prove the stability of the design. Their subscale rocket would have to win Alan?s best named rocket award:?Failed Soviet Project. It flew on an I300T motor donated by David Hash. The up part was ok, but the planned dual-deployment recovery using a Missileworks RRC2 did not go as well. The drogue did not eject? due to a very tight coupler. Fortunately the main did deploy at high speed. Some minor zipper damage resulted.

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WELD Launch Report, Oct 13-14, 2012

Posted on October 26, 2012 by admin

The weekend of Oct 13-14 at Bayboro, NC was a perfect example of the many reasons that I love amateur rocketry.? We had perfect weather, great flights, good friends all around, no structural failures of rocket frames, essentially no motor problems, and almost 100% successful recovery.? It was a delightful weekend, one that I shall always remember as a perfect jewel of experience.

This weekend was a TRA Research event, which we name the WELD launch [Whitakers Experimental Launch Days] to commemorate the first all-research weekend events held on the east coast.? The WELD events at Whitakers saw some truly epic TRA research flights, and even though the excitement level has dropped a little because of the addition of TRA Research days at launches held in Florida, South Carolina, at Battle Park , and the new mega-launches at Price, MD conducted under MDRA auspices, WELD events are held at the best rocket field on the east coast under the best weather conditions to be found anywhere on earth.? If you make your own motors, and you can?t make it to Nevada in September for BALLS, the place to be is Bayboro for a WELD launch. Continue reading →

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Launch Report, Sept 22-23, 2012

Posted on September 27, 2012 by admin

[Editor’s note: if anyone has any pictures of this launch that they would be willing to have posted here, please email the editor at clubjuggler at gmail dot com. Thanks much.]

We kicked off the 2012-2013 rocket season at Bayboro on the weekend of September 22-23 with great weather and favorable winds, at least on Saturday.? The corn had been harvested from almost all of the fields east of New Ditch Road, but not yet mowed, chopped, and plowed under, so walking was very tiring.? The soybeans to the west of the road have not even begun to turn yellow, so they will be there when we come back for the weekend of October 13-14.? I?ll have more to say about the soybeans when I get to the discussion of Sunday.? On Saturday, the wind was out of the west and southwest, so the rockets were drifting out over open land. Continue reading →

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