Our First 2023 “Post Crop Season” Launch at the Farm !

Saturday had to be scrubbed due to the probable Northern wind conditions and the burn ban in place. The risk of a ground ‘Thatch’ fire being spread quickly by the winds was just too high. We did have a few small pad fires on Sunday that could have spread very quickly with just a bit of extra wind. 

It’s not always the “High Wind” risk we have to consider, but also any winds in combination with the “Wind Direction”.  So, here at the farm, we actually have a “Deep” but “Narrow” Launch/Flight/ Recovery field that runs directly East - West. Lhe field is 3,500 ft by 1,500 ft. That puts the tree lines to the north and South about 250 yards from the pads. So the last thing we all want to experience, is dealing with a number of tree landings we could have avoided, resulting in many unhappy rocketeers and some ticked off neighbors.

Sunday the winds were mild, up to 5mph almost due West, and downright almost calm the later the day went. We did have two ground fires that did not get a chance to spread without any wind to spread it and we were keeping a sharp lookout for any ground smoke with water sprayers close by. Nomex blankets were used around the HP pads.

I think we only had one loss to the South Treeline. (flight cards didn’t state which of two large gliders went into the trees or that had Kato’d on its second launch) I THINK it was Matt’s really nice looking, large E-powered boost glider that just turned that way high over the trees coming in vertical too late just before the ejection would have deployed the wings before hitting the trees. The booster landed by chute just in front of the treeline.

TO All Of Us Who Get the “NAR Sport Rocketry Magazine”.

You also get the periodic issue of the “NAR MEMBER GUIDEBOOK”.

If you just stuff it in the back of a drawer or into a box in your ‘Rocket Closet’, instead, bring them, old or new, to the launch. They are great to pass out to a new flier just getting into the hobby. They can really help them with all the basics.

Ken Allen of Performance Hobbies,

Ken was present answering questions along with keeping us stocked with all our base essentials that we can’t seem to go without.

I’ve been asked, and YES, you can take a couple of blank Launch Slips home and make your own copies so you can pre-fill out your slips in advance saving you time. Some have even made various color coded slips. It looks cool.

LOST AND FOUND

HEY, the box is full of various stuff and donations that needs a forever home.

Most stuff has been in the box for a season or more, so if you need it, use it.

Check the box, we have a lot of un-clamed rockets, nose cones, LP chutes, fins and other odd and donated items.  Really, if you need something, use it.

As a note, when you are walking across the fields, keep your eyes open on the ground for anything. Not all motor casings look alike. Also there are mini altimeters, nosecones, motor retainers, ect.

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

Just contact Doc Russell at rocketrycarolina@gmail.com, “or” as some have done, pass it on a disk, memory card or flash drive

ROCC Club Membership 

Membership covers the costs of maintaining the launch equipment, supplies and the expensive Porta-Pot. Membership also pays our association fees with the “National Association of Rocketry” and the “Tripoli Rocketry Association” which provides our insurance.

Memberships run January to January. Membership drive starts in October.

Adult - $20.      Family - $25.

ROCC Club “T” Shirt’s, are limited right now but can be purchased as the supplies last until a new source is obtained. Check on styles and colors available at the launch.

Flight Fee Donation Box.

Remember, the Donation Box goes to the Land Owner.   Please Donate.

We have been running short on the “Rent” to the landowner the last few months.

Club Members = $10 per day  

Non Members = $15 per day

Parent with young child under 12yo = $5 per day.

Sunday the 18^th We had   17   fliers,  and flew   75  flights and burnt    92  motors.

This includes all   clusters and   multi-stage  flights

A= 14,   B= 4,   C= 15,   D= 13,   E= 12,   F= 16,   G= 8,   H= 7,        I= 2,   J= 1,   K= 0.

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

(I did not witness all the flights, no notes were made on the flight slip by the launchers,  so some information may be in error.)

 Chris Bacha, flew a estes “Commanchee-3” 3 stager on a C11 to C6 to C6-7, His estes ”Cherokee-E” flew twice on E12-6’s, the “Star Orbiter” flew twice on F15-8’s and a estes “Cross Fire” on a C6-7. Chris flew a estes “Goblin” on a D12-5 and a estes “TAZZ” on a C6-3 that ejects the booster tilting the tail fins, bringing it down helo style. His “Baabs B Sata2” (PENMANSHIP) flew on a C6-7.

Gilbert Barnhardt, flew a estes “Athena” twice, first on a B6-4, then on a C6-5.

Mark Bartkowiak, flew his “Odyssey” on a E11-3j while his estes “CBU-87 La Bomba” (cluster bomb) flew straight up on a C6-5 without the bomblets. Must have been lost on a previous earlier flight. His “Flying Stove Pipe” glider launched on a A8-3 but didn’t separate correctly at ejection so both parts just softly tumbled to the ground.

Steve Brown, Welcome back Steve. Steve flew the large “Stump”, it’s painted like a big fat log. (I call it a Tree Trunk) and It flew on a I211-8w, loudly. His “LOC-VII” flew even louder on a J415-9w”. The “Mini-Caliber” flew on a C6-7 with a streamer recovery. The estes “Rascal” flew on a B4-4 while the LOC “Forte” flew on a F67-9w and his “Sand Hawk” flew on a F35-5w.

