Rest in Peace Darell Mobley (Founder/Owner of Rocketry Planet)

Please see: http://www.rocketryplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=186425#post186425

Essential details:

Darell Mobley the founder and owner of Rocketry Planet appears to have passed away 3 days ago.  I have not been able to talk with his family (I don't know how to) nor have I had direct confirmation otherwise but the age and location fit and he has not posted in the past 3 days. 

I sent a silk flower arrangement to the funeral from Rocketry Planet, and I plan to work with the family if I can to help migrate this site to other ownership if anyone wants it.  Depending on what they request we'll see what to do.

I have no word on how to send the family messages yet but I will work on this.

From the Fla. paper:

MOBLEY- Mr. Darrell Dwayne Mobley, age 54, of Macclenny, Fla. died 8/9/11. GUERRY FUNERAL HOME, Macclenny, Florida.

Published in the Florida Times-Union on August 11, 2011

Scout Launch set for August 13th

Sandy sent me a note that he's arranging a Boy Scout demo & participatory launch, currently set for August 13th at the Belk Scout Camp.We'll need 3-5 volunteers to make this a go. (I think we did it wth 4 last year. It was postponed for a day by the very high winds we had.)

16 or so scouts 20-25 rockets.
August 13th (Saturday) 10:00-1:00.

ROCC members are welcome to help out and do demo launches.  We can fly MPR rules.  Altitudes over 1000ft are probably not a great idea for people who haven't seen Belk before.  They like to see stuff up close rather than way high and the field is fairly narrow. It's a good A-E field provided you don't put a C engine into a Mosquito. 

So post in the comments section if you can join in the fun and let us know. Set-up will probably be around 9 in the morning but I wil verify that with Sandy.

dr

Science Focused Hobby Show this weekend in Kernersville

ROCC tried to participate in this event.  At the last minute we even tried to get Jim Scarpine to step in and run with the ball but Jim wasn't able to coordinate with the organizer so this did not come to pass..  No one was ultimately able to assist so the kids in Kernersville didn't get exposed to Rocktry this time. 

The event info as originally stated:

http://www.wrghtstf.com/stematics.htm

"STEMATIC" Hobby Show

Hobbies that promote Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics.

Where: Main Street United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, Kernersville, NC

When: July 30th

Time: 9 am - 4 pm

If you are a plastic modeler, aeronautics modeler, astronomer, model rocketeer, or a member of any other hobby that  relates to STEM and want to promote your hobby please let me know. We have 20 tables open for displays

stuart@wrghtstf.com

The goal of this event is to introduce children to hobbies that they may not have an opportunity to experience otherwise.

Hobbies that are going to be represented at the event:

Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) local club the "RC'rs"

Forsyth Astronomical Society / Greensboro Astronomy Club

International Plastic Modelers Society (IPMS)

National Association of Rocketry (NAR)

USLI going on this weekend in New Mexico

Just wanted to give a shout out to all of our USLI folks... for those not in the know, here's a link to a short music video highlighting the projects.

More info from the NASA website:

NASA University Student Launch Initiative, or USLI, is a competition that challenges university-level students to design, build and launch a reusable rocket with a scientific or engineering payload to one mile above ground level, or AGL. The project engages students in scientific research and real-world engineering processes with NASA engineers.

Interested teams may send faculty and/or student representatives to one of two Advanced Rocketry Workshops. The participants will be introduced to the University Student Launch Initiative and High Powered Rocketry. Additionally, participants will build and launch a high powered rocket to complete a National Association of Rocketry High Power Certification. Interested teams should contact Julie Clift (Julie.D.Clift@nasa.gov) to sign up for a workshop.

NASA Advanced Rocketry Workshop (co-hosted by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium)
Dates: July 20-23, 2011
Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico (launch location will be Las Cruces, NM

Students propose to participate in USLI during the fall. Once selected, teams design their rocket and payload throughout the academic year. USLI requires a NASA review of the teams' preliminary and critical designs. The project also requires flight readiness and safety reviews before the rockets and payloads are approved for launch. Teams complete a Post-Launch Assessment Review to include conclusions from their science or engineering experiment and the overall flight performance. The Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review and Flight Readiness Review are conducted by a panel of scientists and engineers from NASA, NASA contactors and external partners.

