November Launch Report

Welcome, congratulations and Happy Post-Thanksgiving wishes to
everyone.

The November rocket launch was great. We knew that
being the weekend prior to "T" Day, that the turnout wouldn't be really high,
but it turned out really great for those who could come out and play.

Saturday the 19th, the weather was mostly calm with a small
intermittent breeze with lots of sun that that ended up keeping the temperature
comfortable.

We had 12 fliers signed in who put up a total of 34 flights, burning a
total of 53 engines. That includes clusters and multi-stagers. Bob Strauss's
cluster flights accounts for the majority of the additional engines
burnt.

Ralph Roberts, ROCC Prez, took time from the launch controls to fly a
Estes "Patriot" on a C6 and then time to prep and fly his "Fear Factor" on a
aerotech I218 redline that really put out a brilliant red
flame.

Roy Potter, myself, flew my "Code Red" with the horse-shoe streamer on
C6's, The "Pirate Ship E" on a E18-4 reload, "Marvin the Martian" on a E9-6 and
the whistling "Mars Probe" on a
C6-3, which succumbed to the overwhelming forces of gravity without a chute and
ended up participating in a "Viking funeral pyre" at the fire
pit.

Kyle Casey flew a Estes "Shuttle Express" that releases two gliders to
fly back as the body returns on a chute on a B6-4.

Tony Casey, both arrived in a vintage (British?) WWII military truck,
flew a "V-2" on a F24-4 and a "F14 Tomcat" on a C6-3 that worked. It snaps its
wings from swept back to forward to a glide return. A bit nose heavy in the
landing, but better than mine ever did.

Phil Trainor brought out a new "Initiator" and it had its 1st
flight on a F20-4 and then on a G40-4 for successful flights.

Terry Baucom had a list of flights. The "2-Up" went up on a 2 engine
cluster of 2 E9-6's, a "Mustang" on a F20-7, the "Hv-Arcus" on a F52-5, a "Loc
IV" on a G61-s, and the kitty, "Garfield Express" on a I161-m. He had a couple
of losing arguments with the Rocket Gods, but that won't slow him
down.

Drew Baucom flew her own "Initiator" on a F20-4, a "Whistler" on a D12-3
(you could just hear the whistle prior to ejection) and a "Blue Ninja" on a
D12-5.

Steve Bumgarner, was, as usual, first on the pad. He flew the "Rocket-On"
on E28-7's, the "Yellow Jacket" on a f24-7, "Canadian Arrow" on a F52-8 that I
think was the one that we lost sight of, but heard it impact. He will have it
back rebuilt to fly again. The "Boston Blackie" went on a G64-7, the "Fire Hawk"
on a D12-7 and the "Space Plane" on a B4-2 that did a powered landing without
damage.

Justin Grosjean flew a "Black Widow" on a F20-7 and G40-10 and a "Black
Banshee" on a F20-7 for good flights.

Mary-Beth Westgarth-Taylor flew a "Patriot LSU" on a
D12-5.

Colin Westgarth-Taylor flew a 1/4 scale "Patriot" on a H123w-s, a "Fat Boy"
scaled up to 24mm to fly on a D12-5 and a "CR-1" on a G64-7 (dedicated to a Pete
Potter, a True American)

Bob Strauss, who is experimenting with clusters, flew the "Titania" that
had two D12-5's on the main body and two fall away boosters with B6-0's that
successfully ejected away from the Titan and chutted down as the Titan continued
on up. The "Galelio" (a 1990 rocket) flew again on a D12-3. "AAU-USA" flew on a
D12-5, the "Better Mouse Trap" on a 3 engine cluster of C6-5's ignited by a
Flash Powder Pan, and the big cluster on the "Short Boy" with one C-11, four
B6's and four B4's. The flash powder mix was a bit off so not all ignited, but
it was quite spectacular. The "Color on Demand" went up on three D12-5's, which
luckily did work as it was the company rocket and his boss was there, he looked
impressed by everything.

Well that was Saturday, 34 flights, 53 engines burned.

B= 12, C= 9, D= 8, E= 6, F= 10, G= 5, H= 1, I= 2,

Sunday the 20th, started off over-cast with a slight drizzle
for a short period, then just stayed a bright overcast and no winds for the rest
of the day.

Ken Allen of Performance Hobbies was out for the day and conducted a lot
of business through the day as rockets flew. He was happy, we were happy,
everyone was happy. Surprisingly we had many more fliers and a whole gob of
spectators.

Roy Potter, myself, flew my "Bomark D" return glider, on the second
flight it went for a runway landing across the runway and slid under my own van
clipping the rudder requiring minor repair. The "Sounder" flew up on F21-4's and
the "Classic Sci-Fi" style rocket flew on F21-4's but will require repair to one
of those big fancy Flash Gordon like fins.

