WOW, What a weekend

Man, what a great launch weekend. It started out a bit rough for me personally but thanks to Roy, Ralph and a bunch of others the weekend got off to a great start. Lots of flights on Saturday with some of the best temperatures we've seen so far. It was a bit windy, and several flights ended up on the north adjacent properties, but I didn't hear of anyone getting into real trouble with any of the landowners so it all worked out well. There were some brilliant flights, and Charlie Ogino had his monster rocket on display in the parking area. I've got a photo from Sunday. Click the read more tag to see it (Remember, there's a 10' booster section yet to be built!) I started to run out of steam about about 4 and apparently I missed the flight of the day. Our own Dr. Doug decided to fly a J motor as the winds were settling down. It took off and got several hundred feet up when the forward closure failed, popped the nose off and then it miraculously got stable again, but horizontal and headed due north under full power. It impacted into the woods with a resounding THUD. Ouch!!! I heard from Brad on Saturday night and he was having a great time in San Fran, but wished he was burnin' some AP with us! Really big news, the ROCC membership overall has stepped up and donated $500.00 to the Mitchel USLI team and the team is well on their way to making their ultimate goal. They still need to raise more to go to Huntsville, so if you know of a corporate sponsor or some organization with some money and a desire to foster science education, then get in touch! Go Team!! Sunday dawned cloudy but hopeful, and we had a reasonable turnout. It really heated up once troop 163 (I think that's right) got there and had some great demo flights, then we flew their rockets. They had about a dozen and a half rockets and everyone had a great time. Rain hit us about 3:30 and closed down the field a bit early, but we all pitched in and got it done, a bit damp but safely. Hats off to all, and we'll wait for Roy's official wrap-up soon. Doc Russell ROCC VP

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March ROCC Launch - Sunday Morning Update

Well our biggest issue today will be weather. Official forecast 50% chance of showers with winds 5-10 from the South Southeast. Note: Ken Allen is here this weekend and will not be here next month (April) so come out and see him today if you need stuff for next month. The Sunday Morning forecast is trending that we may have some showers in the afternoon. A small band of rain is in southern Georgia getting ready to move into SC. We may have a few showers in the afternoon that we may be able to work around, however, if we get a band of rain that could possibly soak the equipment we may call the launch early. Now all that said the area where we launch from tends to stay drier than the surrounding areas so our rain may hold off longer than Charlotte's. Our suggestion is get there as early as possible. We will be set up by 11:00AM. We have a 1:00 PM Scout group with about 6-10 kids so any help with this would be appreciated Thanks, Ralph - Tripoli Charlotte Prefect We will try to post updates throughout the day as we have them, otherwise call Ralph on his cell 704-560-0147 for on field updates. PS Yesterday was great, a lot of great flights, good food, great weather, lots of flyers!!!!

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March ROCC Launch - Sunday Morning Update

Well our biggest issue today will be weather. Official forecast 50% chance of showers with winds 5-10 from the South Southeast. Note: Ken Allen is here this weekend and will not be here next month (April) so come out and see him today if you need stuff for next month. The Sunday Morning forecast is trending that we may have some showers in the afternoon. A small band of rain is in southern Georgia getting ready to move into SC. We may have a few showers in the afternoon that we may be able to work around, however, if we get a band of rain that could possibly soak the equipment we may call the launch early. Now all that said the area where we launch from tends to stay drier than the surrounding areas so our rain may hold off longer than Charlotte's. Our suggestion is get there as early as possible. We will be set up by 11:00AM. We have a 1:00 PM Scout group with about 6-10 kids so any help with this would be appreciated Thanks, Ralph - Tripoli Charlotte Prefect PS Yesterday was great, a lot of great flights, good food, great weather, lots of flyers!!!!

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March ROCC Launch - Sunday Morning Update

Well our biggest issue today will be weather. Official Forecast 50% chance of showers with winds 5-10 from the South Southeast. The Sunday Morning forecast is trending that we may have some showers in the afternoon. A small band of rain is in southern Georgia getting ready to move into SC. We may have a few showers in the afternoon that we may be able to work around, however, if we get a band of rain that could possibly soak the equipment we may call the launch early. Now all that said the area where we launch from tends to stay drier than the surrounding areas so our rain may hold off longer than Charlotte's. Our suggestion is get there as early as possible. We will be set up by 11:00AM. We have a 1:00 PM Scout group with about 6-10 kids so any help with this would be appreciated Thanks, Ralph - Tripoli Charlotte Prefect

