Wednesday
Jan122011
1-15 & 1-16 launch ops
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 7:21AM This just in at 4:30 PM Friday, per Ralph, Brad & Kip:
"We are a NO-GO for this weekend.
Kip says the runway is too soggy for even foot traffic. Even the relatively packed area near the house is squishing water as you walk – kip doesn’t want to run the risk of rutting the runway and so we will have to wait a week and hope the runway dries out more. Some light rain is predicted mid-week but cross your fingers and hope it’s not enough to keep the runway soggy."
Sorry everybody. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for next weekend.... DR
Reader Comments (8)
Anyone want to buy some 24mm and 29mm reloads, cases and rockets? The way it looks I wont ever get them in the air.....
Between the weather, the field conditions, and scheduling issues, the only flying I will be doing is in my yard.
We, like some few other outdoor hobby enthusiasts, because we are involved with a hobby that takes place outdoors, are at the mercy of both the wether and the conditions as a result of the weather.
We can remember some years where the weather was, by random chance, always within adaquate to perfect conditions on our regular scheduled hobby weekend.
And those are what we tend to remember, and then ask or wonder "Why" are we are held hostage to a season of bad weather. Isn't there something we can do about it?
Nope, we just have to deal with the conditions as they arive, much out of our control and much to our irritation.
The only real options are =
1. To "cancel" well in advance if it is quite evident that conditions will not improve and reschedule if possible.
2. To "hold" the decision up till the almost last minute to make the best decision baised on the information availabile at that time.
3. To "Post" "Publisize" that decision on the WEB site where all interested members can get the latest information.
Most of us remember when the only way to get the information out was by posting a "Closed" sign on the farm gate and use a Telephone alert system which was very hit or miss, if the number was current, could you get the person on your list, did they have a answer machine or not.
Our hobby is one that demands us to be willing to lose or break our toys in play, and patient enough to wait our turn standing in line behind someone else or waiting for the weather to change to our favor.
I try to be patient, be willing to wait and hope and express a positive attitude that I hope will make things better for me if not anyone else.
Optimistic Roy.
My yard is mush as well and we got a truck stuck at work in the back lot. It will be days until things get better, but that is just how it goes.
I still prefer cancelling because of this than all of the burn-ban problems we had 2-4 years ago. Those were the worst, because flying weather was perfect, crops were out, but it wasn't safe to fly. In this situation, the flying weather wouldn't be that great and we'd do damage to the landowners property, so No-go is the right call.
Maybe I'll actually finish a new one. . . or not. . .
Sandy.
I appreciate the work Ralph is doing to try to get us flying. Seems like he is doing everything possible, but he can't control the weather. The status updates remain positive, and that's about all that can be done.
Maybe next weekend, keep up the good work Ralph!
This isn't going to end !!!! Pretty soon it will dry out and the crops will be in. Then the crops will come out and it will be too dry to fly. I guess I have run out of optimism, There are just too many things stacked against me flying.
Somebody put me out of my misery and make an offer on all my stuff including my new pad which has a rail and a rod. It will either go to someone in the club or on E-Bay.
call me (336-697-9138) or email me.
Ralph, I know you do all you can and I am grateful for the fun I have had spending time with you.
Paul, Paul:
Where are your patience? Dude, we got nothin but time. I have been dealing with rocket launches at Williams' farm since Aug. of 1994. I have seen it all, Downpours, Floods, Storms, Tornado Watches and Warnings, Blistering heat, Lightning strikes that bout made me about wet my paints, Freezing cold, Howling winds, drought, then the days that make it worth it all: 50-70 degree days, little or no wind and bright blue skies with gorgeous sunsets.
You don't know how many days we have struggled over the infamous conditions going back to 2002 when Bob Schoner and I were running the show. The minutes and hours of phone conversations and emails with each other discussing the launch schedules, how we would pull them off. How many times did I drive 40 minutes to hang a sign on the gate to say the launch was canceled due to rain, which was a no brainer but we have had people show up in the rain and ask why there was no launch. I had to take the time to hang the old signs just in case. That sucked!!!
