November Launch Recap

Happy Thanksgiving and what a way to start off the new launch season.

It was good to get back out at the farm and launch some rockets after the pause caused by the annual farm crop season. Being that it was November and Thanksgiving was the next week, a pre-holiday launch just hit the spot, and we even had a few “Turkey” flights, or flights that were “Turkey’s”?

Again, anyone take any pictures this weekend?

I always want to thank those who have provided us with photos of our launches in the past.

WE Still Want More.

Any pictures you have from a recent launch that you would like to get posted on the web site for our embarrassment and your entertainment, just contact Doc Russell at rocketrycarolina at gmail dot com, or as some have done, pass it on a disk or flash drive. We can always get it back to you.

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 has worked fine with little to no effect on launch flow.

Check both the WEB site and at the launch’s for info on volunteering for RSO (Cert Lv-2 required) and LCO (Cert Lv-1 preferred, but any responsible and experienced adult can apply).

It’s great for anybody who isn’t flying that day but wants to take part anyway.

And it’s fun to push the red button.

Saturday, 19 November.

The conditions were almost perfect, minimal breeze, chilly morning but T-shirts by midday then cooling down in the afternoon. Only needed the fire pit in the morning.

Rocket Ralph Roberts kept us fed with hot dogs, chips and drinks, he has to keep up with the costs of covering a teenage daughters school field trips.

“KIDS” ROCKET RAFFLE.

We continued our Raffle for the kids, still with about 17 Prebuilt, painted and ready to fly rockets to choose from. John Bergsmith donated a box of another dozen really nice rockets. Thanks John. For some of us it is cleaning out your closet of rockets that we don’t fly anymore but can delight many a young future rocket scientist.

The kid’s tickets are 50 cents each and we will keep it going over all the launches till they are all given away. Each rocket comes with a “A” or “B” engine with plug and wadding.

Yes, parents can buy tickets and select rockets for their kids.

With Louise Ferrell’s involvement, we must have given out about 12 rockets that day. We had quite a few kids, and parents on hand.

Scout Leader Scott Hambrook brought about 8 Scouts from Pack 8, Den 10 out to fly with us, I know they won a few of the Raffle Rockets and had a great time.

Lets see, We had 32 fliers who put up 93 flights burning 104 engines, including multi-stage and cluster flight’s.

That’s 2.8 flights per flyer.

Some one asked, if we burn 104 engines, how many igniters did we use? Probably 208!

A= 3,  B= 13,  C= 31,  D=6 ,  E= 26,  F= 12,  G= 5,  H= 5,  I= 2,  J= 1 .  

Who flew what? Remember your penmanship influences my spelling of what I can read.

Billy Hambrook, Scout, flew the Estes “Porta-Pot-Shot” mini flying port-a-pot on a A8, a tad underpowered. I’ve seen them really go on a C engine.

Ryan Hodar, Scout, flew a rocket named “The Patriot” on a C11 very nicely.

Ryan Mitchell, Scout, flew assorted rockets he brought with him and raffle rockets. The “Cruise Craft” flew on B6’s, a “AMRAAM” on a C6 and a “Extended Alpha” on a C6.

Andrew Mitchell, Scout, also flew a “Cruise Craft” on a B6 and C6.

Matt Harris, flew the “Green Hornet” on B6’s and a Estes “Max-Trax” on a C6 that displays the altitude by timing how long it takes the nose to fall from apogee to the ground.

Derek Sheldon, Scout, flew the “Pink Ladies” on a C6.

Jason Sheldon, Scout, flew his named, “Diet Coke” on a C6. Figured that if it was lite, it would fly higher.

The UNCC USLI Collage rocket team, led by Brian Couch and Robby Stegall, flew “ The Ugly One” on G79’s to test this smaller scale version for flight efficiency.

Roy Potter, I flew my “Test Rocket II” on D12’s and the “Canadian Flag” on a F50.

Dan Mathers, flew his “Green and Gold” on a F40, but the 7 sec delay was more like 10 and dart’ed in the soft field. He also flew a “IQSY Tomahawk” on a F52 for a perfect flight.

Tyler Deaton, flew a Estes “Chrome Dome” 0n B6’s and C6’s, the “Tracer” on a C6, the “Vagabond” on E9’s and a “Astra III” on a C6.

