Launch Report for Whitakers, NC January 26-27, 2002

                Attendance at a rocket launching in North Carolina in late January is usually a harsh activity, reserved for only the most dedicated and hardiest flyers.   This year was an entirely different matter!   We were lucky to experience some of the finest rocketry weather in my memory, and I have been flying at Whitakers for almost 3 years.

                Saturday was dead calm, warming up to the upper 50's by mid-afternoon.  The wind was so calm that almost every rocket went straight up and hung in the air after putting out their parachutes.  The rockets seemed to hang motionless straight over our heads because they were falling straight down.  If my memory is correct, only one rocket left the field all day.  Sunday was even warmer, into the 70's, and a gentle breeze tended to push the rockets off to the east, away from any trees or hazards.  No rockets were reported lost all weekend.

                Because of the fine weather, the turnout was superb, especially considering that the supply of Aerotech high-power motors is drying up. 

                Here is a summary of the motors flown on both days:

                Another delightful feature of this weekend was the high success rate.  I recall no CATO's, Shreds, or crashes all day Saturday and Sunday started out the same way, until late in the day when a couple of racks of rockets seemed to be haunted.  I will not mention any names, but the carnage was significant, widespread, and quite impressive.

                In the good news department, we had three successful level 1 Certification flights:  On Saturday, Don Teaff certified with his 'Farm Raised Rocketry' on an H242T.   Then on Sunday, Blaine Jeffreys certified with his 'Ganymede' on an H73J, and Everett Dula had a successful flight with his 'Binder Design XL Plus' flying on an H238T.  Congratulation to all of you and welcome to High Power!