April 2010 Launch Report

Welcome all Rocket Dudes and Dudettes.

I want to again thank those who are providing us with photos of our launches. If you have any and would like to get them posted on the web site for our embarrassment and your entertainment contact Doc Russell at docr@wireknot.com or jeanr@wireknot.com. Or as some have done, pass it on a disk or flash drive. We can always get it back to you.
Saturday�s weather, temperature wise, was great with clear skies, but it came at the cost of being pretty breezy with occasional gusts pushing the last weather front out. It settled down some in the afternoon like it usually does, but not as much as we were hoping for.
On one side of the runway the field was bare and unseeded as of yet, so provided no recovery difficulties, but the other (creek) side had been planted in barely and was 12 to 18 inch�s tall providing great difficulties at finding and recovering smaller rockets. You really needed to get almost right on top of them to see them. Bob Bernatchez was almost resolved to consider his scaled Mercury Atlas lost until on one last run through, he managed to come right across it.
We are continuing with our Range Safety standards by making specific assignments of a RSO, Range Safety Officer to pre-inspect rockets before flights and the LCO, Launch Control Officer to check range conditions and control the launch�s in a timely and efficient manner. So far this is working fine with little to no effect on launch flow.
Check both the WEB site and at the launch for info on volunteering for LCO (Cert Lv-1 preferred, but any responsible and experienced adult can apply) and RSO (Cert Lv-2 required) shifts. It�s great for anybody who isn�t flying that day but wants to take part anyway. And it�s fun.
This was a Camp-Out Rocket Launch Weekend so after the last launch, tents with cooking grills and fire pits were erected. And what is it with little girls, marshmallows and an open fire that turns them into squealing, giggling little pyromaniacs? Flaming marshmallow meteors through the air.
One fellow had brought out a huge 10-inch reflector telescope for some great looks at Saturn. I have an Edmond Scientific but forgot to bring it along. Because of our location out there in the country, it is really good (clouds permitting) for stargazing. The thin layer of frost surprised us first thing in the morning and all the heavy dew drops on the tents and vehicles actually had frozen. Once the sun came fully up it all just evaporated away quickly.
We had a class group from Charlotte Latin School lead by class instructor Tom Dubick, Welcome.

Sat, 17 April we had 23 listed fliers that put up 77 flights with an average of 3.3 flights each.
Didn�t have any multi stagers or clusters so we only burned 77 engines.

Engine Size	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
Number Flown	4	10	15	9	13	7	5	6	1