The top-placing teams in USLI are invited to participate in USLI Level 2, which requires teams to design and build a reusable rocket and launch to an altitude of 10,000 feet AGL with water recovery at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

NASA Student Launch Projects are sponsored by ATK Aerospace Systems. The annual launch event is hosted at Bragg Farms in Toney, Ala., and launch services are provided by the National Association of Rocketry.

Good luck all!

dr 

New PIX

I got around to putting up Roy's photos from SciPower 2011... sorry it took so long!

Check 'em out in the Gallery....

DR

No launch scheduled for this weekend

Due to the crop situation and the lack of rain we are will not have a launch in July.

360 degree VR tour of Shuttle Discovery

OK, I found this on Boing-Boing. It's very cool... a 360 degree virtual reality tour of shuttle Discovery's flight deck, shot in very high resolution while it's being processed to go to a museum. LINK

Enjoy....

DR

ROCC members - represent!

ROCC’ers at "Sci-Power", Orangeburg, 4^th of July weekend launch

It was great to see a lot of us down at the ICBM and Rosco Clubs, Orangeburg 4^th of July weekend 3 day launch.

Saturday the range opened at 10AM with good conditions then later the winds kicked up about 4pm where we then got up launch’s between wind bursts, which was the leading edge of a storm front for the rain showers that forced us to call it a day at about 6 pm. Of course, just 5 miles down the road it was bone dry.

Sunday was really great overall. There were only low to mild winds that had no overall affect on launching.

Monday was somewhere between the wind conditions of Sat and Sun.

Besides the Tripoli L-2 and L-3 Sport and Research/Experimental flights, Tripoli L-1 members were able to fly certified engines. That kept things fairly busy, but laid back.

Of course, all three days were hot and humid. Lots of fluids and sunscreen were highly recommended and in use.

There were no tree landings that I can think of, only one large launch flight draped across the big sprinkler pipes.

Hey, think of this as a test run for Freedom Launch, Labor Day weekend in September.

There were 3 or 4 vendors there. Ken was really trying to sell as much of his bulky stuff as he could to make room for cases of about 50 new certified engines and new Cessaroni engines.

There were probably some club members or frequent ROCC fliers that I didn’t notice but I got all I could to tell me if they had any special flights or what they were planning on besides just taking advantage of the open skies and fields.

I got a few pictures that I will get to Doc, there was one guy and his dad from  Raligh or Ashville, I forgot, but his dad got a lot of great pictures that I hope he can send to Doc at rocketrycarolina at gmail dot com.

Malcom Smith was there and had a number of flights but nothing special that he wanted to list separately.

Spencer Thompson and his parents were there and I happen to have his "D-Region Tomahawk" ROCC Raffle prize from a couple of months ago to hand over. After a TARC season of stressful prepping flights, he spent the weekend just flying for the fun of it. I know that a few of his flights were of his TARC rocket, the "Schmetterling".

Roy Potter, well I paid, or provided the sacrifice to the rocket gods by being the first flight of the weekend Sat morning with the "Stars and Stripes" on a G64 that came in ballistic with no ejection. Delay burned but did not ignite the charge. I’m pretty sure that I over greased the forward closure and plugged the tiny hole with grease. The rest of the weekend I flew "Thumper", the rear ejection "Target Drone" that caught the curiosity of a few fliers. Also the "Arcas", "Bumble Bee", the "Canadan Flag", the "Union Jack", the 4inch Estes "V-2" and a few lowpower flights.

John Metcalf noted that he plans to fly all Cessaroni engines. Besides other flights he listed flights of a "Mini Darkstar" on a G115-WT, its bigger brother "Darkstar" on a H118-CL, "Wild Child" on a F29 imax, the "Super DX3" on a I204 imax and the "Xcellerator" on a J293-BS for a L2 certification attempt.

