Sham-Rocket launch Report from 3/18

Sunday Launch, 18 March 2018.

Based on the weather forecasts we had at the time with spotty off/on rain and the risk of windy conditions we had to err toward safety on Saturday and guaranteed conditions assured on Sunday. Which worked out, even though the rain was less on Saturday than expected, the winds were.

Sunday was really great overall. It stayed sunny all day and warmed up to light shirt temperatures 1:00. The light morning wind blew toward the creek side of the field away from Mr Simpson’s and it just got lighter as the day progressed until about 3:00 when it went almost calm. With no one living in the farm house we were able to move the launch equipment up to the porta-pot where the tree line is set back another 20 -30 yards away from the flight line. That gives us more space to miss the trees. The last flight was at 5:40, and totally calm.

Ken Allen of Performance Hobbies,

Ken was busy as usual keeping up with orders and putting together other orders and describing his complaints about the cold, rain and snow at his last launch up north.

In the next to last  NAR, Sport Rocketry Magazine there is a 6 page article about putting the Jolly Logic Chute Release system through the paces. It’s a good article that might answer some of your questions if you are undecided in getting one yourself.

In the current Issue of Sport Rocketry is a great article about “Rocket Stability in a Crosswind”. Ever wonder why a rocket of yours that has flown perfectly before suddenly takes up sky writing when there is a crosswind? How the Center of Pressure can move depending on the rocket design, the selected motor and the presence of a crosswind ?  The article has a complicated high tech explanation but also a few suggestions on simple long term and quick solutions on the field. Also there is a interesting article on “Entry Level 3-D Printing” of rockets. It seems to be a growing trend.

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.

For memberships, check with Jason Pettler. ( or Club web site WWW. Rocketry Carolina.org)

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

LOST AND FOUND. Check the box for a few nose cones, and a few other odd items.

Tim Tulowitzky. Picked up his Green AeroTech Barracuda lost at the 21 Jan 2018 Launch recovered by Doug Knight. With a new body tube it can easily be rebuilt.

Michael Strunk’s nose cone, red/white paneled chute and Jolly Logic Chute release from his 5 ½ inch up-scaled Fat Boy “Tweedle-Dum” flown on a I212-11 lost in the trees 2 Dec 2017, was brought in by one of the TARC teams. The chute has been cleaned and dried looking new, the J/L Chute Release was powered up and appears fully functional taking a full charge, performing a number of “Test” release’s and holding the charge. That Kevlar shock cord is strong but after a long period of constant “rubbing” against tree bark, it frayed filament by filament until it broke. The body is now hanging unanchored by the nose cone so it may slowly work itself loose and come down.

Carl Simmons is moving up to Maine, way up the east coast, so he had a bunch of stuff for sale to lighten his moving load. (Carl, just don’t move next door to Jessica Fletcher, I hear its murder)

Malcolm Smith had his vehicle full of Motors, Reloads and Casings, trading and selling for another old flier.

Kevin McDuffie had a load of re-load F and G motors, and a scratch built 38mm HP rocket and a HP four 29mm motor cluster rocket, a R/C airplane, some building supplies and odd parts that he was selling for an old flier who used to fly with us back in the day, remember Richard Mayberry?

Pictures. Check the Gallery for launch photo’s.    Come on, We see everyone is    taking photo’s.   Lets Get them onto the ROCC Club WEB Gallery.

Just contact Doc Russell at rocketrycarolina (at) gmail (dot) com, or as some have done, pass it on a disk, memory card or flash drive

Sunday, 18 March 2018.

We had  19   fliers , put up  65   flights burning  73   engines .

That includes all clusters and multi-stage flights

A= 2,  B= 14,  C= 10,  D= 7,  E= 13,  F= 19,  G= 2,  H= 5,  I= O,  J= 1,  K= O.

(Remember, what I write is influenced by your penmanship and spelling.

West Iredell High School TARC Rocket Team put up a number flights of the ”Chester” on F59-5 motors for practice and then official qualification TARC flights. They put up the last flight of the day at 5;40 to get their last qualifying flight in. All their flights were successful with no lost rockets.

Lenoir-Rhyne University NASA USLI Rocketry Team with Prof Doug Knight flew the 6 inch  “PSR-1” on a loki J825r with a spring separation system and a X-Bee communications system. But the main body broke free from the chute during deployment and took a large core sample of the field. Amazingly it appears that the body took no damage. The field was pretty soft after a early AM rain.

Team “Aikido” TARC Team also made a lot of flights of the “Akido-9” on F36’s for practice flights for Time, Altitude and Payload of two eggs. All their flights were also successful without any lost or damaged rockets.

Rebel Rocketeers TARC Team with team Captain Ryan Harms, flew the “Fortnite MK-2” on F42-6’s and a F67 for Time, Altitude and Cargo test flights with no damage or rocket loss’s.

