Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 8:00AM Just a reminder, the folks at ROSCO, Rocketry South Carolina, are launching at their field in Camden SC this weekend. Here's a link to the website. http://rocketrysouthcarolina.org/
dr
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 at 9:12PM Well, as we've been thinking, the crops report this week is not in our favor. The wheat is headded out and waving in the breeze, but is very fragile from now until it gets harvested.
That measn we will NOT be having a launch at the Midland field in May.
Now then... that doesn't mean that there aren't launch opportunities. There's been talk on the field of going to Camden SC in June, they fly sport rules under ROSCO on the 9th & 10th of June. If we get the clearance to fly in Midland in June on the 16th and 17th.
That's all for now... dr
Monday, April 30, 2018 at 7:56PM Imagine, 2 days of launching rockets... IN A ROW! It actually happened! At long last in 2018 we had a beautiful weekend in April and it was perfect rocket launchin' weather! Click the "Read More" button to read all of Roy's report, and remember you can post up photos of the launch to the gallery, or send them to me at the ROCC email address. Thanks Roy! dr
Friday, April 20, 2018 at 9:30PM 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
Sunday, April 1, 2018 at 10:17AM This from Space dot com site from 3/31...
https://www.space.com/40137-mars-2020-rover-supersonic-parachute-test.html
Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 8:13PM 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
Friday, March 16, 2018 at 3:07PM 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
Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 3:49PM 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
Friday, March 2, 2018 at 11:08AM 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
Friday, February 23, 2018 at 1:48PM 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