Jayson + Mary Costantino, flew a estes “High Flyer XL” on a E12-6 and the LOC? “Zephyer” on a H169-7, which had a chute entanglement but with no damage to prevent a second successful flight on a H220-8.

Evie ? Martell? Flew a scale missile, the “E-SAM-58”, first on a B6-4, then a C6-5.

Jacob Gray, flew his   Rocket-2 XXL EXT” on a H210-7r, and his large “Geminee Thunder” boost dual glider on E12-4. That separates at ejection into two large flying wings looking like a dog fight. On the second launch, the motor Kato’d on the pad badly damaging the rocket. His  “Spare Parts X3” flew successfully on a cluster of three A8-5’s. (I love it when a cluster works). The “DOS” two stage flew on a C11 to a D12-7 with a streamer recovery. Jacobs experimentation in a rear ejection rocket, the small LP “Rocket-2” flew on a B6-4.

Jacobs small competition style boost “ECEE glider” made three launch attempts with two on A3-t’s and a A10-3 with, I heard, some success. His “Project-26” flew well on a E16-4.

Kevin Green, flew a nice LOC? “Zephyr,” on three great flights on G80-7t’s. He probably didn’t over weight it with excessive epoxy and glue like I tend to do. The Zephyr kit is popular for Level-1 certification for its dependability and simplicity.

Jude Guidry. His “Tinsy Winsy” (estes Sprite) flew three times on A10-3t’s, the “Pinky” (estes Mosquito)  also flew on a A10-3t. A estes “Skywriter” flew on a C6-3 and an old estes “Venus Probe” three legged lander flew on a C6-3. The alien lander suffered a broken leg due to the chute not totally opening. Repairable.

Paul Kraemer flew a modified LOC “Stovi” cluster rocket with a center F51-8 surrounded by seven D12-7’s. And we love it when a cluster that complicated works because it just looks so good. His “Trident-29” flew a cluster of  three F15-8’s just as successfully. His “ALLEGRO”, is a scratch built modeled on a NCR cluster kit, flying successfully on a four motor cluster of two F15-8’s and two F32-8’s. Paul’s “Thunderbird”, a Mach-1 fiberglass kit, flew on a H128-14 with a good dual deployment at 500ft. Then his “Kinda like a Warlock”, scratch built on the Warloc kit with G-10 fins, that flew on a I600-9r also with dual deployment.

Scott Pennington, flew a estes “Explorer”, a somewhat difficult kit build, on a E12-4 with a great flight and his “Raptor” on a H218-7 blue thunder with a good Jolly Logic dual deployment at 400ft.

Noah Piraino, I believe had great flight with his “AMAROK”  (spell?) on a G53-7. While his LOC “T-LOC”,( I like the “T” fin design) flew on a H165-7 and his estes “Hi Flyer XL” flew on a E12-6.

Roy Potter, my old, now repaired (ejection charge did not go off) “Black Pirate Ship” flew well on a F44-4 (not as vertical as I would have liked) with a good rear ejection and landing. A repaired salvaged “Falcon” missile, flew the same on a F44-4 modified with rear ejection. My “White-1” flew on a D12-3, the “Yellow-2” flew on a E15-4, the “Blue-3” flew on a F50-4, the “Orange-4” flew on a G74-4 (less powerful econo jet), the “Red-5” flew on a more powerful G40-4, and the “Yellow-6” flew on a G79-4. All were good flights  with good rear ejection deployments and landings.

James Rufty, flew a classic “LOC-IV”, I think the best dependable and reliable, simple to build and fly, kit by LOC. His LOC- IV flew on a H135-6w with a successful Jolly Logic dual deployment at 500ft resulting in his Successful Level-One Certification flight. Congratulations James. He also flew a scratch built rocket named “My Favorite” on a E12-6. He flew a scratch built with estes spare parts of the estes Pro Series “Executioner” (a good Mid Power kit. Hope it comes back) that flew on a F15-8.

Matt Rushing, flew the “Quick Draw” on a G40-7w with a good J/L deployment at 500ft.      I think it was Matt’s “Draco BG Glider” on a E12-4 that flew over and then down into the south treeline that I mentioned earlier. It’s a shame, it was a beautiful build and paint job.

Stella Russell, Flew a estes? “Gryphon-II” on a mini A3-4t and what looked like a ‘Duration Competition’rocket, the “Big Green Egg” was flown on a D12-5.

Stuart Samuels, also had a “Pop-Glider” that flew three times, two on A8-3t’s and one on a A10-3t of which one was stuck on the pad. To make up for that, he flew his rocket propelled football (it is that time of the year), the “Go Deep” on a D12-3. It’s safer than it sounds. He also flew his “Mini Flying Pyramid of Death” on a D12-0 and two flights of his popular “200% upscale, Maple Seed” two part helo effect recovery on C6-3’s.

Remember to keep the pointy end up. Keep a check on the Webb site and FaceBook for launch notice’s.