Sunday Feb 3rd make-up day!

ROCC Make-up launch day! We've had a whip-round on the officer's email list and it looks like we will have a fine day for a make-up launch on this Sunday, the 3rd. The Patriots and the Rams don't start until 6:30 so you should be home in time.

Same as last Sunday, let's do set-up at 10 AM, I'll post the waiver to open at 11 and we'll fly till 5 PM. Ken will be available and on site with us again. Posting this on the ROCC site as well. The winds are low and out of the north east to north, so we shouldn't bother you-know-who. Temps are into the 60's!

See ya Sunday!

Saturday's off but Sunday we FLY!

Update for the weekend... I checked the rain gauge at Belk scout camp and got an update from John B. who lives not far from the farm. We got right about an inch or maybe a bit more overnight at the farm. That's a lot of water on top of the massive surplus we've been dealing with. I've also heard from a few other officers, and since since Ken can only be with us on Sunday we are going to err on the side of safety and nix Saturday's launch date (the 26th). This will give the field an extra day to shed the rain and dry up a bit more. Really hate to do it but the officers think it's for the best. See you on Sunday though! It looks like it's going to be a great day.

Because of the freezing temps on Sunday morning PLEASE don't plan on arriving before 10. We'll set the waiver open at 11 and fly till 5 PM. Remember when you're driving in and out go extra slow, try to keep the number of in's & out's to a minimum and tread lightly! Also, you might want to choose footwear that can handle the mud once you go out to retrieve rockets, it'll still be muddy out there off the runway.

dr

Spoke too soon!

Well, the weather forecast for this weekend has gone to he-double-toothpicks!! Rain is expected for most of tomorrow and overnight into Sunday. HOWEVER... the long range outlook for next weekend is a bit colder but MUCH drier, so we're going to push back a week to the 26th & 27th. Right now they both have less than 10% chance of rain and good prevailing winds forecast. Fingers Crossed, if any one wants to make a sacrifice during the blood moon on Sunday night be my guest! Oh, and as a bonus, Ken can make it next weekend as well.

(dr)

Saturday looking like a good possibility, Sunday not so much.

We're tracking the weather and it looks like we might actually be able to run a launch day on Saturday. Right now it's 40% chance of rain by 4 PM, but definately getting rain over Saturday night into Sunday. 

Stay tuned, we'll make a go/no-go decision by Friday morning once the weather outlook is more solid. 

Please remember, the field is still fragile, so please be gentle, keep the traffic to a minimum and drive slowly on the sides of the runway. 

Keep your fingers crossed!

Doc R.

Wondering why we're not flying? Here's why...

I went out to the farm on Saturday, 12/29, to put the repaired HP pads and cables back in the storage crib and got about 3 feet off the driveway, right near the house where you'd figure the drainage was pretty good. It seemd like it was anyway when I pulled in. When I went to leave, I realized quickly just how saturated the ground is out there when I rapidly got stuck...  

 

It's a squishy, muddy mess out there folks, and until we get some really nice dry weather for more than a few days at a time it's going to stay that way unfortunately. The weather folks say that this has been the 9th wettest year on record for the Charlotte region, and we've got a surplus of a foot and a half of rain right now. 

We'll keep you posted as this develops.

dr 

Update on Sunday, January 6, 2019 at 4:35PM by DOC R.

The weather forecasts for this next week look pretty good, with mostly dry weather for the whole week. I'm hopeful this gives the field the break it needs to shed the excess water and get back to being able to cope. Let's all keep our fingers crossed! Man has it been a wet winter so far. 

Update on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at 9:39PM by DOC R.

UPDATE.... as of Thursday night, Kip got his 4x4 stuck today on the runway. No way the field is dry enough yet, sorry folks. 

50 years... Happy Holidays to all...

From the National Geographic website, a short (30 min.) film on how this famous photo came to be. 

I just finished reading this:  

Highly reccomend it, it's a really great read. 

Have a great ChristmaHanuKwanSolstiKah everyone! 

dr

XKCD Nails it... again!

I know there are a few XKCD followers in our section, here's one from the other day I had to share...

XKCD

dr

Farm update 12/19

Just got off the phone with Ralph, updating on his conversation with Kip and the state of the farm. I thought that it was worth posting an update. 

This has been, as we all know, a very wet season start, and it's worse because it's been on this weekend cycle of rain every Friday and Saturday. Kip says that as soon as you walk off the gravel at the front driveway you start to walk through a sponge, squish squish squish, and then if you want to walk out into the field (like to retrieve a rocket say) don't figure on getting your footwear back with you. It'll be sucked into the mud like quicksand. 

We haven't seen a season like this for many years, Ralph said that Bob Strauss was pulling his hair out over that one. 

So all that said, until we can get a good run of dry weather it's not looking good for the farm supporting a bunch of cars and flyers decending on it. I wish it was better news, but if we get the predicted inch of rain on Thursday it's just going to make things worse. 

Stay tuned, if we don't get much rain we MAY be able to squeek in Sunday but it's sure not looking good right now. As for the 1st, well,  we live in hope!

dr

Update on Friday, December 21, 2018 at 4:34PM by DOC R.

As we kind of expected, the rain hasn't let up. I just checked the USGS rain guage at Belk Scout Camp, right over the hill from the Midland field, and it's recorded 1.83" of rain in the last 24 hours as of 16:05 EST Friday. In the last week it's over 3". Sheesh!

Obviously, no flying on the field this weekend... heck, you'd be lucky to walk across it right now. 

:-(

dr

Soggy... Updated

Just wanted to post this... I've spoken with several of the officers and cooler, albeit wetter, heads think that the field will be too saturated even on Sunday. We are SCRUBBING this weekend, the 15th & 16th. 

Well, as of Friday morning the rain is coming down, with a predicted 2 - 2.5" for the Midland area through Saturday morning. If that holds true then Saturday the 15th is definately a washout. The concensus of expert opinion is that Sunday will be still too soggy to safely fly on the field after this week's snow, then rain, on top of all the rain we got before the snow. 

I hate to say it but this weekend's looking like a bust. We really need a good few days of dry and sun to get the field in shape so it can handle us safely. 

Is there interest in trying anything next weekend if the weather cooperates even though it's the weekend before Xmas? Please send me a note using the "email us" link and let me know. If there's enough interest we'll see what happens. I don't think there's anyone around us launching that weekend as well. 

dr

Rain, Wind, Snow, Frogs... Updated

Update: Yep, as we thought tomorrow is looking pretty dodgy, so we're going to call it a no-go and launch next weekend, the 15th & 16th.

Bring those Christmas shopping lists, Ken should be with us and since he's not at Camden this weekend (they've cancelled as well by the way) he should be well stocked!

Doc R.

Well folks, sorry to post this but Saturday is really looking iffy with the prediction of rain at 90% chance by 1 PM, and then you all know what they're saying about Sunday. 

We're likely going to push back to our regular 15th & 16th launch window, which long range forecasts have it looking fairly decent right now. 

I'll post a confirmation go/no-go later this evening once I hear back from the rest of the officers but it's looking loke a no-go as of 4:30 PM on Friday. 

dr