Sorry about any misspelling but I am resorted to deciphering the sign-in sheets and launch slips the best that I can.
Malcolm Smith flew his �Mini Mag� on a H400, with a very fast takeoff and then coasted to apogee for an engine ejection. Then a �Art Applewhite Cubit� flying pyramid like device on an E9 that stuck out to far of the back throwing the stability completely off. He decided not to try it again.
Randy Bird and son, new members, flew a �Renegade� on a number of D12�s and E9�s.
Mitchell Bird flew his �Shuttle Express� on C6�s and his �Alpha III� on A8�s and B6�s.
Burke Wallace flew a �Perishing� on an E30, and a �Red Max�, �Bandit� and a small �ARCAS� on C6�s.
Gary Pfister flew his �Green Meanie� with new electronics on a H144, the �Big Red� on a G64, a �Initiator� on a F24, the �Blue Max� on a D12, a �Mustang� on a F39 and his LOC �Graduator� on a F52 became our first sacrifice to the rocket gods with a ballistic impact return with no ejection.
Bob Bernatchez flew his �Mini Marz Lander� on a A10, a very cool and old classic Battle Star Galactica �Colonial Viper� on a C6, his French missile �Matra Majic R.550� on a F39, a Estes �Patriot� on a C6, the almost lost in the barley �Mercury Atlas� on a B6 and his scaled mini �Mercury Redstone� on a A10.
Terry Baucom brought out and flew his ever ready �Duracell� battery rocket on an I345 that chased all the bunnies away along with his up-scaled �Fat Boy� on a H123.
Ralph Roberts flew his mystical and majical �Cosmic Staff of Azul� on a G53 fast jack.
Sandy Houston actually didn�t get anything into the sky but conducted two static ejection tests. Test one was to see if the calculated amount of ejection charge was sufficient to eject the nose and main chute from the cargo section. It looked just right, the nose and chute was ejected about 5 feet from the anchored body. Test two was for the cargo section from main body, just a tad to much charge, body and cargo both shot off the anchor about 10 feet both ways. That�s why we test it first.
David Strunk flew his �Forte� on a H73J and then a H165R, a �Big Daddy� on a E9 and a �Yankee� on a C6.
Michael Strunk flew a �Mean Machine� on a straight up flight with a E9.
Mike Garner flew a �Guardian� on a H165R with a small drogue chute at apogee with a successful main chute deployment at 500 feet, and his �Comanche� on a C6.
Roy Potter, I was on LCO a lot so I stuck to fast and easy to use single use engines to fly my �Whistler� on a number of E9�s with a 6 sec delay for long whistling fall times. My Aerotech �ARCAS� flew on a F40 and I did fly my �Stars and Stripes-F� on a old F24 reload that took 4 igniters to eventually light it with a special one made by Ralph.
Doc Russell had a nice 1.5 upscaled �Sprint� that he flew on a B6, C6 then a D12. Same rocket I believe, probably used an adapter for the smaller engines.
Brad Shea, ROCC Prez, flew his �Spoolie� on a C6, it�s always amazing as to how stable those spools are. His �Up Chuck� egg lofter flew a golf ball on a B6 for practice.
Adam Harris was test flying a Estes �Rock-it� on E15 and 30�s to test a GPS balloon location device for rocket recovery with a accelrometer and barometer. He plugged it into a laptop after the flights.
Keith Biddinger flew a �Onyx� on a E23, and the �X-Calibur� on a G71R for the last flight of the day at about 7 pm something just before dusk.
Macey Biddinger, the oldest daughter, flew a �Silly Spool� on a C6.
Twins Kay-Lee and Ash-Lee didn�t fly but toasted many a marshmallow in honor of the days flights later that night.
Dylan Petro flew a �Skywriter�, �Ionizer� and an old Estes �Wacky Wiggler� on B6�s. He also flew his �Metalizer� on a C6.
Clay Houser flew a Estes �Jet Fighter� on a C6 that was a cool look under thrust, and a �Shuttle Express� on a B6.
Tim Franks flew a �LOC IV� on a G64 and an �AMRAAM� on another G64.
Matthew Dickinson flew a �Rising Sun� on D12�s.
Sara Plemmons flew the �Black Bullet� on a D12.

That was it for Saturday, everyone had a great time, winds were taken into account and I don�t think we lost anything that day. Many landings were actually fairly close and some right on the runway.

SUN, 18 April we had 30 listed fliers that put up 80 flights with an average of 2.6 flights ea.
Counting multi stagers and clusters we burned 85 engines.

Engine Size	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J
Number Flown	6	21	14	23	5	6	3	4	1	2

