July 24th & 25th 2004

Saturday we arrived to overcast skies and a wet field from the light misty rain that fell on and off. Initially, the cloud cover was at 1100’, but lifted to around 2200’ to 2700’ and hovered there for the rest of the day. Nevertheless, people came to fly rockets and that’s exactly what we did. The low ceiling kept the number of flights and altitudes relatively low. The motor breakdown was as follows:

  It’s been mentioned that mishaps should be excluded from reports so not to discourage anyone, but I only partially agree with that philosophy. I find mishaps to be a great learning tool and feel they should be shared to possibly help others avoid the same mistakes. Everyone has mishaps, including NASA, so let’s make the best of it and learn something from them. With that said, let’s get on with the report!

Eddie Haith was first out to the pads to get things started off on the right foot on Saturday. He launched his Performer on an H97J for a flawless flight and close recovery.

Dave Morey had some good flights as well. Two in particular come to mind. He launched his SkyRoc on a cluster of four A3 motors, and later staged his Firefly with an A10-0 to a A3-4. Both flights were successful.

Stewart Whiteman also had a clustered flight with his Interceptor on a D12 and two B4s. No indication on the flight card as to its success.

Mike Harris pulled out the clubs Hybrid equipment and prepared his Intergalactic NOXiouss Space Explorer for flight on a RattWorks H70. After a few launch attempts, it eventually left the pad but experienced a CATO around 40’.

The highlight of any launch is the certification attempts and we had a few on Saturday with varying success. Steve Yates launched his PML Endeavor on an H210R for a successful NAR level one certification flight. Congratulations Steve and welcome to high power!

Becky Blackley loaded a LOC IV with an H97J for her Tripoli level one certification attempt. The flight profile was picture perfect and it appeared to be a success. The delay was a little short but never the less a beautiful flight. Unfortunately the motor was kicked out at ejection and is believed to be lost somewhere between the launch pads and Red Hill Church Road. Lets all keep an eye out for that during our retrievals - I’m sure she would like to have it back.

Sunday’s weather again started off with low clouds and the humidity was a bit higher than on Saturday. The bugs were out in force and repellent didn’t seem to work after a while. The clouds eventually lifted enough to get some low altitude flights in. Later in the afternoon, you could wait for a passing hole in the sky to launch some higher altitude flights.

David Cox started out the day with his Magnum loaded with what I believe is listed on the flight card as a 3 grain 54mm E118P formula J500. Whatever it was, it produced a beautiful flight and was recovered in the cotton field just behind the flight line.

Ed Rowe loaded his Standard ARM with a K700 WL clone. A few igniters later, the motor came to life and lifted the 20lb Standard with ease. The ARTS recorded an altitude of almost 6000'. Unfortunately, the chute tangled during deployment. The rocket landed hard on the ground horizontally, which resulted in the loss of a fin. Note: this rocket has been flying since 1997 and this was its first mishap.

Mike McBurnett had two great flights on Sunday. First was his Patriot loaded with a 16” long 38mm blue formula motor. After downloading the ARTS data it was characterized as a J552 that took the Patriot to an altitude of 3588’. For his final flight, and the final flight of the day, Mike launched his Traveler (Apache), on a 3 grain 54mm Rowe/Muesing case with an 8% AL formula motor. The ARTS characterized it as J257 and pushed the vehicle to an altitude of 3484’. Upon disassembly of the motor he discovered the nozzle was fractured for reasons unknown. Other than that, both flights were successful.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Mike McBurnett for transporting the club trailer this month in Alan’s absence and to all the RSO/LCO volunteers. I’d also like to thank everyone who helped setup and tear down the equipment. It’s all much appreciated.

Anyone certified L2 or higher is invited to perform RSO/LCO duties and we could definitely use as many volunteers as we can get at each and every launch. Please think about putting your name and e-mail address on the volunteers notification list. A request is made each month by e-mail asking for volunteers and a schedule is then compiled from the number of responses received. We are a community and need to support our members!
Thanks!

Submitted by Paul Hoetjes
Prefect, Tripoli North Carolina