December PoLaRep

The Great December 2012 Santa Launch, the last launch of the year.

Saturday was a really great day. Almost calm most of the day with a few breezes.

After the initial cold morning it got really warm until just before dusk where it cooled down as it quickly got dark.

I think we did have to leave two rockets in the trees by the end of the day.

We had a huge number of HP flights including 14- “H”, 10- “I”, 4- “J” and 4- “K” motor flights.

Unfortunately the forecasted weather for Sunday was such that we felt that we had to decide then to cancel the Sunday launch.

Ken, of Performance Hobbies was there and really had a rush of business, after all it was the last chance before Christmas and the New Year.

For our embarrassment and your entertainment, any pictures you have from this or any recent launch that you would like to get posted on the web site for everyone to see, 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.

I see we already have some pictures from the Launch, so check it out in the Photo Gallery.

We have started the ROCC club membership drive for the 2013 flying season.

Membership funds go to the NAR and Tripoli association fees and insurance and cover the costs of maintaining the launch equipment.

We have a new ROCC “T” shirts. We went through the gray shirts, then the tie-dye shirts and now by request we will be offering a gray polo shirt with collar and then some assorted solid colored shirts. All with the colored ROCC logo.

See the Web site for the monthly “Launch themes”

This weekend was a “V-2” launch. You will see a lot of V-2’s listed below.

Check also for the upcoming NAR contest schedule starting in February.

JANUARY LAUNCH. “C” Motor Altitude GOLF BALL Launch Contest

Gold, Silver and Bronze “Mega Mosquito’s” Awarded. (ready to fly)

Any ESTES “C” Motor, C5, C6, C11 (recommended to keep the playing field even) or an equivalent, example, two “B’s”, four “A’s” or a mixture.

Rocket Must Pass Regular RSO Pre-launch Inspection.

Rocket may utilize any design concept that pass’s the RSO Inspection.

Rocket must have a acceptable recovery system for safety.

Jolly Roger Altimeter Ones will be provided. You can use your own if you have one.

Jolly Rogers are small enough to fit in a BT-20 body tube.

Jolly Rogers require air holes in the body to register air pressure change.

Jolly Rogers can be carried outside rocket body piggy-back.

Fliers can make multiple flights with highest flight scored.

Fliers can make different rockets but only the highest flight will be scored.

Only One Award per flier.

Highest scored flier gets First, Next flier gets Second, Next flier gets Third.

Brad Shea test flew his “Golf Ball” rocket using a simple BT-20 tube rocket with plastic fins with a coupler attached to the ball using a large streamer recovery. Using a C6-3 he got 595 feet.

We continue 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.

New Insurance Procedures: In order to comply with the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the National Association of Rocketry insurance requirements, our Club, “R.O.C.C.” has chosen to register our scheduled launches under the NAR flight regulations and for the insurance coverage that best meets our needs.

(NAR recognizes TRA membership and covers them under their blanket of coverage)

R.O.C.C. will still be registered as a joint TRA and NAR associated club and Tripoli flights and certifications will continue as normal.

Joining the National Association of Rocketry is quite easy.

You will find a application form in every Estes rocket kit you buy, or you can even join on-line at WWW.NAR.ORG. There are 4 yearly annual memberships.

Junior, 15 and under =$25,   Leader, 16 –20 =$25,   Senior, 21 and up = $62.

Family = with one regular Senior and $12 for each additional family member.

This membership completely covers you for liability, damage and injuries at our launches.

Saturday 15 December 2012.

We had 36 fliers who put up 107 flights burning 125 engines. That includes multiple flights, multi-stage and cluster flights.

A= 0,   B= 2,   C= 30,   D= 14,    E= 23,   F= 14,   G= 10,   H= 14,   I= 10,   J= 4,  K= 4

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

Randy Bird, while getting suggestions on the flying nuclear sub he is building, he flew the difficult to build Estes “White Lighting” on a E20.

Mitchell Bird flew a Estes “Converter” on a C6 and a Estes ”Heat Seeker” on B6’s.

David Tomkinson flew a Estes Pro Series II “Leviathan” on a imax F29, and a “Delta Wedge” on a C6. He also flew a spinning flying 4-blade wing “Mega Vortico” on a D12.

