Freedom Launch 2018 Recap

Just thought I would cover a part of the Labor Day Weekend Holiday ROSCO launch. 

 I was free to come down for the day on Saturday, so I went for my first launch visit at the new ROSCO Launch Site south of Camden SC. (address is actually in Rembert, a few miles further south).

First thing I noticed was that  it may be a few miles longer but I made the return trip on I-20 W to 77 N back to Charlotte and found it much less complicated than the SC-97 backroads. That’s just me. The site was about 12 miles south of the I-20 and US-521 intersection where I had a good breakfast at the Waffle House at the intersection. There is also a McDonalds and a FATZ restaurant across the street.

The best thing was the Sod Farm Launch site the ROSCO club was able to acquire after the Orangeburg site. It is quite large and every time I thought a returning rocket was surely going to land on the highway, it was still well into the field. Of course my depth of field is not what it used to be when I was younger.

And the last really notable point was that it was HOT. And Humid. I thought it wasn’t going to that noticeable, but it was really kicking my butt. I brought 4 bottles of Gatorade but I still ended up taking more breaks so I didn’t get in as many flights as I wanted.

I was impressed with the site but a few direction signs on which entrance to use and dirt paths to take to get to the right section on the field would have saved me from going around the edge to where the RC Airplane field was. They were flying most of the day, and these were not small planes. The ones I saw as I was turning around were 8 to 12 feet wing spans. One, a scale Coast Guard spotter plane, looked at least ten feet. They did stick to their section of the field so there was no conflict.

I also liked ROSCO’s wireless/cordless launch control system. No cables to lay out and trip over. But you still have the clip wires to the launch box to watch out for and trip over.

Doc Russell was there and got up some good flights. I thought one was going to drift to the 521 highway but landed well on the field. Sandy Houston and Erica Owens were also there and Sandy did a little Rocket Yard Sale business besides getting up some flights of their own. And we all were wearing our ROCC club shirts. There were also some other club/organization shirts seen at the launch.

There were a number of faces I recognized but don’t really know. Check the “soon to be posted” pictures in the ROCC  Gallery.

Ken was there and doing some brisk business. Unfortunately he says there is a shortage of  H-Motors and none were available. He said that most orders to Aerotech haven’t come in and even the availability of  Hi-Power Pro-29 and 38 reloads were not available at the time. And then he also had the regular near rocket landing, once on his tarp and another laid across his truck. There has to be a invisible magnet to tractor descending rockets to his location.

Actually there was a bit of a reason for a number of landings in or near the spectator area. The light winds were pretty much blowing toward the hi-way which caused a number of rockets to “wind cock” into the wind over the spectator area. Most High-Power flights pushed straight up but a lot of Mid-Power and almost all the Low-Power launchs wind cocked. We have seen that sometimes out at the Farm ourselves.

My low-power “BOB” on a D12 wind cocked and with an unexpected additional 2or 3 seconds delay to the 3 sec it should have had, it ejected as it impacted in the spectator section striking a spectator who was just turning to the “Heads up” call. Everything turned out OK, but it did require a ER visit and 2 stitch’s. Our own John has our own club record of 7 stitch’s. Don’t try to catch your own rocket.

            People, who were only there for the day, started packing up about 5pm. Others who were returning Sunday were commenting on looking forward to a clean shower and a dip in the pool. There is a new Comfort Inn hotel and a Holiday Inn Express also at the I-20, US-521 intersection. I packed up about 5:30 myself, stopped at the Waffle House again for some nourishment to sustain me on the drive back. Both routes took about the same amount of time. I did add about a half hour for the missed turns on the route south on SC-97 so it may have been a bit quicker but any farm tractor would have brought any part of the 2 lane road to a halt. I found the return trip on I-20 to I-77 be less stressful. Course, any accident on the interstate would do the same.

            I would go back when the opportunity presents itself. Of course I’m awaiting our own return to the Farm. Oct or Nov ?

Hope to see you at the pads soon.