February 2017 launch report

The 18^th  and 19^th of February Launch weekend for 2017.

This was our first regularly scheduled and good weather launch weekend in quite awhile. Over all it was a good weekend. A lot of people who had not been out for quite some time made it out to visit, launch a few, brag a bit, and get updated with whats been going on in each others lives.

We rocketeers are like a vagabond village, a community all our own.

Ken Allen of Performance Hobbies, (the designated target area for out of control rockets)

Ken was there to meet our requests and delivering orders just to keep us supplied with all our rocketry needs. 

No grill this weekend, but Michael Hollowell brought out box’s of Krispy Kream donuts and the Chadalawade family brought a big box of baged snack cookies. So we didn’t exactly starve.

ROCC Rocket Raffle season was finished after so many missed launch weekends and weather delays. All the tickets sold since Dec were saved and included with the recent tickets.

Last month we awarded a dozen and this weekend we finished the drawings on Sat so the winners could play with them Sat afternoon and all Sunday.

The last 12 including the prize specific rockets were all given out. Some given on Sunday when they came out after being called Saturday night and told they had won.  

EXCEPT TYLER DEATON. He never answered his phone but I did leave a voice mail. SO Tyler, I will hold your rocket till your next visit to the Launch Farm. It’s the white “Unk Scale Missile”, two motor, 24mm, cluster rocket. Congrats dude. And Congrats to all the other winners and a special thanks to all the participants.

ROCC Club Membership (along with the Raffle sales) covers the cost of maintaining the launch equipment, supplies and our association fees with the National Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association plus covers our insurance.

Remember, any $20 membership (which can cover your whole family) comes with a ROCC Club “T” shirt. Check with on styles and colors available.

Check with Jason ( or Club web site WWW. Rocketry Carolina.org) on Memberships.

LOST AND FOUND. We have= A grey unmarked sweatshirt.  Is it Mark Ferrell’s?

Check the box for a few nose cones, a three,18mm  motor cluster booster, and a few ect.

Pictures. Check the Gallery for launch photo’s. We see everyone is taking photo’s.

We see a lot of people taking pictures out there. Let’s get them onto the ROCC Web Site and 0nto the Gallery section. Remember, 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@gmail.com, or as some have done, pass it on a disk, memory card or flash drive. We can always get it back to you. That’s how I do it.

Jolly Logic Chute Release System. (check NAR “Sport Rocketry” magazine articles)

(Sorry for the plug, but I’m still asked if they are as good as the reports say.)

A lot of the Dual Deployment launchs are now being performed with the new product from Jolly Logic who first came out with the small Altitude recorder. This device is very user friendly and can deploy as high as 1000ft  to as low as 100ft and fit in a BT60 sized body tube. We have been increasingly impressed with its performance. The most notable thing you have to change is how you wrap your chute bundle.

NOTE: It says in the Jolly Logic instruction book that you should allow 50 to 125 feet for the chute to FULLY deploy. So, Remember, it doesn’t actually open at the selected altitude of 200ft, more close to 75 to 150ft. or even less depending on how you wrap your chute. That’s cutting it close.

A couple of this weekends 200ft deployments didn’t FULLY open until feet before impact.  Please take that into consideration.

Saturday, 18 February.

A Pretty nice day.  Clear and sunny with warm temperatures that started with calm to increasing light winds that increased after 2pm that we figured would be pushed ahead of the 10% rain front that was to pass through later in the evening. But about 3:30 to 4pm we started noticing a light sprinkling so we went ahead and closed and covered for the night after 4pm.

The winds did blow toward the Simpson Farm, so please see the Rules for any future retrieving of any rocket from Mr Simpson’s farm on the Club Web site or Club Face Book Site.

We had  26   fliers , put up  69   flights burning  71   engines .

That includes all clusters and multi-stage flights

A’s= 8,  B’s= 15,  C’s= 19,  D’s= 9,  E’s= 2,  F’s= 3,  G’s= 6,  H’s= 6,  I’s= 1,  J’s= 2,  K’s= 0.

(Remember, what I write is influenced by the penmanship/spelling of the writer.)

Siri Chadalawade had a number of flights with her Estes “Chrome Dome” on B6-4s.

Sathvika Chadalawade did the same with her Estes “Payloader” on B6-4s.

John Bergsmith flew his “Iris”, Estes “SPV” and a Estes “Big Bertha” on C6-3s.

Kim Bergsmith flew a Estes “Big Bertha” on C6-3s.

Ryan Bergsmith flew his “Duck Commander” on several D12-3s.

Charles Long flew a Flis-Kit three motor D12-5 cluster rocket, “Trez Majic”.

His rocket powered, “Art Apple White Stealth Snow Flake” flew on a CTI G106-7 sparky. His “Blobbo” (scratch built?) flew on a F30 with a J/L (Jolly Logic) dual deployment at 200ft. His scale “Heavy payload lift, Delta IV” flew on a CTI G106-7 Sparky with a J/L deployment at 200ft.

