February 18th & 19th launch report
Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 8:19PM Sat 18 and Sun 19, February, 2023, Post-Launch Report:
The 18th, Sat, was a really great day to fly. A Sunny, clear sky, chipper to warm ‘T’ shirt weather for some and minimal breeze with an occasional light wind. It was great for larger flights. I don’t think there were any lost flights
Hey, Also while I’m thinking about it. Again.
TO All Of Us Who Get the “NAR Sport Rocketry Magazine”.
You also get the periodic issue of the “NAR MEMBER HANDBOOK”.
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 on site telling stories, answering questions and providing all those little and big things we all seem to need in order to make things go up.
LOST AND FOUND
Steve Brown, we found your “Rascal” and your “Rocket Flight Log Book”.
Check the box, we have a lot of nose cones, LP chutes, fins and other odd items.
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.
Saturday, 18 Febuary, 2023
We had 18 fliers, and flew 58 flights and burnt 65 motors.
This includes all clusters and multi-stage flights
A= 8, B= 8, C= 13, D= 7, E= 12, F= 8, G= 5, H= 2, I= 2, J= 0, K= 0.
Remember, what I write is influenced by your penmanship and spelling.
Gilbert Barnhardt ? Flew a Estes “Athena” on a B6-4. A returning flier I think I remember the name.
Mathew Pfister flew an old Estes “Scrambler” ( that cork screws on purpose I believe), on a C6-3, and a Estes “Shuttle Express” on a C6-5 and his “RED” also on a C6-3.
Gary Pfister, flew his reliable “Black Stripe” twice on a E9-6.
Noah Piraino flew a really nice 4inch “Iris” on a Cesaroni I242 with a motor separation at apogee then a elec deployment at 500ft with a 300ft backup. A beautiful flight and perfect chute deployment with a short walk landing.
Roy Potter, I stuck to my Pooper-Chuters. The “Yellow-2” flew on a E12-4, the “Blue-3” flew twice on F44-4’s, the “Orange-4” flew on a G74-4, and the “Red-5” flew on a G40-4. All flew great, always prompting questions on how it’s done.
Rocket Ralph Roberts flew a classic Estes “Side Winder” scale air to air missile, for today called the “Myrtle Beach Balloon Buster” on a C6-5. Bet it would really look good on the Q C12-6 or even more on the Q D16-6.
Doc Russell flew his really nice, 4 times upscale of the original Estes low powered “Sprint” on a I236 with a RCC 3 dual deployment at 500ft. (got a recorded altitude of 1,945 feet.) Doc also flew his reliable upscaled 3inch “Der Big Red Max” on a F67-6 with a J/L deployment at 500ft. Also his equally upscaled 3inch “Goblin” also on a F67-6 also with a J/L chute deployment at 500feet,
Barb Tobin likes to come out and test fly her NAR competition rockets. Today I think she just came out to play. She took a cone of double dipped ice cream made of plastic, and made a rocket out of it. She first flew it on a mini A10-3t and that was actually very stable. Then flew it on a C6-3 that wasn’t. She wanted to test the old Estes “Gemini” kit with the twin rear chute deployment. It flew on a B6-2 and a B6-4 with mixed results on the twin chute deployment. You really have tightly pack then into those tiny tubes. But no damage. She did have a NAR test flight of the “Test Flt-1” on a F30-6 fast jack that looked great with that dark brown exhaust smoke. Her “Test Flt-2” flew on a E20-7, with a nice boring successful flight.
Girl Scout Troop 274 is getting experience to go into the NAR TARC (Team America Rocket Challenge) competition. They test flew the “Dragon Fruit” on a F67-9 in an attempt to reach a target altitude then land within a specified time limit without breaking the egg on board. There were complications of course when you first start out in a complicated task like this. No real damage but the learning process has started.
Mark Bartkowiak (also mentoring the Scout Troop) flew his new naked (unpainted) two stage “Air Commander” on a D12 booster to a main D12-5. They always look so cool when it works.
Ron Crosier flew his 3-D printed “Gizmo” on a Estes E12-6 with a piggy-back camera, but it Kato’d (forward failure) just as it passed the rod. It didn’t look like there was any real damage other than to the chute. His “X-Ray” (scratch built from Jim z plans) flew on a A8-3. The nice looking patriotic looking “Patriot” flew with a cluster of three B6-4s. Ron’s Estes popular “Cherokee-D” flew on a D12-5 and his other “Patriot” flew with the piggy back camera on a D12-5. Smile everyone.