Devon Tomkinson flew a nice LOC “Mini Mag” on a H238-T for a good L-1 cert flight.

Michael Hollowell flew his Naked (unpainted) “T+L” on a H242-T, dual deployment with main at 500 ft. A LOC “4-29 SS” flew on a cluster of two G76-Gs and two F23-FJs, dual deployment with main at 500 ft. It looked impressive and made a safe flight even if the two F23s didn’t ignite. His big LOC “Bruiser” went up on a K805-G dual deployment with main at 500 ft. But didn’t separate at apogee and came ballistic before ejecting main chute at 500 ft sustaining a lot of shock and zipper damage.

Corky Story flew another one of his giant upscaled models, this time the Soviet styled “Ruskie” on a J800-W with a successful Alt controlled ejection at apogee. A Fantastic flight, even after recovering it from low trees. His “Der Goony Max”, a giant upscaled version of a der Red Max flew on a K670 green gorilla also with a successful Alt controlled ejection at apogee. Both were really great flights.

John Bergsmith flew a huge O.D. green US Army missile, the “Door Knob” on a J760 that was a really cool launch, big and noisy. His “Cricket” flew on a H123 and a LOC “V-2” on a H123 for the weekend themed V-2 launch.

Ryan Bergsmith flew a Estes “Reflector”, a cool looking “Star”, and a “Free Fall” with a Army figure with parachute, all on C6’s.

Marty Lemons flew a neat short stubby fiber composite rocket with wide fins, (check the photo) called a “MR-1” first on a G80-10 for a test flight that went well before his L-1 cert flight on a H87 that was good, though we did need to recover it from a tree in the near dark after the launch.

David Strunk flew a what I think as a small white “Honest John” first on a D12 then a E79 that he did get back I believe. He also had a “Honest John Mk-1” that flew on a cessoroni H90-12.

Doug Knight flew a 2 stage Estes “Mongoose” on a C6 to C6, and a “Cherokee-D” on a cessoroni F240 that also remarkably came back. His “Naked Skinny” flew on a cessoroni G54-R and a “Black Hawk 29” on a F32.

John Tolppi, a fellow “Whovian”, flew the only Christmas themed rocket, named “Tannenblam” on a E9. It was good sized but very light. He also did a L-1 cert flight with the “Texas Thunder” on a H133 that I hope was recovered out past the Simpson farm. Doc I know liked his rocket from the Monty Python Holy Grail movie, the “Holly Hand Grenade” on a E13-W that was just a bit unstable. His “Goblin” flew on a E9, a Estes ”Rock-It” on a C11 and a authentic colored yellow and black “V-2” went up on a D12 that separated from the nose cone. The nose cone and chute was found and turned in later.

Todd Haring flew a large “Patriot” on a I175 with dual deployment with main at 400 ft that went well, his “V-2” flew on a F39. His cool looking “Dracula’s Revenge”, which we have seen fly many times” got a wooden stake in his heart this time after lifting up on a I175 and ejection separated the bodies but didn’t push the chute out so it received some damage after free falling.

Charles Ogino. I finally got to see his giant upscaled Der Red Max inspired “Der Pink Max” that we call the “Evil Hello Kitty”, fly. It went up on a K550 with a successful apogee deployment that just rocked the crowd. Flight slip indicated that the completed rocket was for John Bergsmith? He also flew one of his composite fibers built rockets called “CCR 38” (Clearance Clearwater Revival?)  on a very fast F240 motor.

VCCS Rocket Club team made test flights of a “No Name” rocket on F30’s. A TARC Team?

Steve Brown flew a “Der Red Max” on a C11, a nice LOC “Fantom” on a I215-R with dual deployment with main at 500 ft but only deployed the drogue at apogee and no main at 500 ft but minimal damage because he did have the drogue chute. He also flew a neat looking “Runt” on a E18, a “North Star” on a D13-W and then a big LOC “Big Nuke” on a I366-R with a P-Nut alt to see how high it got with a cargo of 1 lb of water. A LOC “Caliber” flew on a H178 sparky with dual deployment with main at 500 ft. and a LOC “Mini Caliber” with a P-Nut Alt on a C6.