Stacy Henegar flew a Flis-Kit “Stiletto”, a long narrow blue body with a ring fin, on B6-4s and a C6-5. (see pic in gallery)

Andrew Henegar flew a Estes “Wild Flier” on three C6-5 flights.

Matt Stecher flew the “Mets” in team colors on a F32-4 then a LOC or Mad Cow “V-2” on a H550 with a dual deployment at 500ft. His “Syracuse” flew on a H123 with a deployment at 500ft.

Steve Batten, who names his rockets based on Movie titles, flew his “Captain Air-America” on a G83-9 with a J/L deployment at 400ft. His “Thrust Side Story” flew on a loki H100 with a J/L deployment at 400ft, and with a GPS locator for just in case.

Jonathan Batten flew a Estes “Sky Trax-Neon Deon” on a couple of C6-5 flights.

Cheryl Batten flew a Estes Pink Crayon, “Pinky” on several C6-7 flights.

Malcolm Smith flew a mini Estes “Mini Der Red Maxx” on a A3-4, a old classic Semroc “Sprint” on a C11-7, his “Battered Bertha” on a C11-7 and then the “Odd LiL Rocket Critter” on a D12-5.

Peter Nein flew the “Patriarch” on a B6-4, a dedication to the Original Ghost Busters with the “ECTO-9” on a H182-6 redline. “The Bomb”, (see pic of sleek tapered OD green air dropped bomb design,) flew on a C11-5.

Alex Nein flew a “1980s Ship” on a A8-3 and then the “Alex Rocket 2.0” on a A8-3.

Lily Nein flew the colorfull “Pikachu” on a A8-3.

Janelle Chaney flew a Estes “Sky Writer” on A8-3s than a C6-5. “Kristine the Science Queen” flew on a C6-5.

Scott Chaney multiple flights of a Estes “Guardian” on B6-4s.

Doc Russell flew the “Explorer Aquarius” on a D12-5 and then his “Interceptor-G” on a G80-7 with a J/L deployment at 400ft.

Roy Potter, I flew my “Space Pirate” on a F30-4 but the ejection charge failed, so the Pirate is getting no more Booty until it returns from the space repair dock.( Pic in the gallery.) The “Test III” did fine on a D12-5 after repairs from last months chute failure. And the big “T-4”, rear ejection did great on a G79-4.

Michael Hollowell flew his LOC “Expediter” on a H123 with a J/L deployment at 300ft.

Mark Bartkowiak flew his scratch built “Nike Hurcules” on a E16-4, I think it was just a tad underpowered to make the J/L deployment of 400ft. The Estes Pro series II “Ascender” flew fine on a E16-8 with a J/L deployment at 400ft and a J/L altimeter just to see how high it did get.

Liam Thrower flew a LOC “Mini Magg” on a H163-7 and a fiberglass “WarLoc” on a J316 with a J/L deployment at 500ft.

Pyneet Lingutla flew a “Lava Star” on a A8-3 then a B6-4. The “Manta Ray” flew on a B6-4 and the “Rock Speeder” also on a B6-4.

Alan Stephenson flew a LOC “V-2” on a G88-4 and the “Fat Jazz” on a I435.

Paddy Clancy flew his “Funny, It Worked The Last Time” on a J520 with a unk dual deployment altitude for a L-2 cert flight. Don’t remember how it came out.

Sunday, 19 Feb 2017.

Sat was good, but Sunday was even better. Sunny, warm and no clouds all day with the light winds, (less than Saturday) blowing pretty much straight down the runway to our rear. Which created the problem of many of the flights drifting back over the spectator parking line.

The small LP stuff is no problem, but a few of the bigger MP and HP flights were a concern. Even angling the flights outward, some flights straightened up vertical or angled down wind anyway. Heads-Up was called frequently.

We had  23  fliers , put up  67   flights burning  68  engines .

That includes all clusters and multi-stage flights

A’s= 0,   B’s= 3,   C’s= 20,   D’s= 11,   E’s= 8,   F’s= 4,   G’s= 11,   H’s= 6,   I’s= 4,  J’s= 1,  K’s= 0.

(Remember, what I write is influenced by the penmanship/spelling of the writer.)

Ralph Roberts flew the next to last flight for the day at 4:13pm with his, old as the dark ages, “Cosmic Staff of Azul” on a G64-4wl. Refer to Monty Python for the Name.

Doc Russell flew the last flight for the day at 4:15 with his “Tiggers Return to Flight” on a I161 with a dual deployment at 600ft. His “Interceptor-G” flew on a G104 with a J/L deployment at 400ft. Doc’s “Long Range V-2, A-8” on a I258 with a J/L deployment at 400ft.

Kim Bergsmith flew a Flis-Kit Triskelion “Star” (that would be a cool looking kit to upscale a few times) on a C6-5, a Estes “Blue Ninja” on a D12-5, a Estes “Pink Crayon” on a C6-5 and a Estes “Big Bertha” on a C6-3.