Steve Morris and his daughter, who along with the other kids had a lot of fun in the huge puddles, only listed one special flight of a "Graduator" on a G40, but also flew his "Pop-Out Hang Glider" rocket and other flights with his twin spinning chutes.

Mark Ferrell had listed special flights of "Sweet" on a J420-R, a "Baby Betty" on a I154-J and possibly an "Endeavor".

Louise Ferrell flew her "Onyx" (there were a bunch of them out there), but a freak fast build-up of exhaust deposit on the exhaust nozzle seemed to cause it to "Sky Write" and "Land Shark" on a engine it has flown on many times before. Her "Forte" and very pretty rebuilt "Mini Mag" all had good flights.

Mike Garner all the way from Asheboro, listed special flights of a "Guardian" on a G65-7G and a "Norad" on a Promax J350 for a L2 certification flight.

Keith Biddinger along with regular flights, listed his special flights as a "Endeavor" on a J575-FG and a extended "X-LX-Calibur" on Fastware G and H motors.

Sorry if I missed anybody, but remember, we get to do it again next September during the Labor Day weekend, Freedom Launch.

Roy, ROCC Sec.

SCi-Power information

 From Roy Potter:  (THANKS Roy!)

Don’t forget the 3day day “Sci-Power” 4^th of July weekend Launch at the Orangeburg club site.

 Directions to Sci-Power  

From the Charlotte area.   (The Orangeburg club flies off a “Super Sod” Farm)

Travel Time = from I-85 at Harris Blvd is 2 hours 40 minutes

Take I-77 South to where it ends at Columbia SC.

Merge off the end of I-77 onto I-26 South.

Take I-26 S to Exit 154A (Hwy 301) towards O’Burg.

The Super Sod farm is only about ¼ to ½ mile on the Left.

Staying over for Sci-Power? (ask for Launch discount at Days Inn)

Days Inn, 1-803-534-0500, Across the I-26 Hwy, Minimal services but has a pool.

Quality Inn, (formally Comfort Inn and Suites) 1-803-531-9200, Exit 145A south (Hwy 601)

off I-26. 3671 Saint Matthews Rd (Hwy 601). More services and resurants in walking distance.

Flight Fee =  $10 a day (and maybe $25 for the weekend.)

Multi Venders on site.

They are advertising a drag race with Performance Hobbies 7.5 FatBoy and Wild-Man Kentucky.

Sat, 2 July and Sun, 3 July.

Sport Launch. = 10 am till dusk 6:00 pm.

Open to all fliers up to their Certification Level. Levels “0” thru “3”

Those wanting to make cert Flights need to make arrangements with available judges.

Ceiling of 10,000 ft daytime. Expected flights over 6,000 ft need to check with Safety Officer first.

Saturday night is the Night Launch (always a good show).  8pm till 10:00pm.

Rockets must be illuminated throughout flight. Has a 3,000 ft altitude waiver.

Monday, 4 July. ( Info as known at this time )

Research/Experimental flights. (A slower laid back day with long prep times and fantastic flights.)

Tripoli Cert Level 2 and 3 only Sport flights.

Tripoli Certification flights of Level 1 to Level 2.

Hope to see you all out there wearing the ROCC “T” shirts, show the colors dudes!

June post-launch report

June’s Post-Launch report, probably the last one till about October when crop season is over.

Sunday 19^th of June.

Saturday was cancelled due to the wrong-way wind directions so we opted for a one-day launch on Sunday. The weather was forecasted to be mostly clear with building winds and a storm-front later in the day.

Actually it turned out pretty good, the winds were pretty much down the runway or into the open empty barley fields. There were few corn landings. There was a pretty windy part at the beginning then it was like we were in the “eye of the storm”, almost dead calm for about 2 ½ hours where we punched up as many as we could. Then about 3pm the calm ended and what looked like the forward front of the forecasted storm was approaching with a wall of stiff winds, so siding with caution, we called it a day.

“KIDS” ROCKET RAFFLE.

We continued our Raffle for the kids with a selection of about 17 Prebuilt, painted and ready to fly rockets to choose from. Someone dropped off a box of another dozen really nice rockets.