Bob Bernatchez had the most flights with 11 each, and always brings out
old (some times very old) classics and new, 3 years in the making, models for
their first flight. One that he has been working on for many years now is the
Russian "VOSTOK" which is kind of fragile if pressure is applied from the side,
but very strong vertically, as it flew on a H242 very successfully. A "Patriot"
flew on a G64-4, "Super 530D" on a
A3-4T, the scale "Juno I" on a C6-3, the "DC-Y" on a C6-3, "Super Big Bertha" on
a E18-4, the Estes X-rocket "Spaceship One" on a C6-3, a scale "Mercury Atlas"
on a F24-4, a "Maniac" on a D12-5, a scale "Titan III E" on a D12-5, and last, a
Scale "Nike Apache" on a B6-6.

Mike Canepa flew the "Seen Better Days" rocket on a G80-7, the Ex Blue"
on a K550 with two altimeters, a Olson M2 and a Black Sky separating the rocket
at apogee and free falling with a successful main ejection at 500 feet. And then
a "No-Name'" on a F, or a G, I'm thinking it was a G the way it took
off.

Mike Succhitano only flew one, but it was a good one. A 5.5 inch upscale
"Fat Boy" on a I195. It was sweeeeet.

David Deason also had only one flight, but again it was a gooood one. A
"Ptyroctactyl" on a I218-m, also sweeeeet.

Conner Deason flew a PML "Black Brant" on a G64 and the "Decaffienator"
(must not drink coffee or something) on a D12-3.

Tony Casey flew the snake skinned reptilian "Mean Machine" on a "F"
something, couldn't be sure, and flew a naked "fly naked before you paint them"
(ooh, that's a baaad picture we didn't need Tony) "Honest John" on a F24-4 for a
good flight. OK, now you can get dressed and paint it.

Kyle Casey tried to pepper the runway with his Estes "Cluster Bomb" on
C6-3's and a "Paveway" on a C6-3.

Candace Lowe flew a "Thunder Star" on a cluster of two B6-4's, a "Sky
Writer" on a C6-3, a "Eliminator" on a E9-8, a "Big Daddy" on a D12-5, and a "CC
Express" two stager on a C11 to a C11-7 for a good boost and sustainer
flight.

Chelsea Lowe flew a "Harpoon" on a C6-5 and a Estes "Phoenix" on a D12-3,
Her Estes "Exoskell" lander flew on a C6-3 and an "Canadian Arrow" on a
D12-5.

Terry Baucom returned with "The Bat" flying on a G33-7, the "Garfield
Express" returned for another flight on a I161-m, the "Tethus" went up on a
H180-m and a "UNK" last flight of the evening. He and Steve had to get in one
last flight.

Drew Baucom flew the "Whistler" again on a D12-3, the "Initiator" on a
F40-7 and a "Big Daddy" on a E9-6.

Steve Bumgarner flew a two stager "DD Express" on a D12 to a D12-7
successfully. The "3D" with a three cluster of three D12-7s flew well, the
"Bully" flew on a F40-7 and the "Silver Bullet" on a big H165redline. The "Hi
Rise" on a E28-7, the auto store special built from a transmission fluid funnel,
finless, "Trans Funnel" flew on a G64-7 and he also had a "UNK" last flight of
the day with Terry.

Greg Burris flew a "Eliminator" on a D12-5 and then a
E9-6.

Lauren Burris flew a "Mini Mach 12" on a C6-7.

Tara Latkowski also flew a "Mini Mach 12" on a C6-7.

Vic Duniec, he makes really nice scale missiles,
flew a modified Estes "V-2" on a D12-3.

Lizzy Duniec flew a "Blue Ninja" on a C11-5 and a "Sky Writer" on a
B6-4.

Brad Duniec flew a nice "dad's helping hand?" "HARM" missile on a E15-7
and a "Cluster Bomb" on a C6-3.

Ralph Roberts took some time to prep and get his large 5.5 inch scale
"Patriot" up to fly on a J315 redline, and it was real pretty in the afternoon
sky. It separated at apogee and free fell to aprox 600 ft where the main was
ejected for a nice landing.

Doc Russell, who usually brings out 30 year old rockets from the back of
his closet, came out and flew the "Alt-one" on a A3-4T, the "Too High" on a
E9-8, and a "Executioner" on a F21-6.

Bob Strauss flew a two stager "Ganymede II" on a cluster booster of a C11
and eight B6's to a sustainer with a D12-5. If I remember correct, it worked? He
also flew the "Short Boy" again with a cluster of one C11, four B6's and four
B4's, and it was a low alt flight. It has to be engine heavy. The "Better Mouse
Trap" flew again on a cluster of three C6-5's.

Phil Trainor, who got there early and set most every thing back up for
the day, flew his new "Initiator" on a G64-7.

Sunday turned out to be a busy day with 23 fliers signed-in and 68
recorded flights with a total of 98 engines burned. Yeah, it was a busy
Sunday.

Mini= 2, B= 20, C= 20, D= 18, E= 7, F= 10, G= 9, H= 3, I= 3, J=1, K=1.

Yeah, it was good day to fly rockets, and we hope
that everyone who can, and is available can come out for Decembers launch, the
weekend before Christmas. We plan to have some giveaways and hope to make it a
fun day. The fire pit will be out to make hot water for coffee and chocolate, or
tea, and to keep your hands warm.

More information will come out later so if you're around, keep an eye out
for any updates.

For now, all I, Steve and Ralph can say is, Keep Those Exhaust Nozzles
Clear, and see you next month.