Launching this weekend is a GO

Rocket Dudes and Dudettes, Rejoice, for we have Rocket Launch this Saturday and Monday. UPDATE for MONDAY, 1-18 Setup at 10:30AM Monday start Flying at 11:00 till 5:00PM This will be a restricted FAR 101 Launch, meaning no rockets over 3.3 lbs and power limited to G and under power. Ralph has spoken with Kip and they have determined that the field is marginable, but playable, if we're CAREFUL. Here's the skinny.... after the rain on Saturday eve. (they got close to 2 inches out at the farm) a lot of creeks have jumped their banks, but were receding nicely. The field is muddy, but if we park on the sides up near the house, and set up near the first ridge, we should be alright. Take your "Wellies", in that you will be dealing with mud. As always, take care and follow the safety guidelines. As this is a pick-up launch, without a waiver in place, you'll be limited to the 3lb rule, and no more than a G in impulse. The house is unoccupied right now, so that should help out with the logistics. By the way, we'll be running the Golf Ball competition into the next 2 launch slots but I flew mine Saturday on a B6 and got an unofficial duration of 44.25 seconds. Not bad for a model that I put together in an afternoon! Anyway, that'll give you something to shoot for in your duration numbers. As Roy would say at this point... Keep your nozzles clear! DR

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January 16th and 17th (and maybe 18th?)

January Launch Our next scheduled launch is set for 1/16 & 1/17. There is some interest in stretching this to 3 days for folks who have Martin Luther King Jr. Day (1/18) as a holiday. Weather concerns make it necessary to consider options. Please check ROCC's blog on Rocketry Planet for more info on this next launch. Weather update: Thursday @ 5:30 pm... Winds for Saturday are currently predicted from the ENE, shifting to E during the day, ranging in speed from 1 to 8 MPH. This puts recovery into the south field and down the runway for most of the day. Weather predictions for Sunday are looking very "iffy", with up to 2" of rain predicted currently. January 2010 - Golf Ball Loft - LPR Competition The complete discussion is located here. 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. 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 ? Ken Allen plans to be on site. You should contact Ken ahead of time and verify that he will have what you need. NAR HPR H Eggloft - Postponed. We have not contacted NAR and scheduled this provisional contest. This is something we will discuss and set a date for at the next launch. We need a NAR member to volunteer to be Contest Director. Wayne has suggested "H" eggloft which I am comfortable with. See discussion here. Someone will need to step up and be contest director and file for this contest with NAR - any takers? The official (provisional) rules are located here. 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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NO Emergency launch for Sunday Jan 10th, tomorrow.

Everyone: We attempted to pole the masses to see if there was interest to fly Sunday Jan 10th. There was really poor reponse to our request. Probably due to the cold and other previously schedule activities. We will attempt possibly a three day event next weekend. Please follow the annoucements this week closely. Thanks, Ralph Sorry to the diehards, we tried....

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Happy Little Christmas

OK, I have found that a lot of folks around these parts don't know about "Little Christmas"... go ahead, go to Wikipedia and check it out. Anyway, here's a little present for you all... take care, see you next weekend. Doc

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Make-up launch scrubbed

Black smoke has given way to white smoke... We have a decision. This weekend is scrubbed. Despite all good intentions... our makeup launch scheduled for this weekend (Jan 2nd and 3rd) is scrubbed. I'm sorry to report that's twice we have had late scrubs due to field conditions. In this case our field is too soggy. The runway where we launch and park is a mess - even as careful as the landowner is he has done some minor trenching just with routine driving in and out of the field. We cannot risk having a large group trying to drive on this soggy spongy ground and potentially damaging our relationship with our only field's owner. On top of this the wind was projected to be 15mph+ with gusts greater than 20mph which would have meant no HPR. My thinking is that we can hope that the generally dry and cold conditions predicted for next week will continue and that by the 16th & 17th (Our normal 3rd weekend launch date) we can fly again.

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Jan 2nd 3rd ROCC Launch weather conditions - Update

Just a heads up we are in discussions now about the field conditions and Wind forecast for this weekend's launch. Please keep checking back as we may be making changes to this weekend's launch. Thanks, Ralph

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ROCC'n The new Year Launch

Make Up Launch Saturday the 2nd looks cold with a small chance of Rain and Sunday the 3rd looks warmer and dry. So the ROCC-N-Christmas was a bust but let's hope we can ROCC in the New Year with a bang! I'm not clear yet if I can make it but plenty of other Club officers are available so as far as I can tell we are go for liftoff on Saturday. I'm not clear what effect this will have (if any) on our normally scheduled launch later in the month. January 2010 - Golf Ball Loft - LPR Competition December's competition was postponed allegedly due to weather but we all know it was to allow contestants more time to tinker with their evil designs and perfect their diabolical rockets. The complete discussion is located here. 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. 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 talked to Ken Allen so I'm not sure if he will be on site or not. I will update when I hear from him either way. You can also contact Ken and verify he is or isn't going to be on site with whatever you are looking for. NAR HPR H Eggloft - Postponed. We have not contacted NAR and scheduled this provisional contest. This is something we will discuss and set a date for at the next launch. We need a NAR member to volunteer to be Contest Director. Wayne has suggested "H" eggloft which I am comfortable with. See discussion here. Someone will need to step up and be contest director and file for this contest with NAR - any takers? The official (provisional) rules are located here. 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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Tradgedy strikes the Gates Brothers

I just heard about this, happening right before Christmas it seems, on the 21st. Erik Gates, of the Gates Brothers rocketry family team, fell through a skylight while working at his job as an electrician. He apparently fell about 30 feet and died from blunt force trauma. The story is posted here.

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Happy ChristmaHanuKwanzicah

Just for kicks I did a search for Christmas Rocket" and came up with this thread on The Rocketry Forum. It's kinda cute.... Anyway, Happy Holidays, be safe, and to all a healthy and prosperous New Year.

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Rescheduling December's Launch

So the plan is to try and reschedule the ill-fated December launch to January 2nd & 3rd as of now. More in the near future, as we firm it up, but it looks like that's the plan. Keep an eye peeled here and on ROCC's Rocketry Planet blog. Then we'll have our regular January launch 2 weeks later on the 16th & 17th. So prep your golf balls and load your range boxes... sounds like a busy month! It's kind of a nice way to bring in the new year, don't you think?

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