Conditions were a bit better, not as calm as we wanted, but we were still able to get a lot of big flights up into the air.
Roy Potter, I stuck to quick and easy single use engines while on LCO duty. The �Whistler� on D12�s and E9�s, my �NASA�, the �Pulse Space Fighter� and �White Dwarf� flew on D12�s also.
Ralph Roberts flew his sweet �Sugar Cherry� on a H123W, and his �Big Bertha� on a C6.
Randy Bird returned to fly his �Renegade� again on a number of D12�s.
Mitchel Bird (son of Randy) also re-flew his �Alpha III� on A8�s and B6�s, and the �Shuttle Express� on B6�s and C6�s.
Malcolm Smith flew a PML �Io� on a G61 and his LOC �Graduator� on a F50.
Keith Biddinger and his 3 girls flew his �Onynix� on a F40.
Macey Biddinger flew the �Naked Flyer� on A8�s.
John Bergsmith had the first flight of the day on Sunday around 10am with the �Treskellion� on a B6. He flew his old Estes �Ranger� with a cluster of 3 B6 engines. The �Tres� also flew on a cluster of 3 C6�s. A Mini �Der Red Max� flew on an A10 and the �Grunt� on a D12.
Ashley Bergsmith flew a �SPEV� on a C6.
Harrison Holton flew a �Big Dawg� on a A8, the �Blue Ninja� on D12�s and a �Baby Bertha� and �Patriot� on B6�s.
Todd Haring flew his �Gizmo� on a H242 that was impressive.
Joe Pettler flew a �Hi Flyer� on a B4 and a �Metalizer� on a B4 and C6.
Bob Bernatchez flew a scale �Nike Apache� on a B6, a classic NCR �Orbit� on a F24, another NCR �Quasar NG� on a G64, a scale �Gemini Titan� on a C6, the �Matra Majic R.550 French missile on a F24 and then his �Path Finder� on a D12.
Sandy Houston finished his ground tests and flew his �Mini Magg� on a J350 that was to separate and free fall at apogee with main chute deployment at 400 feet. But the main deployed after apogee but didn�t drift far and was easily recovered.
Chuck Bracey flew the �Brighton� on a G38 and a �Hustler� with a digital camera recording the flight on a F32, but there was no ejection so it was a sacrifice to the rocket gods with a ballistic impact. He believes the camera chip is good and hopes to recover the images up to the impact.
Billy Brigman flew a classic Estes �Maxi Alpha� on a D12 and the �Dart� on a B4.
Mark Ferrell flew his �Sedina� on a D12 and his really �Big Betty� on a J420 that fell drougless with main chute deployment at 400 feet.
Ian Morris flew a �Razor� tube fin rocket on a B6. There are a lot of articles about going tubular.
Will Morris flew a �Baby Bertha� on a B6 also.
Doug Hague flew a (Mercury ?) �Redstone� on a C6.
Collen Hague flew the �Research Vehicle� with a ladybug in the clear cargo section on a B6.
Calen Hague flew a �Python-4� on a C6 and a Mini �Freaky Flyer� on a A10.
Corky Story, while looking for Black Widows, (he hunts them) flew his �Phoenix� on a H97J that resulted in a successful recovery with a long walk across the creek and then his impressive scaled �Honest John� on a I357 that almost caused a few heart attacks when the nose and shock cord laid across and collapsed the main chute until slipping off only about a 100 feet off the ground landing safely. Whew, boy. I stopped breathing there for a while.
Drake Story, Corky�s son, flew the �Wild Eye� I think the same one ?, On a B4, D12�s and a F37?
Thomas Ayers flew a �Paper Alpha� paper rocket and �Xenon� on B6�s, and �Metalizer� on C6�s.
Allen Deal flew a �Blue Ninja� on a E11 and E18.
Garrett Brooks flew his �The Evil One� because evil never rests, on a C6.
Brad Shea flew his Golf Ball contest rockets �4 Noodle Max Flight� and �Camo Funky� on B6�s with a time of 47 seconds.
Doc Russell flew his �H� powered 2-egg loft contest rocket �Airel� on a H180, but some kind of engine malfunction occurred almost like the motor snuffed itself out after leaving the rail. Yes, it was ballistic scrambled eggs for lunch. Bummer, that was a nice rocket.
Julius Burris flew a nice looking WWII �V-2� on a D12.

It was a good weekend, everyone had a good time and even with our new RSO safety checks everything moved along smoothly.

Hope to see everyone this Saturday the 8th, it�s looking good so far but lets keep the pressure on the weatherman to keep it good for this Saturday�s launch.

Take Care and remember to keep those exhaust nozzles clear.
Roy, ROCC Sec.