November 24th and 25th Launch

When : Sat and Sun, November 24 & 25, 2012.

Where :   The Williams Farm. See Web Site for directions if you are new.

Set Up :   Volunteers show up at 0930 to help setup.

Launch Start :   As soon as set-up is complete.

Launch ends :   Approximately around 5:00 PM so we have some light to close up.      

Weather at this time :  Mid 50’s both days, breezy on Saturday

Ken Allen, Performance Hobbies, is expected to out there Saturday only.

November the theme will be "13mm Motor Mayhem". Rocket of any type, but must use one of the Estes 13mm motor.

Hopefully Rocket Ralph will have his Grill out serving drinks, and dog’s.

Remember that this is a working farm, so dress accordingly, sturdy shoes and suggest you dress in layers so you can take layers off and on as the temperature changes. When the sun is shining at the farm it is like a solar collector out there with the open field so it can be 10 degrees warmer when the sun is clear than in the city.

We are continuing with our Range Safety standards:

 RSO=, Range Safety Officer to pre-inspect rockets before flights.

 LCO=, Launch Control Officer to check range conditions and control the launch’s in a timely and efficient manner.

Check both the WEB site and at the launch’s for info on volunteering for RSO (Cert Lv-2 required) and LCO (Cert Lv-1 preferred, but any responsible and experienced adult can apply).

It’s great for anybody who isn’t flying that day but wants to take part anyway.

And it’s fun to push the little red button.

Duty signups sheet will be at the front table for RSO, LCO, and equipment take down. Please remember to sign up.

Check the Web Site for any possible last minute changes.

November Launch Rescheduled for 11/24 & 11/25

Good Morning,

I spoke to Ralph last night to get an update on the field, and drove out to the farm this morning. The beans are still in the field, and they are certainly dry. Kip has indicated he might have to work on Saturday to complete the task of removing the beans. Ralph and I both have some concerns over the wind forecast as well.

At this point, the best course of action is to give Kip the time he needs and push the November launch to 11/24 & 11/25. One benefit of pushing the launch back a week is that Ken can attend on Saturday, 11/24. 

* Ken will be onsite for Saturday, 11/24 only!

October 2012 Post-Launch report

Roy has come through with the first installment for the 2012/13 flying season. Please click the "Read More" link to enjoy the story... Thanks Roy!

Click to read more ...

Themes for November & December!

November the theme will be "13mm Motor Mayhem". Rocket of any type, but must use one of the Estes 13mm motor.

December will be "Gathering of V-2's". V-2's of any size, scale paint scheme or non scale paint accepted.

Best overall model/flight will receive a nice prize.

Hurricane Sandy & ROCC site

First I got this via email...

Dear Customer, I have some unfortunate news to share. Our primary data center, Peer1, in Lower Manhattan lost power yesterday at about 4:30PM local time. At that time, we smoothly made the transition to generator power and took comfort over the fact that we had enough fuel to last three to four days. (Peer1 stayed online during the last 3 major natural disasters in the area, including a blackout that lasted for days.) At 8:30PM yesterday, we received reports that the lobby in the data center's building was beginning to take on water. By 10:30PM, as is sadly the case in most of Lower Manhattan, Peer1's basement had experienced serious flooding. At 5AM, we learned our data center's fuel pumps and fuel tanks were completely flooded and unable to deliver any more fuel. At 8AM, they reported that the generators would be able to run for a maximum of four more hours. Unfortunately, this means that Squarespace will be offline soon (our estimate being at 10:45 AM today). Be assured that while this will impact our availability, there is no chance of data loss or any other permanent effects. We have simply run out of power, backup power, and cannot access our fuel in a flooded basement. Our teams have been working tirelessly on contingency plans. We are working to bring the Squarespace systems back online as soon as possible. As you have probably read, all bridges and tunnels into and out of Manhattan are closed and large portions of the city remain without power. We will do everything in our power to get Squarespace running as soon as possible, and we will remain online for as long as it is safe. Squarespace support will remain available 24/7 during this downtime. We will post updates to Twitter via @squarespacehelp and urge you to follow us there. Updates will also be posted to blog.squarespace.com. Our hearts go out to the many people who have lost their lives in this terrible tragedy and also to those who continue to suffer through the consequences of this historic storm. Thank you for your understanding, Anthony Casalena Founder & CEO Then, I started reading this:  http://status.squarespace.com/ If ever I had a doubt  that moving the ROCC site to SS was a bad idea it is totally and completely gone. Hats off to the folks up there in NYC for being manic SysAdmins... if you are one, you know what that means! dr

November Launch - Ken

Ken will not be at the November launch. If you need something from him, give Ken a call and have it shipped.

LDRS back on Science Channel Sunday

Tomorrow! Sunday, October 28th! 10 PM Eastern! Science Channel! Be There!...

for the next installment of LDRS.

Here's the LINK 

dr

Shuttle Endeavour rolls (carefully) to it's new home

Great post from the LA Times on the shuttle Endeavour barely getting to it's new display space in Los Angeles in THIS time-lapse video. Man, what a squeeker!

dr

Next Launch Saturday, October 20th

Update: The weather is looking great for Saturday right now, and John has confirmed we are a GO for our launch this weekend. Ken Allen from Performance Hobbies will be on site for all of your rocketry needs wnich is great to hear.

As we mentioned earlier we will only have access to the back portion of the field, past where the wind sock is, so the power levels will be restricted to D and under... maybe if the wind is with us or on a heavy rocket we might sneak in an E motor. No "sparky's" because of the presence of the rest of the soy beans that will be drying down by then. Remember, this is Kip's livelyhood and a huge investment, so we must treat it with care.

This will be a Saturday only launch.

ROCC board via dr

Update on Thursday, October 18, 2012 at 12:17AM by John Bergsmith

Ken is planning on being at the field on Saturday. So if you have any special orders give Ken a call.

Board meeting this Saturday the 29th

The pres has called a board meeting for this Saturday, the 29th, at 2 pm.

We'll be meeting at the Wireknot offices at 655 Pressley Rd, suite H. It's where we met last summer.

If you google map it we're in the middle of the far building, right next to GAT-3, in the slot with Moving Pictures (their's is the sign you'll see).

If you come from South Tryon St. the Pressley Rd. intersection has a McD's and a Doc-in-a-Box on either corner, and if you're a real old Charlottean it's the old Service Merchandise corner.

Turn on to Pressley, cross over 77 and you'll come to a sharp bend to the right. At that bend, on the left, you'll see a small sign for Pressley Park. (It used to be bigger till some one drove into it). We're in the middle of the farthest (3rd) building. Drive till you can see the wind sock for the helipad and you're there.

I'll have some snax but if you want beer then byo....

dr

Update on Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 11:53PM by John Bergsmith

Just to make it clear, all club members are welcome to come to this meeting. Basically it's a meeting to prepare for the upcoming season. Bring a recent build, or a new kit. This has been a busy year so far for a lot of us, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.