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.
Keep a look at the ROCC web site for more information at WWW.rocketrycarolina.org.
Saturday the 16th, we had a good crowd out there, about twice as many spectators of family and friends as there were fliers.
We had 37 documented fliers who put up a total of 115 recorded flights that I can account for.
Counting cluster and multi-stage flights we burned 122 engines.
Breakdown was :
"A"= 10 "B"= 10 "C"= 20 "D"= 14 "E"= 20 "F"= 13 "G"= 15 "H"= 10 "I"= 10 "J"=1.
That's the most "I"'s that I can think of being flown in just one day.
We do have a Estes "Yankee" in our lost and found from Saturday.
Most fliers I know and can decipher their handwriting, all others, I try my best.
Roy Potter. Flew a Aerotech "Arcas" on a F42, the "Stars and Stripes" on a F20, a Estes 4in "V-2" on F32's, the "Union Jack" on a E15, and my new scratch built orange and white rear ejection "Target Drone" on a H97 that burned through the side of the motor casing pushing it into a slow loop to lawn dart in the soft damp soil. Minimal damage and will be back next month. It could have been my fault, wrong size "O" ring or lack of rear washer.
Bob Bernatchez always brings out a lot and flies most of them. His "D Region Tomahawk" on a E18, "Pathfinder" on a D12, the Estes "interceptor-E" on a F24, a nice looking 1.6 upscale "Mars Lander" on a H165, a "Super Big Bertha" on a E18, the French missile "Matra Majic R.550" on a F39, a "Nike-Apache" on a B6, a "Side winder" on a D12, and a "Mini Bomark" on a A10.
Robbie Kirk, a former junior and now senior flier flew a "Hornet" on a I435, the "Red Checker" on a G71 and his "Not a Mini Mag" on a I285.
Stuart Samuals flew three different sized "Maple Seed" rockets that twirl-a-round down like giant maple seed pods. The small flew on a B6, the Medium on a E18 and then the large on a H128 which couldn't appear to take the sudden jerk and torque of the ejection. His "Pyramid" flew on a F12, a "Boost Glider" on A8's, a "Gyroc Wana-Be" on a B6 and the "Sun Rise" on a G64.
Burke Wallace flew a "Sprint" on a C6, a "A20 Demon" on a D12 and his "Tomahawk" on a Estes long burning E9 for a long flight.
Doc Russell besides working the launch got in a few flights with his "Aerial" on a H128, a "Pterodactyl" on a I211, his "Weasel" on a F24 and his "Golf Ball" duration competition rocket on a B6. His is the winning time by the way.
Will Morris had multiple flights of his "Baby Bertha" on C6 and B4's.
Ian Morris also had multiple flights with his "Nova Payloader" on C5 and B4's.
Tony Casey had multiple flights of his "Mean Machine" (or different ones?) on E9's and a F39. His (old Estes kit?) "Honest John" flew on a G53.
Kyle Casey flew the Estes kits "Bunker Buster" on a D12, a "Cluster Bomb" on a C6 and a "Sky Bomb" on a C6.
Kelly Casey flew a "Screw Machine" on a C6, a "Cosmic Cobra" on a C6 and a "Storm Wizard" on a D12.
Malcom Smith flew a (Aero Tech ?) "Barracuda" on a F26, a "Cool Spool" (that's a kit version?) on a G80 and a "Gremlin on a C11.
Sandy Houston flew an "Arrow" on a F35, a Estes digital video "Oracle" on a E28, a 2 stg "Blue Ninja" on D12 to E9 twice and a "Big Daddy" on a E11?
Gary Pfister flew a "Blue Max" on a E9, "Big Red" on a G64, a "Mustang" on a F39 and a "Small Endeavor" on a G80.
Curtis Jackson flew a "Black Widow" on a G71 and a "Big Bertha" on a C6.
Brandon Jackson flew a "Horizon 54" on a I366 with main at 500ft, and the "Regulus" 2 stg on B6 to A6.
John Bergsmith flew the "Double D" with 2 D12's, his "Cricket" on a H123, his neatly scaled coastal "Light House" on a D12, the "G-Force" on a G71 and the "SPEV" on a C6.
Terry Baucom flew his "2-Up" with 2 D12's, the "Big Daddy" on a E16 and the "After Thought" on G64's.
Matt Baucom flew "The Monster" on a perfect flight I161 with main at 400ft. And the "Blue Jay"on a G64.
Colin Moser flw his "Black Bird" on a A8.
Brad Shea flew his "Sword of Damocles" on a H123 Skidmark, which would have been so much cooler if flown at dusk. But still impressive just the same.
Frankie Rivell flew his "Yankee Pride" on a A8.
Michael Strank flew a "Mean Machine" on a E9, the "Hi Flyer" on a C6, a "Big Daddy" on a E9 and a "Yankee" on a C6.
Emily Nelson flew her "Yoga" rocket for meditation therapy on a E9, the "Iron Man" on a E9 and her "Tortuga Twins" on a F42.
Doug Knight flew his "Phobos" on a Cessoroni G185, cooool, the "Attack" on a I357 and a "Sky Writer" on a D21.
Charlie Ogino flew a regular sized "Big Daddy" on a I115. He was with or assisting the MCC USLI collage team flying a 2/3 scale "Converging/Diverging Airflow" experiment rocket on flights with a I435 and a J570 with main chute deployment at 700 ft.
Ryan Bonnett flew the "Little Orange Rocket" on a A8.
Kyle Bonnett flew the "Speed Freak" on a A8 and a "Yankee Wizard" on a A8.
Lawrence Albright flew a Estes "Mongoose" 2 stg on C6 to C6, and a "Scratch built" on C6's.
Mike Garner flew a Estes "Scissor Wing" glider (a re-released kit a couple of years ago) on a C6, a "Pro Max" on a G76 and a "Scratch built" on a E9.
Brent Bierstedt flew a "Orbital Transport" on a E9 and a "Sky Dart" on a C6.
Travis Helms flew his "Yankee" on a A8.
John Hobson flew the "Serendipity" up on a H128.
NCSU Rocketry collage team flew a � scale "Lil Lycos" on a H144 with main at 500ft.
Natalie Harrell flew the "Calvinator" on a H225 then a I345 with altimeter chute deployment.
Keith Biddinger flew his "X Calibur" on G77's.
Todd Haring flew the "Gizmo" on a H123.
That was Saturdays launch, watch your spelling please so we can read it.

