Friday 9 PM Weather Update

OK everyone, this is where we are as of 9 PM Friday. The CLT airport area forecast is saying that even if it's not actually raining, overcast cloud layer is somewhere between 1100' and 600' AGL for the daylight hours. (See pix over on FaceBook) That's not nearly enough to allow anything but the small Estes stuff to fly. Rain is on and off all day, some saying that it'll be mostly dry for the middle of the day, some saying rain bands most of the day on and off. The most reliable site that I use is fairly pessimistic.

By Sunday rain is most of the day until mid to late afternoon.

Basically what it means is we reset for the 1st and 2nd and hope we get better conditions.

Really sorry for making the call but the weather is what it is, we can't do much about it.

TB/dr

Noon Friday Weather Update

UPDATE ON WEATHER AS OF FRIDAY NOON:

Well, a week ago it looked like a perfect weekend, now, not so much. There's conflicting weather reports for tomorrow and Sunday. Right now there's either going to be showers all day or not until the evening on Saturday and then on and off all day Sunday.

 

Here's what I think we'll try to do... If it's raining early tomorrow I will call the launch off for Saturday. If it's not raining in the morning then I say we push for a launch for Saturday only. We'll keep the setup small so we can strike in a hurry if need be.

 

As for Sunday right now I think it's going to be a wash for Sunday unfortunately. We'll definitely try for a New Year's day launch if possible.

 

PLEASE check here or the website in the morning before heading to the field! I will post as early as possible.

Thanks everyone,

TB

November 18th &19th Launch report

Roy Potter's back with his eminently readable Launch Reports, this time from November 2021's launch weekend. Press the "Read More" button to read, well, more obviously! dr

Click to read more ...

November launch was a blast, next up December 18th & 19th

November's launch went great thanks to the folks who came out and flew on one of the most beautiful November weekends I can remember. Winds were low, no one landed in Mr. Simpson's cow pasture (well, Paul put one farther down the road) and it was shirt-sleeve weather for most of the 2 days. 

Our next launch will be December 18th & 19th weather permitting. Keep an eye to the website and our Facebook page for updates. 

We're BACK at Midland NC!

Hey all you ROCC'ers, here it is, the long awaited announcement that we're back at the Midland field on November 20th and 21st.

I got an email from Ken that he'll be there at least Saturday so bring your shopping lists.

Setup will be at 10, flying at 11. We'll close down at 5 because of sunlight.

I was hoping to avoid the conflict with Hendersonville but they only fly Saturday so hopefully we'll see them Sunday.

Weather looks decent for the week so we hopefully won't have a rain delay to deal with.

See you there!

TB/dr

NSL 2022 coming back to SC!

Hey ROCC'ers
At last, I can take finally the wraps off of this!!

I got a call about 6 weeks ago from Bobby Weatherford from ROSCO down in SC

The 2022 NAR National Sport Launch will be held at the new field with ROSCO just outside of Shaw AFB.

Bobby asked if ROCC could help support ROSCO like we did the last time the NSL was in our area and I said yes, of course we would.

This will mean some extra work from the ROCC membership of course, but I know we're capable and ready to help out our friends and our hobby to make this a great event.

A link to the NAR site for the event is HERE

and dates for the event are 5/28/22 - 5/30/22 so MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

More as soon as we know it!

DR

CORN!!!

Just thopught I'd pass this along, Ralph went out to the farm a few days ago and sent me a few shots from the fields. I've got one word...  CORN! Lots of it...

May 15th & 16th Update Wednesday evening:

Hi everyone...  the last few days have been challenging to say the least for all of us. 

First, work from Kip is that the barley (?) in the north fields is budding out and is now very fragile. That means that the winds would have to be PERFECT for us to be able to fly. 

Second, the Colonial Pipeline gas situation. We had a briefing earlier today (Wednesday) with the CMPD and they're saying, as is the state government, that all un-necessary travel should be avoided right now. I had a conversation with a buddy in Spartenburg that has a contact at the fuel terminal for the western side of NC and they're essentially dry. Not expecting to get re-fuled until early next week. Pumps in CLT are running dry quickly, Raleigh area is the same. Lines are around the few stations that still have gas and it's getting a bit crazy out there. Shades of 1975 all over again (yes, I was an even-day car driver) and from my observations we're generally not the most fuel-efficient folks, what with the cars I see at the field, me included. 

All this is leading me to be the bad guy again. 

It's not the weekend to fly in Midland this weekend and we're looking at the Midland field being closed down for some time unless we can get lucky and get in between the north crops getting harvested and the south crops not being up too far. That's life on the farm. 

On the bright side, SC in looking at a new, larger field right now. Saturn up in Huntersville is flying probably all summer, and we could use help cranking up in Monroe to get a Mercury capsule up to showroom condition. 

That's all for now... if the situation changes in the next few weekends maybe we'll try and get a launch in but it'll be a thin chance. 

Thanks everyone for your understanding. 

dr

May launch???

According to the calendar we're supposed to fly at the Midland field on May 15th & 16th, but the crops are coming up FAST because of all that rain we got earlier in the season. 

I've sent a note to Ralph to check in with Kip to see if it's a possibility but I'm thinking probably not. If you were out there in April the north fields were already at lease knee deep. 

I'll post as soon as I hear anything.

dr

ROCC April 17-18, 2021 launch report

One of our rare 2-day launches where the weather cooperated and folks had a good chance to get to fly. Roy has sent over his take on all the launch cards, deciphering the cuneiform scratches that we leave him to figure out. Click the "read more" link to get the whole story. Thanks Roy!

Click to read more ...