Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 8:12AM Gather round all and you shall hear a tale of struggle, heartbreak, more struggle and eventual triumph. Here then is the April launch report from our faithful recorder of statistics and decipher-er of penmanship, Roy Potter... Just click that little "Read More" link... dr
Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 9:58PM Due to the weather forecasts for Sunday the flight operations for the 22nd of April have been scrubbed (which will, of course, means it will be a beautiful day!).
Our next scheduled launch will be the pick-up launch on the weekend of the 5th & 6th of May.
Friday, April 20, 2012 at 7:24AM We are going to hold on to this weekend with a final decision at 1:00 PM today. We are hoping that the forecasts are correct that tomorrow is only a 30 - 40% chance of rain and that, if it comes, it will be late in the day.
We are canceling the camping and the night launch. We will pack the equipment tomorrow night figuring that if we do get rain it will be in the nightime hours. Hopefully if the rain is not too much we can salvage part, if not all, of Sunday.
The weather models have 3 different outcomes planned for the weekend and depending on who's forecast you take it could be completely different.
Check in this afternoon and tomorrow morning before heading to the field.
dr
The weather is of course playing with us like a cat with a bug and there are talks gong on as to what to do. Currently the best guess is to roll to the next weekend of the 28th & 29th. That has NOT been confirmed yet. We'll post a further update late today to see which way the weather is likely to go, but current forecast overnight Saturday looks like the best we could hope for would be a Saurday-only launch and you certainly wouldn't want to camp out that night.
dr Thursday am.
OK, Let me 'esplain.... no, there is too much, I just sum up...
First, there's the launch, including NAR contests for B altitude, C payload, spot landing and set duration flights. There's information on all this in the "Contest Info" section on the right hand side bar. Then there's the night launch, rules for which are posted in the same "Contest Info" section to the right. Then there's a camp-out, with possible stargazing opportunities if the cloud cover is OK. Then there's ANOTHER day of launching, with Michael Hollowell's helicopter available for rides.
I'll tell you, if all of this comes off they'll be talkin' about this launch till, well, a long time anyway.
dr
Saturday, April 7, 2012 at 9:12PM Official Release from Tripoli April 6th 2012 regarding new Level 2 Certification Test:
The latest Level 2 Study Guide is now available on the Tripoli website, on the Certification menu.
All members will also receive a printed copy via mail in the near future.
The specific timeframe for mailing of the printed copies is not yet known.
Ralph has received the new test and other Prefects will receive them shortly, if they have not already.
Individuals taking the Level 2 test between now and May 31, 2012 may select to take either the old or the new test - this decision is up to the member taking the test, not the member administering the test. Put another way, you get to take the test you studied for.
As of June 1, 2012, members will no longer be allowed to take the old tests.
In addition, if you take the old test prior to June 1, 2012, you still have a year in which to make your Level 2 flight - flying after May 31, 2012 doesn't require you to retake a test you've already passed (unless you took it more than a year prior to the flight!).
Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 7:45PM Roy has taken all the launch slips from the March launch and run them through his massive mainframe computer, located in his secret underground lair, and spit out the new Launch Report! Remember folks, penmanship counts! Thanks Roy... click on the "Read More" link for the whole shootin' match. dr
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 9:34PM In the coming year, we’d like to hold a few contests for members who might be interested. There is a ton of information about contests at www.nar.org and the rules are available for download or on-line viewing in ‘the pink book’ http://nar.org/pinkbook/index.html . It can be somewhat overwhelming at first, so to hopefully get a few people’s feet wet in the vein of NAR contest flying, we’re going to have an un-official contest following NAR rules to hopefully get a few kinks worked out.
The events to be held on the weekend of April 21 and 22 are as follows:
B-Altitude. Any rocket that can normally be flown by the safety rules is allowed to fly with a total of B impulse. This includes clusters and staged rockets. Scoring is based on the highest altitude.
C-Payload: Similar to B-Altitude, this competition is open to rockets using up to C impulse. A fixed payload must be installed in the rocket’s payload section and the rocket flown and recovered successfully. The standard payload is a cylinder that is nominally 19mm (3/4”) x 70mm (2 3/4 “) and weighs at least 28 grams (1 ounce). These will be provided and must be returned without modification. If you have a sport flier without a payload section, one can be fabricated quickly with spare parts body tube, tube couplers etc).
Set Duration: This contest allows any rocket that qualifies as a model rocket (under 3.3# up to G impulse 80Ns or less impulse) to fly. The goal is to meet the contest defined duration, which for this contest will be 55 seconds.
