NC Rocketry

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 →

This weekend marked the last launch at Bayboro until the crops have been harvested in September.? A lot of flyers from Virginia and North and South Carolina decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get in some rocket flying before the summer.? The weather was not ideal:? On Saturday the wind was brisk and blowing in exactly the wrong direction ? towards the huge field of winter wheat planted to the west of our customary launch site.? We moved the pads a few hundred feet farther away from the wheat, but a few people had long walks in the green stuff.? On Sunday, the wind was a lot calmer and shifted over to out of the Northeast, but the field was in light fog all morning and it was not until the early afternoon that the fog and cloud ceiling began to lift a little.

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