Launch Report November 17-18, 2007

Saturday was a little windy, those of us who forgot to put on sunscreen lotion got a little wind-burn after being outside all day, and folks with ambitious altitude flights that put out parachutes at apogee had long walks, but there was never any difficulty getting anything back. The weather Sunday was absolutely perfect! I cannot recall rocket flying weather this good. Temperature was in the 60’s, winds calm, and the skies blue with a few high clouds.

Here is a motor use summary:

The big events for any launch are the certification flights. This has been a problem area for the North Carolina group since the loss of the Whitakers field after which certification efforts fell off drastically. I am happy to report that we are back on the track now, with 2 people making the successful jump to high power this weekend, and one more making the attempt. Billy Olive earned the NAR level 1 certification with a flight of his Semroc Arcas and Pete Deaver used the same kit to another NAR level 1 certification. Both of these gentlemen used the Aerotech H97J load for their flights. Congratulations and welcome to High Power!

Both of our TARC teams were back again this month, getting the details worked out and getting some baseline data for another run at national fame.

On commercial motor Saturday, Sterling Edmunds took a break from 500 lb Q-motor rockets to fly his Little Joe II on C6-5. Three successful flights and only one broken fin.

One of the most impressive flights of the weekend used one of the smallest motors. David Hash (the younger) flew a boosted glider called Slide Wing on a B6 into one of the best trimmed glides I have ever seen. By that point in the afternoon the wind was rather high, and keeping a glider flat and smooth under conditions like that is very difficult.

Another fascinating glider performance was put on by Ben Jeffreys, who used his Big Bertha to carry a small lifting body to altitude. On both flights, the lifting body followed the Big Bertha down to earth, circling in the vicinity of the rocket and settling at exactly the same speed. Both flights were delightful.

Natalie Harrell finally worked up the courage to launch her beautifully finished Saturn 1-B on a cluster of 4 C6-5’s. This is a kit from Semroc that is somewhat demanding in construction skills, and it made 2 very fine flights with perfect recovery.

Rocket name creativity has been a little slack lately, so once again I am not awarding a "best rocket name" recognition.

I have already mentioned the Sunday weather, which was fabulous. There were also lots of exciting rocket flights, most of which were very successful. I’ll list all the flights by flyer in alphabetical order.

Sterling Edmunds flew the Resinator II on a homemade 3" K500 made up of propellant left over from the big casting sessions that produced the P motor for the Bigger Dawg. Not much altitude, but a perfect recovery.

Johnny Hoffman flew his Phobos on a 38mm sugar motor that was probably in the I range. The boost was perfect, but the parachute was a little tight in the body tube and didn’t deploy. No significant damage, however. Later, for the last flight of the day, Johnny flew his new Big Red on a cluster of 4 54mm sugar motors that added up to a big L in total impulse. All four motors lit up instantly, so Johnny clearly knows something about igniting sugar motors.

Jim Livingston had a fine flight with his Carbon High on a 2-grain 3" K motor. He managed about 2200 feet and the recovery was perfect.

Mark Lloyd brought back the large red and chrome rocket that flew at Whitakers with the big sugar motor at least a year ago. This time it was loaded with a sparky formula N-3000 that propelled it to a magnificent flight to the 9000 foot region. We were involved in a small fire-suppressant action a few moments later, so I cannot comment on the recovery, but I hear it was perfect. Nice flight, Mark! Jim Livingston has some fabulous film of this flight (and others) and I think we can get that flight into one of the national rocketry magazines.

Jack Orr had a weekend that was mixed, at best. He attempted 3 ambitious, thrilling flights that pushed at the edges of the envelope, and only one was an unqualified success. Jack’s first flight matched up his 7.5" diameter Motor Test Vehicle with a 4.5" diameter 7-grain sugar motor that probably spec’ed out in the M range. The motor won. About 3 seconds into the burn, the rocket folded up and was totally destroyed with a lot of aerial fragmentation, while the motor and fins kept on bookin’ it. Jack doesn’t do anything halfway, and this was one magnificent wreck. He then attempted a very technically demanding 2-stage sugar flight, with the first stage carrying a 54-1750 case loaded with the very best "candy" and the sustainer carrying a long 38mm case loaded with the same confection. The second stage failed to light or deploy either parachute, so that section was destroyed in rather spectacular fashion. Undeterred, Jack then launched his Return of Purple on a 3" L850 sugar motor for a fabulous flight. I think we need to recalibrate our level of respect for big sugar motors. Well-made "candy motors" of sufficent size can generate massive amounts of power and heat and speed. This is a technology that has arrived. If, for some reason you cannot or chose not to get a LEUP, you should think carefully about sugar motors for rocketry purposes. And if you do, you should seek the counsel of somebody like Jack Orr, who clearly knows how to make it work.

Lionel Overton made three flights on commercial motors this weekend. He flew his Brutus on an Aerotech J350W, and the Horizon on a J570W. I remember that one of these flights worked very well, but that the other one experienced an extremely early motor ejection, resulting in some big damage. Lionel then flew his John Deere, sporting classic John Deere tractor colors, on an Aerotech K1275R for a very fine flight, with only a slightly tangled main chute marring the perfection.

Alan Whitmore got Sunday morning started with a flight of his recently rebuilt Spork II on a 3-grain 4.5" M motor. The boost was perfect, up to 8600 feet, straight and true, but the main parachute failed to deploy and the rocket was about 75% destroyed.

We had several interesting static tests this month, Dave Muesing was back after a long lay-off to test a big sugar motor, and Ken Stroud, made his first foray into "big sugar" with a very successful, very educational static test. I hope that both of these gentlemen will be back soon with rockets to fly with these motors.

Submitted by Alan Whitmore

Prefect, Tripoli East NC

November 20, 2007

Photo's

Sterling Edmunds

Natalie & Virginia Harrell