Sandy Houston flew his 2-stage multi cluster rocket “Cluster-D” on three D12’s to a E9-6 for a successful and impressive 2-stage flight. And then flew again as the “Cluster-E” with three E12’s to a E9, again a good flight. His LOC “LOC4” flew on a I161 with dual deployment with main at 500 ft.

Erica Owens when not helping Sandy, flew a “Ion Pulsar” on a C6 and a “Bull Pup” on a C6.

Bryson Smith flew the “Big One” on a C6 and D10 with a Buzz Light Year chuted figure, a “Viking” flew on a C6, a “SR-71 Black Bird” on a C6 that looked so cool under thrust flying through the sky. His “Mean Machine” flew on D12s and a Aero Tech “Mini Cruise Missile” flew on a D12.

Jason Pettler flew a LOC “STOVI” with a cluster of seven E9’s that flew and looked great. He also flew a rocket named “Purple and Black” on a F79-SS.

Joe Pettler flew his “Super Neon” on a C6, a “Gold Strike” on a C6 and a always-cool flying “Duce’s Wild” on a cluster of two C6’s.

Steve Rhudy flew the “P-Chuter” on a F4-10W and a “Black Pheonix” flew twice on a H120-R and also on a I357 Blue Thunder.

Doc Russell, when not on RSO duty, flew a classic Sim-Roc “Laser-X” on a cluster of two D12’s and a “Ventris” on a F26.

Rodney Earp flew a “Unk Estes” on a C6 and the “Nuclear Fusion” on a cluster of two E18’s. His LOC “V-2” flew on a G64-W.

J.P. Appenzeller burned a heck of a lot of rocket fuel today and seemed to use Missile Works Altimeters on everything. His LOC “Athena-3” flew on a H90, his LOC “Hyper LOC 300” flew on a I236 with dual deployment with main at 500 ft. A LOC “Rim 161” flew on a H200 while his often flown LOC “SA-14 Archer” flew on a I242-W with dual deployment with main at 500 ft and also flew a LOC “ARCAS” on a H120-R with dual deployment with main at 500 ft. A gigantic LOC “Cruise Missile” flew on a K740 C-star that was suppose to dual deploy with main at 500 ft but admitted he forgot to close a quick link that would keep the two sections connected. They landed just past Simpson’s farm and the body with no chute came out with only a few scratch’s hanging up on small limbs stopping its fall. That’s the luck.

Ralph Roberts cooked and served a lot of chili dogs today and when he sold out he got out his old reliable “Fear Factor” and sent it up on a I161.

Marcus Harmon flew a full scale “HV ARCAS” twice on a I450 for a L-1 cert flight, then a J290-W for a L-2 cert flight, both with dual deployment with main at 500 ft.

Brad Shea flew his naked, Not Another Nike Smoke, “NANS” on a I350-SM with apogee ejection that flew as great as ever. Will Brad ever paint it? Will the paint make it too heavy? It is Big.

Terry Baucom, welcome back Terry, flew a AeroTech “Mustang” on a E30-T.

Matthew Baucom flew a “UFO” saucer on a H225 that stayed together and got a really good flight. He also flew the “Hi Flying Screamer” on a G64.

Chuck Bracey flew a “Brighton” on a F50-Sparky and a LOC “LOC 4” called the “Good Wrench” on a CTI H163-white thunder for a L-1 cert flight.

Conner Sides prepped and flew a LOC? “Hi-Tech” on a G78.

Chad Sides flew a rocket named “R2” on a G69-Sparky and his LOC? “V-2” on a G69-Sparky.

John Metcalf flew the “Dirty Tom” on a CTI G123.

GDS School TARC Team test flew the “Dale” on E22’s and E75’s with egg and P-Nut altimeters on board. Unfortunately the last flight was the last flight for it. Scrambled eggs for everybody.

Roy Potter, I flew my old Estes 4 inch “V-2” for the V-2 themed flight on a F32 showing off my black and white color coordinated donut chute.

Thanks to everyone who helped out.

Many times some asks “Who makes that rocket?” so I’m trying to identify the kit maker in the reports so interested fliers know what kit to look for.

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

Roy, ROCC Sec.

Comments

[Marty Lemons]

Excellent launch report, thanks.