( I don’t think we had any more cluster flights as the launch control systems power system could not provide the power needed to ignite multiple motors at the same time)
NOTE, we've figured out that our charging system controller had died, we've gotten a new one and will be back in business in March.
Allen Deal flew his “Blue Ninja” twice on E12-6’s.
Mike Garner flew his “Red + White” on a C6-5. His single engine “Thunder Stroke” flew on a E12-4. While the “Thunder Stroke-II” had a cluster of three mini A10 out board motors that ignited and a center E9-6 that did not ignite. Luckily, the mini’s got it just high enough for a successful chute deployment. He then re-flew it with only the E9-6 without problems. His “Guardian” flew on a G64-7 with a J/L chute deployment at 500ft. His two stage “Orange” flew on a C6 booster to a B6-4 main. His scale “Falcon-9 Space X” flew on a mini A10-3t which is under powered but deployed the chute just in time. (Maybe Q-Jet has a mini motor?)
Jacob Gray flew his “Rocket-2” rear ejection on a B6-4. I’m waiting for him to adapt a Big Bertha or something a little larger but simple next. The big winged “Ecee Thunder” glider flew on a E9-4 safely but still needs some trim adjustments. His “Project-017” flew on a E16-4. His longer, bigger “Rocket-2 XL” flew on a G74-4, still just a tad underpowered.
Sandy Houston. Happy Birthday Dude! Sandy flew his “Mini-Sizz” on a mini A10-3t, a “Centuri Probe” flew on a C6-5 and the “Diamond Back” on a C6-5.
Erica Owens. Happy Birthday Girl ! (Wait. Who’s Birthday is it? Both? Crazy!) Anyway, she flew her Estes “Bull Pup” on a A8-3 and a Estes “Fat Boy” on a C6-5.
Scott Pennington flew his “Lance Delta” on a F67-6 with a J/L for a 300ft chute deployment, but the chute bundle did not clear the body opening so it came down mostly flat. The ground is pretty soft so I hope any damage is slight. Scotts “Conquest” flew on a D12-5 and his “Odyssey” flew on a D12-5. The “Lil Stella” flew on a F15-6.
Sunday, 19 Febuary, 2023
OK, the forecast said it would be cooler, overcast and somewhat calm and then the winds were to build up to 10mph by 1pm increasing from there on. And chillier.
And that’s basically how it worked out. We did expect a smaller turnout. So we just flew a bit more laid back. specially flights we wanted to try with fewer witness’s to point at us and laugh!
We had 3 fliers, and flew 15 flights and burnt 20 motors.
This includes all clusters and multi-stage flights
A= 2, B= 2, C= 4, D= 5, E= 2, F= 2, G= 0, H= 0, I= 0, J= 0, K= 0.
Remember, what I write is influenced by your penmanship and spelling.
Jacob Gray came back after yesterday and flew his “Rocket-2” rear-ejection on a A8-5 (usually on a B6-4) that was a bit underpowered so it darted before the rear ejection charge went off. Just like in the cartoons. Hey, it’s happened to me a few times too getting it worked out. Now his “Project-017” on a E16-4 flew just fine as the rest of them did. He flew the main stage of the “DOS” two stager on a D12-5. Then Jacob took the booster from his “DOS” and the main from the “Rocket-2” and did a two stage flight from a C11 to a A8-5, actually a great flight. His larger “Rocket-2 XL” flew on a E26-4 then reassembled his “Rocket-2” two stage to fly on a B6 to a B6-4.
Roy Potter. I was comparing Estes vs the new Q-Jet low power motors. My “Orange-1/2” flew twice on a Estes C6-3 and then a C6-5 and then once on a Q-Jet C12-4. For that rocket the Q C12-4 had a better thrust and altitude and perfect ejection at apogee. The “White-1” flew on a Estes D12-3 and D12-5 (too long a delay), then on the Q D22-4, again a better thrust, altitude and a perfect deployment at apogee.
Doc Russell flew his “Star Cruiser” on a F52-5 and a rebuilt original LP “Goblin” on a D12-5. Doc pulled out his old “Argent” (2014 era, Estes Pro Series-II) and flew it also on a F52-5.
Watch the Facebook postings and web site for the next launch.
Just remember, keep the pointy end up and your exhaust nozzle clear.