Looking toward Feb 29th & March 1st

Man, we've been burning up the emails today trying to decide on a try for flying this weekend. As pretty as it's going to be the runway hasn't faired well with the freeze-thaw cycling this week. Kip says tomorrow is out and Sunday is a long shot. So... next week is supposed to be wet early, then several dry days. We're going to try and do a 2-day launch next weekend, the 29th and 1st, so stay tuned and hope for nice weather. In the mean time, build, repair, and make your shopping lists for Ken.

Sunday February 16th Launch Report.

Our Sunday launch from the 16th of February is covered in detail by our great transcriber Roy, who deciphers our chicken-scratch and makes it all sound so nice. Click the "Read More" link to get the straight skinny... dr

Click to read more ...

Saturday the 15th is scrubbed, but Sunday's a GO!

Hey all...  I just got off the phone with Ralph and Kip, we're going to err on the side of safety as far as the runway is concerned and give it Saturday to dry out a bit more. Friday has been the first real day with sun and good drying conditions but it will be very cold tonight which means the drying will get shut down a bit. The runway itself is still pretty squishy at 5PM on Friday. 

Having a good dry day tomorrow will mean that Sunday should be a good day. Winds are not supposed to be too bad, although they will be heading toward Mr' S's place, topping out at 6-7 mph about 3 pm. 

Wear shoes you don't mind getting muddy. Even on Sunday anywhere you walk off the runway will be a mucky mess. We have had 4-plus inches of rain in the last 7 days so it's going to take a while for that to drain and get absorbed, especially in the low areas of the field. 

I will have NAR L2 testing materials with me so if anyone wants to take the written part it's good for 12 months after you take it to then complete your successful flight. 

I will set the waiver to open at 10 am, so as soon as we get set up we can start making some noise!

-dr

February 15th & 16th (we hope)

The weather prediction's pretty good for this weekend, it's just how much of the 4+ inches of rain we've gotten this week that the field can get rid of so it's safe to drive on the runway. 

Keep an eye on this site as well as the Face Book page.  We'll post as soon as I hear back from Kip & Ralph as to conditions. Winds on Saturday are sopposed to be almost nil, Sunday shifts toward Mr. Simpson's but max at about 7 or 8 mph. 

-dr

January 26th Launch Report

Contrary to popular belief we have been able to fly a bit this season, just not nearly as much as we'd like to, on account of all the RAIN we've had. My goodness, you would think we've got another ark under construction. Anyway, Roy has documented all the goings-on from our January 26th launch in this report, click the "read more" link to see all the info. -dr

Click to read more ...

February 2 & 3 no flying at the farm

Just wanted to confirm, there will be no flying at the Midland farm the weekend of Feb. 2nd & 3rd. Saturady was too rainy and Sundaythe winds are 10-15mph from the WSW heading toward Mr. Simpson's property. 

We may try for next weekend if the weather is good and we can get enough staffing. 

dr

The Gov'nors given us a (partial) Pardon!

Hey everyone... Ralph got up with Kip tonight and as long as we're REALLY careful driving on the runway we have a GO for an afternoon launch for Sunday the 26th. 

Here's the deal... We'll do a light set-up, so 3 HP pads, about 6 LP and 3 MP, and we'll keep it launching as quickly as possible so no one should have to wait. Set-up at NOON, launch from 1 until about 4:30 or 5. It'll be a short day but at least we'll have some launching and Ken will be on site. 

Spread the word and we'll see you at the farm. 

Scrubbing January 25-26th

You can't fight old mother nature, and unfortunately we're stuck in our man-made rain cycle of making particulates all week and it combining with moisture by the weekend to create rain storms once given enough water vapor. Rainguage data from Belk Camp was just shy of an inch and a half by Midnite Friday. 

We'll hope for the next weekend. 

dr

Rain Rain go away, come back mid week will ya!?!

Hi my fellow ROCC'ers... I've just checked the forecasts for the next 3 days and the current prediction between midnight Thursday and Midnight Friday is calling for just short of an inch of rain in Midland.

As you know that's not the best prediction that we could hope for. With that much rain Saturday is going to be a washout, possibly Sunday as well depending on how much actually falls.

We'll check the local rain gauge and let folks know but right now Saturday is highly doubtful, Sunday is a slim possibility.

ROCC January 18th & 19th postponed due to rain

Hi folks...  As you may have noticed it's been a rainy week in lake Midland, with the rain guage getting almost 2" of rain between Sunday and Wednesday night. From communications with Kip he said that the creek overflowed, the runway was a lake and he was thinking of buying a set of floats for the Piper Cub. 

That said, with rain an almost certainty tomorrow even Sunday would be out of the question. 

We're going to re-set for next weekend, the 25th-26th, and hope that Tlaloc will let us fly next weekend. 

Now that doesn't mean there's nothing Rockety going on this weekend. Both SEVRA and NOVAR are launching on Saturday, and we have the SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test to look forward to early on Saturday morning. Details on that are all over the web, here's just one LINK. 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but we can't really fight Momma Nature. 

dr