We once tried for three consecutive weekends to have a launch to be rained, snowed, and winded out, each time calling individual members to say we have cancelled it again. That sucked!!!
We later changed from flying one day a month to flying two days a month to try to accommodate the folks that worked plus to try to generate enough money to pay for the field. This also allowed us to pick up the better weather day. So, that meant for the club officers even more time from their families to satisfy the membership. That sucked for the officers and me.
I volunteered last month to take on the launch knowing I was the only officer available to run the launch, which actually goes against the Williams request to have two officers at every launch. I took it on and got in 2 hours on Saturday and a full day on Sunday the weekend before Christmas to satisfy the masses. We had a good launch. Again, that....you get it by now. I could have just canceled the entire weekend and enjoyed my Christmas holiday as well.
Anyway we do the best we can to accommodate our members and when folks can come out spend there hour or two flying and having fun, pick up and go home. I 'm not sure if they may be aware of the prep time, the pack-up time, the travel time, the setup time, the long hours of LCO, RSO, Certification testing and helping, answering questions that we all do. The tear down time, the travel home time and the unload time, the put-your-stuff up time and finally shower up and hitting the sack cause your too tired to do anything else time we all go through. When the officers have to do this sometimes twice a month spread out over two weekends....well it....you know.
I’d say man, don't sweat the little stuff, if we fly we fly, if we can't we can't. Utilize that time to prep your stuff for the next launch. Be flexible, hang in there. When we get our day to fly, something always unexpected happens, someone brings out that cool project, some t kid will bring out a cardboard fin rocket glued together with hot glue and ask can I fly this and with the help of our group we make the magic happen and someday down the road that guy graduates college with an Aeronautical Engineering degree. That is our MasterCard moment for why we do this, Priceless man, Priceless.
Dude if you would have told me we would have the likes of Doug Knight and Mitchell Community College and NC State coming down and working on USLI with NASA back in 1994 on our field, I would have said yeah, right. If you would have said that we would have TARC finalist coming out of our field and nationally competing back then I would have said yeah right. If you would have said that a group of kids that tragically lost two of their teammates in automobile accidents, compete in TARC and win the National competition, I would have said no way. But it has happened.
Dude, if you quit now, you may just miss the next big milestone for that group. Jim Conn, former Tripoli SC prefect, used to refer to us as "The Little Smokies" We may not have the best field for this hobby but we sure have made the most out of it. Had I lost my optimism when the Williams kicked the former Prefect and us out back in 2000 we may have never met. Bob Schoner and I went back and said could we have a second chance, the rest is history and now we are ROCC-solid.
Thanks,
Ralph “Rocket Man” Roberts
I am grateful to have a place to launch rockets. I can't control the weather and I don't know anyone who can. So we take a deep breath and plan for the next opening in the calendar and the sky.
I can tell you to have a place to fly is a privilege, and after experiencing first hand trying to find suitable property and a willing landowner to fly remote contol airplanes from, it has made me more grateful for what we have.
I'm looking forward to heaving a few skyward this coming weekend.
John
I just drove, round trip from Wake Forest, for twice as long as I was actually _at_ the Williams field, just so I could suffer 2 motor failures, 3 wasted igniters, and countless four-letter words uttered under my breath, all while standing in the 20-degree cold wearing no less than 4 layers and unable to feel my fingertips for the vast majority of the time. If I add up the cost of gas/vehicle wear, rocket motors (including the one I am going to insist that Aerotech take back and replace), igniters, and the hot dinner that thawed me out -- I spent at least $260 today.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. I should have left the Raleigh area earlier than 1030a, and I should have given up on that @#(*&@# Aerotech G76G green mojave motor after the second igniter failed and not tried a third.... but all in all, we had a great time.
Having been to Bayboro (and the old Whitakers field) and now Midland twice, I honestly think you guys in Charlotte have a better turn-out, more outgoing people, better launch equipment in some cases, and definitely less wind most of the time. You make the most of what you have, fly when you can, and use the rainy days to work on your Next Big Project. Anyone who wants to whine about not being able to fly -- be glad you even have a field within a reasonable distance, and not 3+ hours either way.