The kid’s tickets are 50 cents each and we will keep it going over all the launches till they are all given away. Each rocket comes with a “A” or “B” engine with plug and wadding.

Yes, parents can buy tickets and select rockets for their kids.

We gave away about 8 rockets that day. We had quite a few kids on hand.

We had 18 fliers with 52 flights burning 53 engines including one multi-stage flight.

A= 13,  B= 7,  C= 11,  D= 7,  E= 10,  F= 1,  G= 2,  H= 0,  I= 1.  

Who flew what? Remember your penmanship influences my spelling

Bob Bernatchez flew his “Mini Bomark” on a Mini A10, a “Exocert AM 39” scale missile on a E18 and his 4 inch North Coast Rocketry “Patriot” on a G64 for an impressive flight.

Joe Pettler flew a Estes “Chrome Dome” on C6’s and the “Magician” on a E9.

Kaitlin Pettler flew a raffle rocket from last month, her “Freedom” on a B6.

Brian Gossiaux flew a Aerotech “Initiator” on a E30 and a new 4inch “G-Force” for its maiden flight on a G77-R. really looked nice with that ruby red flame exhaust.

Cheryl Lansford also flew a Aerotech Initiator renamed the “Glitter Girl 2” on E30’s. Her original Glitter Girl separated the shock cord last month but she jumped right back to it.

Brad Shea flew his sons Birthday rocket, the “Star Hawk” on a A8. Then spent a lot of time prepping his “Not Another Nike Smoke” to fly on a I345 only to a estimated 800 ft with motor ejection. Altimeter confirmed a 740 odd foot flight.

Roy Potter, I flew my “Red Dwarf” a extended big daddy, on D12’s to avoid too high an altitude. On its last flight the shock cord anchor broke free and the body fluttered down through the open window of a vehicle braking two fins. No vehicle damage. The orange and white checkered “Test Roc II” also flew on D12’s.

Tom Laicher flew a naked Mini “Bull Pup” on a B6, a tall “Mean Machine” on a E9 and the only 2 stager for the day, the “Taser Twin” on a B6 to C6. Not sure if the upper stage was found.

Oliver Laicher flew a Estes “Sky writer” on a A8, the “Summit” on a Mini A10 and his “Mean Machine” on a E9.

Nils Laicher flew a Estes “Shuttle Express” on a C6 but pulled the piggyback shuttles not wanting to lose them.

Doc Russell flew a “ARCAS” on a E9, his “Federal Express” Pyrimid on a F20, the “White Fang” on a A8, and his cool “#18^th Anniversary” rocket on a E23 for a estimated real low altitude flight with almost a standing landing. Its got a really cool looking lego pilot and crew cockpit built into it.

Michael, Unk, flew a extended dig daddy called the “Big Grand Daddy” on a E9.

Harrison Reid flew a Quest “Clipper Ship” on a C6, a Estes “Wacky Wiggler” on a C6 that separates into a string of body segments and our only confirmed loss for the day. He flew a Mini Star Wars “X-Wing Fighter” on a Mini A10, a Estes “Exo-Skell” alien lander on a C6 for a standing landing. A Naked rocket named the “Virginia” on a C6, a spinning “Cork Screw” on a C6, a scale missile “MK-109” on a C6 and a small “Gnome” on a Mini A3.

Ian Morris flew a “Hornet” on a A8, a Estes “Patriot” on a C6 with a small altimeter recording a flight of 234 ft at 75 mph. I have a “Altimeter one” his is the new “Altimeter Two”. He also flew a Quest Rocket on a B6 and a scratch built “Sly Fox” on a B6.

Will Morris flew his “Zeus” on a B6 and a neat pop-out hang Glider rocket on a A8, and the “Baby Bertha” on a B6.

Steve Morris flew a spinning “Texas Twister” on a mini A3.

Kathleen Morris flew a Minute Man AKA the “Red Devil” on a A8.

David Unk, flew the tiny “Small Joe” on a Mini A3, a “Gnome” on a mini A3 and then a Estes “Phonex” scale missle on a D12.

Hope to see you on the pads and remember to keep those exhaust nozzles clear.

Roy, ROCC Sec.