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March Madness

Our next launch will be the regular 3rd weekend, March 20th & 21st., weather permitting. Brad will not be able to attend due to proir travel plans so it'll be myself (Doc) there for set-up and I could use some hands. I still have a weight limit of about 20 lbs. so I could use some "muscle" to get the set-up done. Set-up time will be 10:00, as usual, with launch activities to commence right after set-up, about 11:00. We can probably fly till about 6:00 because of daylight saving time. WEATHER UPDATE: Wind forecasts: currently Wunderground is predicting 4-6 MPH winds from 200 to 180 degrees, so recovery should be straight across the runway to the right hand fields. Percip & temps look to be beautiful for Saturday, in the low 70's with hardly a chance of rain. Sunday however is looking dicey, with a 60% chance of thunderstorms. We can make the call about Sunday when it gets a bit closer, maybe even on Saturday. I know there is a scout troop wanting to come out on Sunday but if there is any way we could accommodate them on Sat. it might be the better bet. RSO The new process worked well but we didn't have high volume. We plan to stick to the RSO all rockets model for the next launch. Please be aware that any rocket without RSO initials on it will not be launched until this is addressed. Volunteer Please We will need volunteers at the next club launch. Multiple jobs are available and I will send my sign up sheet template to the others for them to use. Please chime in online if you know ahead of time that you can be available to assist. Jobs are listed below: Setup - 2-3 people to help carry gear and setup pads. May need someone with a truck to help haul equipment back and forth. Tear Down - 4+ people to help tear down the gear, move it and stow it. May need someone with a truck again. RSO/LCO - We need people 3+ people each day to sign up for 2 hour shifts at LCO & RSO (6 people total at a minimum). LCO's can be any adult member of NAR or Tripoli (L1 preferred). RSO requires L2 or higher certification. LCO's need to be aware of the rules including verifying the skies are clear and avoiding launching at an angle that brings rockets back over the crowd during recovery. March 2010 continuing - Golf Ball Loft - LPR Competition The complete discussion is located on the ROCC Rocketry Planet blog. The basic idea is a fun reinvention of bowling ball lofting with LPR rockets and golf balls. Key aspects: B motor, Must keep the ball on the field - no off field recovery, ball can recover by itself - only the ball is timed, "booster" must recover safely but need not be on field or returned, ball must stay with the booster even if turned upside down until the rocket is launched. Doc set the bar by flying his with > 1 min duration! Roy Potter flew for a :58-second duration and is right in the #2 slot right now. Way to go Doc. Doc & Roy are the only flyers with qualified flights so far. Certify and FLY Remember that APCP is no longer regulated as an explosive so you are free to certify and fly up to your certification level with only minimal regulations (FAA, DOT, etc.). Remember that our field does not support motors over K. Performance Hobbies ? I have not yet checked with Ken Allen. You can contact Ken if you want to confirm this or order from him. (DR note, from his website calendar it looks like he will be with us, but in April it looks like he'll be at Red Glare in MD.) NAR HPR H Eggloft - April 2010/b> Doc has agreed to step up and be our Contest Director for the NAR HPR Provisional contest. We plan to fly this one in April 2010. See discussion on Rocketry Planet. The official (provisional) rules are located here. (From DR), Please read the "read More" link for some info I'd like to propose for the H-Eggloft in April. Last thing... (from Doc) The Mitchel Community College USLI (University Student Launch Initiative) team coordinated by our own Dr. Doug Knight & Rocket Clan Ogino (motto: we likey big motors) is working on getting their cash together before they must travel to the Huntsville, AL launch at NASA on April 17th. They are competing against some pretty heavy hitters, including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Iowa State, University of Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, just to name a few. They have a great deal of information available here. They are looking for tax-deductible donations, with some "perks" available (think PBS fundraiser) as incentives. These young folks are doing some real rocket science folks. The site is well worth a visit even if you don't donate. Some of you may recall a very strange looking nozzle on top of a white 4" airframe going off at the last few launches. That's what this is all about. Thanks Thanks to all who help make this a great club. We have had good participation with setup and tear down and plenty of additional help in other areas. Pat yourselves on the back - you make this club a great place to have fun. Sincerely, Brad Shea ROCC President roccprez@rocketrycarolina.org

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Y-Guides build & fly

Just a short blast to let you all know that the ROCC was well represented on the 6th at the Y-Guides build & launch. Bob B., Sandy, Malcom, Brad, Brandon and I went out to River Hill plantation and gave some education, did some demo flights and flew over 126 B-motor rockets for about 275 dads & kids. Hats off to Sandy who went out Friday night & picked up all the equipment, gave Brad apoplexy, and showed up with the rest of us on time and ready to work to make it a GREAT time. We launched the 126+ flights in about 2&1/2 hours by the way (whew!) Way to go guys, and an extra special thanks to Malcom for getting me there & back! DR

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February Rocket Valentines

Happy Valentines Day. Well�.We didn�t actually declare this to be the February Valentines Launch, but for most of us it was, because we love it, otherwise we wouldn�t be doing it. (and yes, that means there are a few Rocket Widows out there while we are off) Weather wise, we really missed the bullet. After weeks of mixed weekends of mismatched weather, we lucked out with two perfect days of flying weather. Monday it rained. Both days were clear with warm temperatures, light shirts or �T� shirts in the afternoons and only 5mph predicted winds. There were some higher winds on and off but overall good. Thanks to those who are providing us with photos of our launch�s. If you have any and would like to get them posted on the web site for our entertainment contact Doc Russell at rocketrycarolina@gmail.com or wireknot@gmail.com. or as some have done, pass on a disk or flash drive. We can always get it back to you. Full flight-by-flight report follows the "Read More" link:

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February Launch - IS ON (This Weekend)

February Launch Saturday and Sunday Jan 20th, 21st 11:00AM till 6:00PM The runway is dry,NO RAIN, and the FAA Waiver is approved !!!!!! Winds will be great, out of the West at 2mph Sat, out of the SW Sunday 5-10mph The Golf Ball loft contest. This is a contest to see who can loft a standard, regulation-weight golf ball and clock the longest flight on a B-impulse engine. Go to Our Planet ROCC Rocket site for details. No Food Vendor, however The Oginos may be doing a bake Sale for their fund raiser. Ken from Performance Hobbies will be there both days. Ralph will be there for Tripoli Certs HELP NEEDED Due to availability of several officers and other regular crew we need volunteers to step up this weekend. Several different jobs are available and I will try to place a sign up sheet out early in the day or you can email me or comment in the RSO thread above. Jobs are listed below: Setup - 2-3 people to help carry gear and setup pads. May need someone with a truck to help haul equipment back and forth. Tear Down - 4+ people to help tear down the gear, move it and stow it. May need someone with a truck again. RSO/LCO - We need people 3 people each day to sign up for 2 hour shifts at LCO. Additionally we need 2-3 people each day to sign up as RSO. LCO's can be any L1 or higher member of NAR or Tripoli. RSO requires L2 or higher. LCO's need to be aware of the rules including verifying the skies are clear and avoiding launching at an angle that brings rockets back over the crowd during recovery. RSO - New "Test" Rules Due to some recent issues at other clubs and our own we are testing new rules this time around. More details and discussion can be found here. Rockets below the certification level of the flier do not require RSO sign off. All rockets require an RSO signature for anything equal to the flier's level of certification. A flier who demonstrates carelessness or otherwise fails to self-police will lose this option. Any rocket that crashes requires RSO approval before making any new flights regardless of who flies it. As a practical guide: L3 - fly L2 and under - MAX J - without RSO approval required. L2 - fly L1 and under without RSO approval required. L1 - fly MPR and LPR without RSO approval required L0 - All rockets require approval. Rockets that crash require approval before flying again. Fliers that abuse this system will be required to get approval on all rockets. RSO can step in and check on any flight if they deem it necessary. All fliers are encouraged to bring any rocket to the RSO that they need an opinion on. Anyone noticing unsafe conditions or concerned over a specific flight - notify RSO!

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January 2010 Launch Report

(ETA -- Thanks to Heidi Casey we have pictures on the photo page.) Happy New Years, and I hope everyone had a great time at our "ROCC'n", New Years" monthly launch for January. Of course it could have better, while Saturday the 16th was really great, low to no winds and easily tolerable weather, with food, drinks and the fire pit, it made it a great day to fly. The only rockets that made it to the treeline were the ones that flew there. Little drift. Sunday on the other hand, was too wet and soggy after Saturday nights rain. But because Monday was a Holiday, and ground conditions were just good enough, we had a rare Monday flight day. Keep in mind of the "Golf Ball" duration contest. It is pretty easy, just fly a rocket with any legal "B" engine up with a real golf ball and time its flight from takeoff to landing. Golf Ball can come down on it's own chute. Ball must stay on rocket prior to flight if turned over. We will be running it through the next few launches. We need to get our club memberships up. Though not required to attend and fly at the farm, it provides the funds to maintain the club equipment, TRA and NAR association fees and insurance. The flight donation jar at the launch table goes to the land owner in appreciation for the use of his land and providing a storage shed for out equipment. We have a lot of good photographers out at the launches and we would like to post your photos, the good, the bad and the ugly on our club web site so contact Doc Russell at DOCR@wireknot.com or wireknot@gmail.com to see how to get your shots posted. we love the photos that many of you have shown us on your cameras display screens. Sometimes they are probably the only shots ever taken before the rockets are no more. or we could use them to send to Aerotech if we have a claim to make.

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February preview

February 20th & 21st is the next launch weekend so here's a preview of a few things that'll be going on. First, the Golf Ball loft contest. This is a contest to see who can loft a standard, regulation-weight golf ball and clock the longest flight on a B-impulse engine. The rules are located on Rocketry Planet, but the basics are that the ball is timed, must be recovered on the field, and the ball can't fall off the rocket before it's launched if you turn it upside down. I think I'm the only one who has flown one so far, and I got an unofficial time of 44.25 seconds. We'll be extending it into March but we want to show enough results to the folks at NAR so that they might want to add this to the roster of sanctioned events. Looking ahead to April's launch we're organizing the H-power egg loft. Bob's sending in the paper work so that we'll be sanctioned for it. Check out the regulations on the NAR website under the high power rules. More details later, but start building! DR

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