Scott Pennington kept busy launching the “MB-1” on a H550-7 with a successful Jolly Logic dual release at 400ft. A really nice looking “Nike Ajax” with a cluster of three D12-7’s. Check the photo’s. His “Maxi-Mini-Magg” flew on a H163-7 with a J/L deployment at 400ft. the Estes “Galaxian” flew on a E12-6, the yellow “Big Bird” flew on a F15-6. His Estes “Cosmo” flew twice on a E12-4, the first Kato’d without any damage so flew again later successfully. The “Space Shuttle” launched on a E12-4 but turned into a low level flight ejecting the shuttle before impact saving the crew.

Kevin McDuffie, when not selling stuff for our old flier Richard Mayberry, flew a rocket thrown together from parts out of the field box, the “Spare Parts” flew on a A8-3 and a C6-3 with a mylar streamer returning to the field. He made a successful Cert-1 flight with a LOC “Iris” on a H148-6r. Congrats. Now you are going to be as broke as the rest of us. He also flew a Estes “Viking” on a A8-3 and a Estes “Sky Writer” on a C6-3 that was the only rocket loss for the day. It landed in the grass in the field to the left front, but we just couldn’t find it. Next month the grass could be 12 – 14 inch’s tall.

UNC Pembroke, the Braves. Prepped and launched the “Danger Close” on a H255 with a altimeter only for the altitude and a camera to record the flight. They suffered a strange kind of Kato. The motor appears to have pushed its way up through the motor adaptor into the upper body tube against the chute bundle pushing the body up and out over to the right field leaving the fin canister and motor mount blown backwards to the ground under the launch pad. That was a first.

Dana Lamberton, who represents her fellow female group as the “Braves” team, flew the “Noisy Cricket” on B6-4’s then a D10-7 that with a streamer recovery, returned to the field.

Sandy Houston test flew two new designs he and Erica are producing. The new “Yard Dart 2.0”, which actually looks like the old backyard throwing game, flew on a C6-5. I expected a straight flight with those big fins, but it veered off. He’s going to check the launch lug attachment. The other design,now he already knew that the “Rocket Star” (a play on Rock Star) that looks just like a silhouette of a electric guitar, was going to be IFFY. And only on a B6-4 it took off and flew a sloping low gliding flight landing softly in the soft grass. It’s a work in progress.

Arron Kennedy flew a red, white and blue rocket, the “3D Rocket” (a printed rocket?) on a D12-7 and a E30-7.

Barb Tobin, who competes in the various NAR rocket competitions, made two test flights for a rocket requiring a 5 “B” motor cluster and transition couplers. The “Five Cluster test-1” flew fine, straight up with 4 of the 5 motors ignited, but of course the one unignited motor had the ejection charge, so you can see on the Face Book photos, it was totaled. But they were built thin and light so they just cannot take any damage. The “Five Cluster test-2” flew with no plugged motors with vents for the 4 outside motors yet providing ejection pressure along with the center charge. It flew great and deployed successfully. Way to Go Barb.

Carl Simmons, made a last flight before packing it in and heading to the state of Maine to retire. He flew his “Wac Corporal” on a eight year old F52-5t for a successful last flight.

Ralph Roberts flew a Estes “Patriot” on C6-5’s in drag race’s with Brandon Jackson for bragging rights. They still haven’t figured out who won.

Dan Butcher flew a nice looking (see gallery for photos) “Blade Runner” on a E9-4 and a very nice up-scaled “Mars Snooper” (I have fond memories of the original in the 60’s) flew on a E9-4.

Duane Dominick flew a newly built “American Eagle” and after acquiring a extra chute, test flew it on a G80-6 blue thunder with a droug at apogee and a successful main deployment at 500ft. Next time the plan is to go up on a H motor. Yeah.

Trent Dominick flew the “Orville” on a C6-5, the “Little Blue Boy” (big delta wing like fins) flew on a E9-6, the “Red Dart” flew on a E9-6 and the “Silver Bullet” (not the Estes model) on a C6-5.

Roy Potter, I successfully reflew my “Zombi Hunter” after repairing last launch’s hard landing on a G40-4. The “T-4” flew on a H128-6 for a good rear ejection flight. The “Missile” Rear Ejection flew twice on E12-4’s that confirmed the E12’s are just a bit under powered. “BOB”, also a rear ejection recovery, flew on a D12-3 for a low flight and a E9-6 for a better flight. More what I want out of it.

Brandon Jackson flew his Estes “Patriot” twice on C6-5’s in drag race’s with Ralph Roberts, the results are still not in. His “Bellatrix” flew on a E11-3 black jack that was more impressive than I was expecting. His cool looking “Super Big Bertha” flew on a D12-5.

Jonah Matthews flew his “Target” on a C6-5.

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

Roy. ROCC Sec.