April 21 & 22, Part 3

More updates: Weather continues to improve, and the winds forecast has changed for the better. Wunderground has winds out of the SE and E moving down the runway and into the back right as you look down the runway, so we should have good flying for Saturday. 

Saturday night looks to be a slight breeze, 2-3 mph, and staying down the runway so we should be good for a night launch. 

Sunday looks good as well, with the rain holding off until Monday, not much change in winds but a bit more clouds. 

A bit on Night Launch rules:  Please dont go crazy! I will try and get as late as we can but techincally we are not supposed to fly HP after dark. So if you can keep it to FAR-101 I think we'd be safer. I will see what they approve later today. Remember we want it lit well and you might want to rig a beeper if you land in amongst the crops. They're getting fairly tall Ralph says. 

PLEASE check your night flights in with the RSO BEFORE dark so we can get a good look at them. We'll go ahead and pre-approve the flight cards during daylight, this seems to work best for everyone. 

Please bring a flashlight with you, prefferably a red one so you don't blind everybody. 

SET-UP  I spoke with Ralph and since we're going to extend the day late we think that set-up comencing at 10 a.m. is a good idea, so come out then if you can help set up the range. We'll close the range about 5:30 or 6 so we can deal with dinner and get settled for the night launches. 

Campers: Saturday night looks like low to mid 50's so you shouldn't have any issues and Ralph is working on some hot dogs etc., so there may be some food. 

Add'l Friday evening: NOTAMs are in, we seem to be good until 9 PM at least, and then Sunday I set the range to open at 8 AM. 

dr

Updates:  The weather is still looking great for Saturday and Sunday is improving. As of Wednesday night winds for Saturday are toward the southwest, turning through the west then toward the west and on toward the north in late afternoon but dropping down to about 3-5 mph. 

Also, we're under a fire watch apparently, according to the NWS, so sparkies and metal motors probably shouldn't be a thing. 

As far as a night launch I think we'll need to be closer to the date to have a better winds forecast. 

That's all for now, thanks...

dr

Black Brant still in use and doing real science work

This from Space dot com site from 3/31...

https://www.space.com/40137-mars-2020-rover-supersonic-parachute-test.html

Sham-Rocket launch Report from 3/18

Our wind-shortened March launch was held on the 18th, with beautiful weather and light winds. We had TARC and USLI teams with us for the day which made for quite a few launches and lots of activity. Hit the 'ol "Read More" button to get Roy's quips & tips. - DR

Click to read more ...

Sham-rocket launch 3/18 outlook

Update: We've been looking at the winds, rain possibility and personnel available to run the launch this weekend. The wind forecast has gone up to 15-17 mph toward Simpson's, there's possibility of rain and pretty thick cloud cover, and to top it all off there's a bunch of folks, me included, who are sick. So I think it's best to give Saturday a miss and try for a Sunday only launch. The winds are predicted to be lower and toward the south west and hopefully more folks can help out. 

dr

Looking ahead to the weather for Saturday & Sunday, Saturday launch-window winds are heading to the NE topping out at 7 - 10 mph, which will aim us at Mr. Simpson, so reef those 'chutes and angle those launch pads! Sunday's weather outlook should be winds 3 - 5 mph changing to mostly southerly by mid day and changing to a westerly direction by 5 pm. Temps look not bad at all, with lows in the mid 40's, highs in the 60's. 

More to come!

dr

March 4th Make-up report

Our February launch pick-up date on March 4th was windy, but by 3 PM it finally started to calm down and we got some good flying in. The L-R USLI team had a long-awaited perfect flight, with all the parts coming back like they should so they should be off to Huntsville soon for their flight with NASA. Big congrats to them. Click the Read More button to get the whole enchilada... dr

Click to read more ...

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

WE'RE A GO!!

Sunday March 4th's launch window is a GO, with diminishing winds as the afternoon progresses. We plan to set up at 11 am, Range open by Noon. 

Ken is up in Culpepper, VA so he probably woin't be with us. He'll be at the regular ROCC launch on the 3rd weekend. 

The wind direction is from the North - North-East, blowing toward the South to South-West, so Simpson's fields shouldn't be a problem. There are trees to the south however, so plan accordingly. It's predicted to be around 8-10 mph at noon, lowering to 5-6 mph by 5 pm. We'll run the launch window as late as we can and have flyers for. 

dr

A tale of 2 Saturdays... Part 2, the UPDATE

Part 2 of the saga...  after much hand-wringing (and thank you to the couple of folks that wrote in to help) between Ken, Ralph, myself and Kip we've decided to try for a make-up launch on March 3rd.

It has a very good forecast right now, with similar temps but winds that are at least predicted to be going away from where we don't want to go. Ken may be able to make it depending on weather in Culpepper VA, and we'll hope for the best. Keep your fingers crossed!!

dr

Well, here's what we know right now folks... Saturday the 24th has very little chance of rain BUT 10+ mph winds heading from SW to NE and right towards Mr. Simpson's. We really don't think a whole lot of flying would be going on. 

Saturday the 3rd of March has essentially zero chance of rain right now but winds are going towards the south east field near the hog pond, predicted roughly the same level. 

We're trying to figure it out...  more later, as soon as we can.

dr 

February 18th Launch Report

Roy's here with his wrap-up of all things "rocket-ey" on the 18th of this month, please click the "read more" link below. dr

Click to read more ...

Possible 1-day make-up launch on weekend of 24th & 25th

Big thanks to everyone who came out to fly with us today, the weather couldn't have been much nicer for mid February! (I'm thinking about you Scott!)

We're going to look at the weather for next weekend and see if we can get in a make-up day launch either Saturday or Sunday. Among others, the LRC USLI team needs to get in a re-flight before the end of February to prepare for their trip to NASA Huntsville for their big flight. They had a rapid disassembly of a portion of their vehicle today that they need to work through.

Keep your eyes on the site and/or the ROCC FB feed for more info later this week. 

dr

No launch on the 17th, We'll fly on Sunday the 18th

UPDATE Friday evening: As of Friday evening the weather forecast for Saturday is 80% chance of rain and showers most of the day. 

Sunday looks to be lovely, so we'll fly on Sunday the 18th. 

Plan on arriving about 10:30, we'll get set up and fly by 11:30. That ought to give the field a bit of a chance to drain off if we get what they're predicting. 

dr