Monday the 18th of January was Martin Luther King day and a lot of us ether had the day off or could arrange it, so there was enough interest to go for a Monday launch if the field conditions had improved enough from Sunday. We kept up close to the house and limited parking to just a little ways down the runway. We were flying under the 3 pound 4 ounce rule so we could setup closer to the empty house where the ground was firmer.
It was kind of a squishy walk to recover the rockets.
We weren't expecting a crowd so we took our time and launched when a few were ready at a time. Just like the olden days when there were few of us.
The temperature was mild, light breeze and clear or high clouds so it was pretty good.
We had 8 fliers and we got through the day with 32 flights burning 35 engines.
"A"= 0 "B"= 3 "C"= 10 "D"= 8 "E"= 5 "F"= 3 "G"= 6.
Roy Potter flew the "Bumble Bee" on a F52, the "White Dwarf" on E9's and the Aerotech "Arcas" on a F40.
Ralph Roberts flew his "Initiator" on a F40, a "UFO Saucer" on a D12, the Estes kit "Port-a-Pot Shot" flying outhouse on C6's, a "Big Bertha" on a C6 and the "Cosmic Staff of Ozul" on a G71.
Brad Shea flew the "Generic Black and Blue" on a G64, the "Pentagonal Doom" with a neat 5 sided fin pattern with a rear chute ejection, twice on a D12 with a good recovery and a E9 where chute deployed but did not open, thank the soft damp soil to save it. His latest "Mad Rocket Scientist" flight was a small spool "Motor with an Attitude" on a E12. A duck and hit the dirt flight.
Maddy Haring flew the "Pok-a-Dot Mania" on a G33 and G64.
Macy Biddinger flew a "Silly Spool" on a C6, the "Simple Spool" on a C6 and a "Naked Flyer" on a C6.
Keith Biddinger flew his "X Calibar" again on a G77.
David Tomkinson flew the "36 D Squared" with 2 D12's, a "V-3" on a D12, a "Baby Bertha" on a B4, a "Patriot" on a C6, the "Thunderstar" on 2 D12's and a "Duces Wild" on 2 D6's.
Dave Hobson flew his "Sem Roc" on a D12.

Ok, that was our rare week day flight on Monday.

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.

Keep a look at the ROCC web site for more information at WWW.rocketrycarolina.org.

Remember to keep your nozzles clear and we will see you next month.
Roy, ROCC Sec.