Spot Landing: This contest is open to any single staged model rocket (under 3.3# up to G impulse 80Ns or less impulse). The goal is to land the rocket as close to a spot picked the morning of the contest.
In years past, ROCC did not have the equipment available for optically judging altitude events, so they were rarely flown. In recent years, the NAR has allowed certain altimeters to be used for contests. A list of these altimeters is available in the back of the pink book. If you have one of these altimeters you can fly it in the contest. If not, 3 Jolly Logic Altimeter One’s will be available to use for the altitude events of the contest. Please make every effort to secure these altimeters well and recover your rocket!
The Altimeter One measures 0.47” x 0.64” x 1.93” and weighs 0.24 oz. It can be tied to the shock cord of the rocket and fits into BT-20 or larger body tubes. Three holes 1/16” in diameter need to be added to the bodytube/payload bay to sense altitude.
Hopefully the above has piqued your interest and you’d like to participate in the contest dry run. Check the website for anything that might come up or to ask questions. Lastly, for official NAR contests, you must be a NAR member, but since this is a dry run, any flier is welcome to join in. Hopefully you enjoy the challenge and choose to become a NAR member in the future.
Sandy H.
More information is included in the .pdf file in the "Contest Info" section to the right...
ADDITIONAL: We will be having a Night Launch on the 21st (Saturday) for about an hour. Rules are in the Contest Information section to the right. If you've never been to one of these they're really cool. Even a small rocket puts out a large exhaust plume, much larger than you'd think. Read the rules and get working! Doc R.
Monday, March 26, 2012 at 4:27PM NASA has announced a go to start the count down for the ATREX mission to launch on 3/27 between 2 and 5 AM. Here's a LINK to more information.
dr
Friday, March 23, 2012 at 8:01AM On the NC Science Festival website ar 2 events that might interest you... First, April 26th in Chapel Hill, an evening with Neil deGrasse Tyson, head of the Hayden Planetarium. Next, right here in Charlotte, Jamie & Adam from the Mythbusters on April 29th! Details & ticket info are HERE.
(We're going to Jamie & Adam... dr)
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 7:11AM When : Sat and Sun, 17 – 18 March.
Where : The Williams Farm. See Web Site for directions if you are new.
Set Up : Volunteers show up at 0930 to help setup.
Launch Start : As soon as set-up is complete.
Launch ends : Approximatly around 6:00 PM so we have some light to close up by.
Weather at this time : Cloudy with a chance of light scattered rain. Mild temperatures.
Check the Web Site for any possible last minute changes.
Ken Allen, Performance Hobbies, is expected to out there SUNDAY only.
Hopefully Rocket Ralph will have his Grill out serving drinks, dog’s and wurst’s.
Remember that this is a working farm and it is still just March, so dress accordingly, sturdy shoes and suggest you dress in layers so you can take layers off and on as the temperature changes.
When the sun is shining at the farm it is like a solar collector out there with the open field so it can be 10 degrees warmer when the sun is clear than in the city.
We are continuing the “BIG BOYS” Rocket Raffle.
Aerotech “Arreaux”, LOC “NORAD”, Estes “Executioner”, FlisKit “NOMAD” 2-stage, and a 4 ft “Long Sword”.
Tickets $1, with a separate ticket box for each rocket you want to draw for.
Two will be drawn at the March launch, the remaining three at the April Camp-out Launch.
We always want to thank those who have provided us with photos of our launches in the past.
WE Still Want More.
Any pictures you have taken from this or from a recent launch that you would like to get posted on the web site for our embarrassment and your entertainment, just contact Doc Russell at rocketrycarolina atgmail dot com, or as some have done, pass it on a disk or flash drive. We can always get it back to you.
We are continuing with our Range Safety standards by making specific assignments of a :
RSO=, Range Safety Officer to pre-inspect rockets before flights.
LCO=, Launch Control Officer to check range conditions and control the launch’s in a timely and efficient manner.
So far this has worked fine with little to no effect on launch flow.
Check both the WEB site and at the launch’s for info on volunteering for RSO (Cert Lv-2 required) and LCO (Cert Lv-1 preferred, but any responsible and experienced adult can apply).
It’s great for anybody who isn’t flying that day but wants to take part anyway.
And it’s fun to push the little red button.
Hope to see you on the pads and remember to keep those exhaust nozzles clear.
Roy, ROCC Sec.
John Bergsmith
Because of a family obligation, Ralph will not be at the field tomorrow. So don't forget to bring your own lunch.
Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 5:13PM EXTRY, EXTRY, READ ALL ABOUT IT... Rocket Roy puts out new launch report... scales up new information! Click the "Read More" link... Thanks Roy. dr