Ryan Bergsmith flew his reliable “Duck Commander” twice on D12’s and a Estes “Black Crayon” on a C6-5.

John Bergsmith flew his “Pain Killer Micro” on a F85-9 and easily recovered it from the field across the creek. It just kind of decided to go that way from the height he got. His Estes “SPEV” flew on a C6-3 while his upscale Mad Cow “Bat Ray” flew on a I600 with a dual deployment at 400ft. John also flew the family “Big Bertha” on a C6-3 and his Estes caveman “Rock-It” twice on D12-3s.

Henry Caplan flew a Estes “Der Blue Maxx” on a C6-5, the “Bigger Big Bertha” on a G76-10green with a dual deployment at 300ft. A LOC/Mad Cow? “V-2” flew on a slow burn H90r with a dual deployment at 300ft. Henry’s “Patriot Missile” also flew on a long burn H90 redline with a dual deployment at 400ft. The “Tommy Hawk” flew on a E18-4w while his classic Aero-Tech “Barracuda” flew on a G53-10fj with a J/L deployment at 300ft.

Roy Potter. I flew my “Union Jack” with the British flag chute on a G64-4, always looks good coming down. My “Lil Red Bull Pup” flew a few flights on C6-3s, my “Test III” flew twice on D12-3s with my bigger “T-4” rear ejection flying on a G79-4.

Scott Pennington flew a “Bull Pup” (a popular model) on a E30-4, the “Star Chaser” on a E9-4, a upscale “Der Red Maxx” on a G80-7t with a J/L deployment at 400ft, a clone of the old Estes Mars Snooper “Mars Snoop Dog” on a C6-3. His “Space Shuttle” flew on a E9-4 but did a loop-d-loop crashing leaving a good gouge in the ground.  His “Cosmo” did the same thing on a E9-4 which was surprising as it has flown just fine previously. His “Green Dragon” flew on a slow burn H90-6 with a J/L deployment at 400ft. His Big “AmRaam” flew on a H182-7redline with a J/L deployment at 400ft. The big military Mad Cow? Scale “Sea Wolf” flew on a H192-8 with a J/L deployment at 300ft.

Brandon Jackson flew a PML “Phobos” on a G80 sparky with a J/L deployment at 300ft. His PML “Io” flew on a F40-7w with a J/L deployment at 300ft.

Barb Tobin came out to test fly her NAR competition rockets here before going to the competition meets. She tested her “Helicopter-1” on a E16-8 to work up to the “G” version she has to use at the meet and discovered it came apart at the ejection phase. But the “Super Roc” (pic of a very tall skinny white rocket) flew great on only a B6-4. Just for fun Barb flew the “Stripes” on a C6-5.

Trent Dominick flew “Dark Arrow” and the “Needle” on a C6-4. His “Short Gold” flew on a D12-4.

 Duane Dominick flew the “Baby Blue” twice on a E9-4 of which the first, blew out the exhaust nozzle so burned on the pad without any thrust, no damage just exciting. The second motor burned just fine with a great flight. His “STC” flew on a D12-5.

Malcolm Smith flew a SemRoc “Thunder Roc” on a C11-5 and the “True Modeler TMRK-60” also on a C11-5.

Cheryl Batten flew her “Partizion, Go Tigers” on a F32-6t with a J/L deployment at 300ft. A Estes “Blue Ninja” flew on a D12-5.

Jonathan Batten flew a Estes Sky Trax, “Neon-Deon” on a B6-4.

Sandy Houston, Long Time Rocket Dude. Flew a “Formula 54” on a G79-m and a “Fat Boy” on a C6-3

Molly Freeman flew a Estes “Seeker” on a B6-4.

Rob Freeman flew a “Triton-X” on a C6-7.

Steve Batten, flew his “Captain Air-America” on a G88ss with a J/L deployment at 300ft, and his “Snow Flake of the Apocalypse” flew on a D12-0 with a air drag return.

Mark Ferrell, another old Long Time Rocket Dude, flew his PML “Endeavor” on a I600 with a dual deployment at 500ft.

Michael Hollowell flew a stock Estes “Quinstar” on a C6-5 for a stock performance, no excitement. Then a stock size 3D Printed “Quinstar” on a C6-5 for a similar performance but cooler. Then a 4 times upscaled 3D Printed “Quinstar” on a Loki J300redline for anything but a stock flight (see pics in gallery) that was great, The spinning helicopter return didn’t pan out but wait till you see what he will do next.

Charles Ogino flew one of his “Carolina Composite Rocketry” creations. This was a “CCR Two Stage” (see pics in the gallery) that boosted on a G339 with a half second delay between the ignition to the second stage with a F39. Cool staging effect. The booster ended with a plug of farm dirt but the performance was great.

Hope everyone had fun and will be looking forward to our next launch, till then, remember to keep your exhaust nozzles clear.

Roy. ROCC Sec.