Update on November 18th & 19th

Just wanted to update folks, weather for the weekend looks good, winds look good, slightly better for Sunday than Saturday right now, but that's subject to change. Saturday has winds up to 12 mph at 1 pm, dropping away for the rest of the afternoon. Sunday is supposed to be much calmer.

South Carolina had to postpone from last weekend to this, so they will be flying the same weekend as we are.

Which brings us to Ken Allen with Performance Hobbies. He'll be with South Carolina Rocketry in Dalzelle on Saturday, then with us in Midland on Sunday.

Setup about 9:30, Figure on us getting set up by 11 since it's the first weekend back, it usually takes a bit longer to get set up the first weekend.

Fire risk. Mecklenburg county is included in the burning ban, so a few ground rules... First, NO Metal or Sparkie motors of any kind or power rating. Second I'd like to see nothing larger than a J motor. Kip is OK with us flying but lets not push our luck.

See you on the field!

TB/dr

Hello Everyone, I'm back up and running on the Tripoli Level II written test. I finally got the current test books! If you're needing to take the Level II test please let me know asap.

My time will be limited this weekend, but plan on being at the farm this Saturday morning until 12:30ish.

If that doesn't work we can certainly meet up in the Concord area and I can administer the test.

Message me on Facebook if you need to take the Level II written test and let's make a plan!

ROCC 2023-24 season set to open November 18th/19th.

I heard from Ralph yesterday (11/4) about the farm status, according to Kip the corn and soy beans are cut and off the field so we are cleared for a launch window on November 18th & 19th. 

Field setup should start at 9, flying should start by 10 and field should close about 4 to close up before sunset. 

Ken Allen from Performance Hobbies is scheduled to be with us on Saturday the 18th. 

Visitors are always welcome, but remember this is a working farm with machines and barns and equipment, so if you have small children please keep track of them. There's lots they can get into if you're not alert. 

Once we get a bit closer and the weather is a bit more predictable we'll publish an update on that with winds and temps. 

Fingers crossed!!

dr

Midland field closed for the rest of the summer.

I was hoping for one more launch but it's not in the cards. The Midland field is closed for the season. We will resume flying there in the fall.

The crops are gaining too much ground with the perfect growing conditions so we will not be launching there on any weekends until further notice.

I heard from Barn Tobin that the Henderson field is also closed for the near future, they need to relocate to a new field.

Currently that leaves us with ROSCO in Dalzell, SC. More information on ROSCO can be found here: https://www.rocketrysouthcarolina.org/

June 17 & 18 questionable, SC flying this weekend (June 10 & 11)

Hey ROCC'ers... South Carolina rocketry is flying this weekend in Dalzelle SC. Their FaceBook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rocketrysouthcarolina

I had a chat with Ken Allen yesterday (Wednesday) as well as Ralph Roberts about the crop situation at the Midland farm. With all the rain we got a week or so ago (2.3") the wheat has shot up like a.... well, you know! So, we're really not sure if the wheat is going to come off before the corn gets too tall to be able to hold any kind of a launch in June. The wheat is about 3' tall and the corn is already at about 8" and coming on strong.

All that said, please keep track of the website and the FB page and we'll see what we can do in Midland, but if you want to fly it may be SC or Hendersonville.

TB/dr

Launch opps May 20 & 21st in SC

Just a reminder to ROCC folks, the Midland farm is closed to us this month because of the wheat and barley. But fear not, because of Mother's day and rain two weeks ago South Carolina Rocketry is launching on our regular 3rd weekend, the 20th & 21st in Dalzelle SC.

Link to their site is on the ROCC links page or just click here: https://www.rocketrysouthcarolina.org/.../2023LaunchSche.../

TB/dr

April 15th Launch Report

At long last we had a Saturday that wasn't soaking wet, so here's the wrap-up. Hit the usual "Read More" link. (Sorry I missed this one, I was in Lancaster SC with a cub scout troop working on their rocketry badges. Ran through 2 entire flight-pack boxes of A8-3's!)

Click to read more ...

CHANGE OF PLAN, NO FLIGHT SUNDAY 4/16

CHANGE FOR SUNDAY 4/16: DUE TO THE WIND FORECAST TOMORROW SENDING STUFF INTO THE BARLEY WE ARE CANCELLING SUNDAY'S LAUNCH.

From what Roy and Ralph found today dealing with the barley and the forecast of strong wind by noon getting stronger all afternoon and coming from the South, we aren't comfortable flying at the Midland farm tomorrow.

Sorry folks but when it comes to Kip's crops we can't take the risk. It's just too expensive to him if damaged.

We'll see about next month but more than likely we'll need to skip a month out in Midland.

launching April 15th & 16th

Hey ROCC'ers, we're launching this weekend!

I know it doesn't look like it right now, it quite frankly looks dangerous while I'm posting this, but here's the deal.

Since the rain today isn't supposed to be as bad as last month we are going to launch Saturday, but with a LATE START TIME OF NOON.

We'll set the out time at 7 pm so it's still a long flight day, but starting at noon should give the runway time to drain.

We'll also launch Sunday but will start at 10 am.

Since the barley is between a foot and waist high small rockets are going to be very difficult to recover. Please try to run your larger rockets, or put a beeper or some other locating device on it to help in location.

We are probably not going to be able to fly next month due to the barley crop but are hoping to fly once it's out, like in July, depending on timing.

dr

March 19th Launch Report

Here's the report from our Sunday launch on the 19th. We're going to try and find a make-up day if we can get the weather to cooperate. Hit the old "Read More" link to see the whole thing. dr

Click to read more ...