Michael Hollowell, flew a “Nuc Recycled Initiator” on a F40. His LOC “Expeditor” flew on a H170, Sparky, motor with a altimeter control dual deployment with a successful main chute deployment at 500 feet. His LOC “4-2955” flew on a cluster of two F27 fast jacks and two F40 white lighting motors with, again, a altimeter control dual deployment with a successful main chute deployment at 500 feet.

Malcolm Smith, flew a PML “Callisto” on a G131, a very fast and short burning motor.

Roger Henley, made a successful Level-1 certification flight with a LOC “IV” with a H143, then flew a LOC “NORAD” pro-max H400, another very, very fast and short burning motor.

Doc Russell, took some time from RSO duties to fly his LIL “Nike Smoke” on a C6 and the Estes upscaled “Interceptor” on a E18 for a very cool realistic looking flight.

Donnie Deaton, flew a Estes modularly assembled rocket called the “Converter” ON C6’S.

John Bergsmith, who donated a box of great rockets to the kids rocket raffle, flew a  “Alien 8” on a C6. The “EPM” on a C6, a upsclaed like Big Bertha, called the “Brighton” on a F40 and a nice looking “Honest John” on a G64.

Joe Pettler, flew the “Gold Strike” on C6’s, a “Patriot” on a E9, the “US Airforce” on a B6 and the “Magician” on a D12.

Jason Pettler, flew a LOC “Viper-3” on a cluster of three E9’s, a “Mimi Max” on a A10, and then the LOC “STOVI” on a cluster of seven E9’s for its first flight and it looked good with all 7 lit and burning.

Isaac Brady, flew a “Yellow and Blue” on a B6 and C6.

Keith Biddinger, flew a “Onyx” on a CTI F240, wow. His “Extended X-Calibur”” flew on a CTI H225 wild wolf with a altimeter control dual deployment with a successful main chute deployment at 500 feet. (everyone really seems to like that 500 ft point to deploy the main chute.)

Jason Mathers, named his rocket “Cato” as a dare to the rocket gods, which flew fine on a C6.

Adam Shea, won a Etses boost glider, the “Eagle” that first flew on a B6, kind-of OK, then a C6 that got stuck on the pad and pulled the tail off, with the way it is constructed, a easy repair. He also flew a “Patriot” on a C6 and a old Estes “Silver Comet” on a D12.

Erik Lazo, flew the “NAVY” on a A8, then a high flying C6.

Brian Gossiaux, flew a LOC “IV” on a H152 for a successful Level-1 cert flight with a altimeter control dual deployment with the Main at apogee and the droug chute at deployment at 500 feet, the chute reversal was to test the deployment system.

J.P. Appenzeller, flew a “Seahawk” scale missile on a E18, a “Bull Puppy” on a Mojove Green G76 putting out a emerald green flame. His “AAMRAM” flew on a I566 vmax, with a altimeter control dual deployment with a successful main chute deployment AGAIN at 500 feet.

John Metcalf, flew a Estes “Blue Ninja” on a E9, the “Wild Child” on a F27 and a 27 year old rocket I recognize but cannot name, he called the “Retro” on a D12 for another perfect flight.

Randy Bird, flew a Etses “Renegade-D” on a E20 and E9 that cato’ed through the forward ejection charge. We haven’t seen any E9’s malfunction in years. His “Tomahawk” flew on a E20.

Mitchell Bird, flew a “Metalizer” on C6’s and a raffle rocket, the “Payloader” on a B6.

Clark Millikan, flew the “Lazer-X” on E18’s and a F27 redline with a ruby red flame. His “Weasel” flew on E18’s and the “Bubble Bee” on a C6.

W. Joshua Moorey, flew a “AMRAAM” for a successful level two cert flight on a J350 with a altimeter control dual deployment with a successful main chute deployment at 700 feet.

Sunday, 20 November.

Was pretty much like Saturday, even warmer with a bit more of a breeze.

Louise gave away a bunch more Kid Rocket Raffle rockets and Ralph cooked hot dogs and served cool drinks.

A lot of fun was had by all.

Lets see, this time we had 19 fliers who put up 63 flights burning 74 engines, including multi-stage and cluster flight’s.

That’s 3.3 flights per flyer.

A= 8,  B= 8,  C= 29,  D=8 ,  E= 9,  F= 7,  G= 4,  H= 1,    

Who flew what? Remember your penmanship influences my spelling of what I can read.

Harrison and David Reid, flew a Estes “Sky Winder” helicopter return on a C6. I once saw a up-scale of that with the rotor blades almost 3 feet long, it was awesome. He also flew a Etstes  “Mongoose” 2 stage on a B6 to a C6, Dads “AIM 54A” missile on a F100, a Estes “ExoSkell” on a C6, and the unpainted “Corky” on C6’s, the “Quest-a-Roni” flew on a D12 and a stock Etses  “Silver Comet” on a D12.

Roy Potter, I flew “Thumper” on a old discontinued Aerotech F21 with tooooo long of a delay that lawn darted a split second before the ejection charge went off imbedding the nose over 6 inch’s into the soft field. Shovel recovery of the nose. But no damage. The “Red Bull Pup” flew on C6’s with the horseshoe streamer recovery, the “Union Jack” flew on a E15 with minor damage after the ejection charge blew around the chute bundle. And the “Bumble Bee” on a F52 had a forward closure failure but with no damage as the chute deployed normally.

David Reid, flew a big “Mini-Mag” on a H210 Redline for a successful level one certification flight.

Dan Mathers, flew his “IQSY Tomahawk” again on a E16. Good flight.

John Bergsmith, flew a nice “Yellow Crayon” because it looks like a big yellow crayon, on a G64. He has a scale replica of Robert Goddards historical rocket, the “L-13 Rocket” that flew on a cluster of three C6’s? Very nice looking. I didn’t know that Goddard painted his rockets at all much less colorfully. All the pictures I’ve ever seen are always in black and white.

He also flew the “TRES” with a cluster of three canted C6’s, and the “IRIS” on a C6.

Ryan Bergsmith, flew a “Astra 3” on a C6, a big classic Estes “Maxi-Alpha 3” on a E9 (much better than the D12 it came out with), a “Satellite Interceptor” on a C6, the “Seeker” on C6’s and a OD Green “Baby Bertha” on a C6.

Brad Shea, flew the Black and Blue “Bruiser” on a G79 in a drag race with Sandy and Kieth with a great parallel flight path of all three.

Sandy Houston, flew the “Lil Dither” on a G115 in that drag race, he also flew a rocket called “Cato-1” on E9’s, once in drag race with Allens “Cato-1”.

Joe Pettler, flew a “Unkown” on a E9, the “Metalizer” on C6’s and cool looking “Solar Flare” two stage on a C6 to a A10.

Jason Pettler, flew his team favorite, “Steelers” rocket on a F22.

Mitchell Bird, flew a cool looking space plane, the “Blue Angel” on a B6, the “Max Trax” again on a C6 and a nice “Heat Seeker” on C6’s.

Allen Deal, Flew a Estes “Blue Ninja” on a D12 and E9 that I think did end up in the rocket hungry trees, he also flew the “Cato-2” in that drag race , but the E9 blew the ejection charge out the top like the E9 on Sat. Long time since a E9 malfunctioned.

Doc Russell, besides acting as the RSO he got his own “Blue Ninja” up on a D12, the “Pinky” on a D12, the “Cross Fire” on a A8, a classic “Mustang” on a F24 and a triangular flying stelth type saucer, the “Fed Ex”, from a Fed Ex box on a F20.

Stuart Samuels, always flying the strange and unusual. He flew what he calls the “Worlds Cheapest Rocket” made from the cut off top of a soda bottle with a B6 in the bottle neck that flies like a mini saucer. Of course he had his rocket powered nerf football, “Go Deep” that flew on a D12, then a real nice rocket with drop-away boosters, “No Name Yet” with a central C6 and two drop-aways with A8’s, one of the A’s didn’t ignite but it worked OK.

Randy Bird, flew a Estes “CC-Xpress” on a D12.

Brian Gossiaux, flew a nice “Initiator” on a E30.

Keith Biddinger, flew his “ONYX” on a CTI F79 smock sam in a drag with Brads Black and Blue “Bruiser”.

Preston Hoffman, flew a “Naked Estes Kit” on a bunch of B6’s and a “Bandito” on mini A3’s.

Ralph Roberts, ran away from his hot dogs long enough to prep and fly his “Cosmic Staff of Azul” on a G53 fast jack for the last flight of the weekend at 3:30 as a misty rain moved into the area.

So that ended the weekend, we continued breaking down the launch site in a misty rain and look forward to next month’s launch on Dec 17 and 18. The last before the New Years.

Keep a look at the web site for info on a possible, maybe, New Years Eve and Day launch.

Hope to see you on the pads and remember to keep those exhaust nozzles clear.

Roy, ROCC Sec.