WOOSH Launch at Bong, Area E
Dave Seer:
Is there anything in the safety code about hypothermia?
A crystal clear and brilliant blue sky were enough to make a hand full of fliers overlook the bitter cold and strong, biting wind. Actually, the weather wouldn’t have been too bad for a winter day in February had it not been for the wind.
There were a number of memorable flights. Dave Holberg flew his first composite motor and then later earned his level one certification. Dangerous Dean had an Initiator that chuffed just as it cleared the launch rail, which caused it to fly horizontally. It was last seen heading east at thirty or forty feet off the ground. In addition, Mike Dybul flew a PML Patriot to an altitude of three of four thousand feet, which drifted far, far to the southeast. I’m sure his rocket landed east of the park.
I attempted three launches and was plagued by exceptionally bad luck. My first flight was to be my LOC Hi-Tech on an F-50. The F50 CATO’ed. The nozzle of the motor was blown off, but at least there wasn’t any damage to the rocket.
My second attempt was the maiden flight of my BSD Sprint XL. It was set up for dual deployment and flew on a motor that Fred supplied. It was a good boost and the drogue parachute deployed at apogee, but the main parachute never deployed. A post flight inspection showed that the nose cone was too loose so when the ejection charge fired the gasses escaped past the nose cone shoulder rather than breaking the shear pins. When the rocket landed one fin and the lower rail guide were broken off.
I made one last attempt to fly a rocket. I was planning to fly my Aerotech Arreaux, but as I was loading on the launch rod one of the launch lugs broke off. It was disappointing, but the way my luck had been running, maybe it was for the best.
Don Wende:
Once the exposed skin
went numb, it was really quite pleasant today. You just gotta love the crisp
snapping sound of a rocket hitting the frozen tundra. I flew my primed, but not
painted, Lil' Nuke on an E15-4. The nosecone separated, but was recovered close
by. My second (and final) flight was my Big One (highly modified Rocket R&D
Brutus) on a G80-4. Yes, I was playing it safe, but my tight schedule precluded
any long recovery walks. I had to bolt at
festivities.
Paul Smith:
The skies were sunny,
but the winds were fairly high. The lot wasn't nearly as icy as it was for that
little impromptu launch we had. Plenty of rockets flew.
I flew my Archer twice. I was testing the altimeter bay
I'd built, flying my Missileworks RRC2 for the first time (altitude reporting
only: motor deployment). The first flight was with an H220. Straight boost,
noticeably slower than on Thanksgiving because of all of the extra weight and
length. On ejection, I had a blow-by, and the parachute didn't work its way out
until the rocket was only a few hundred feet up. However, it opened and brought
the rocket nicely down at the entrance to the parking lot.
When I got there, there was no sound at all from the
altimeter. When I opened it up, I discovered that I had never clamped down the
battery properly, and it had shifted away from the terminals at ejection. Doh! But,
that's why you test these things, right? It would have been quite an expensive
lesson to learn had I done that on a dual deployment flight.
So, I put that all back together and assembled an H238
to try again. Another nice boost, smooth parachute opening this time (thanks to
Fred's packing job). The rocket landed in the icy middle of the parking lot,
knocking one of the fins out of the slot (it lands hard on those fins every
time). However, the altimeter was happily beeping out 761 feet, not too far
from the RockSim estimate of 734 feet.
Fred, Don, Dean, Dave Seer, and David Holberg also all
flew a few rockets. David H. had a particularly interesting day that I'm sure
he'll relate. Mike Dybul flew a PML Patriot on an I435 (right?) that took it
real high real fast and real far - it drifted past the limits of my weak vision.
Other than that, I think my dinged fin was the only real damage of the
day.
Dave Holberg:
Thanks to everybody who helped with my Level One certification today.
Special thanks to Dean
for letting me use his motor case, a H128 RMS, and his mobile office, and to
Paul Smith, who had a bolt long enough to secure the motor casing into the
rocket and went on the nature hike with me to retrieve it.
Today was the first time I'd ever flown anything with
composite motors. Maiden flight of my LOC Precision LOC IV was with a G80-7. It
boosted nice and straight, ejection was right at apogee and it floated down
range into the brush. Second flight was my certification flight; I flew a H128
RMS with a medium delay. A medium is too long of delay for this rocket as
ejection was a bit after apogee but the chute came out and deployed, Paul and I
had a little longer walk out into the brush but other than a few new scrapes to
the finish, it was a very successful flight.
I then flew my Estes Shadow on an E15-4. It flies much
nicer on this motor than on the Estes D's and it recovered right in lot E.
So now I guess I'm entertaining suggestions as to what I
should build next. I built that LOC IV about 5 years ago, just never flew it.
Dean Roth:
At long last, after
two years of trying I have accomplished my goal of no longer having my AeroTech
Initiator rocket. Previous attempts to lose and/or destroy it failed when the
rocket was successfully recovered, once after hanging in a tree for several
months. However, today was the day.
The Initiator flew twice today. The first time on a
G80-10 FWL (Fast White Lightening) single use motor. It landed in the ATV field
south of parking lot E, and vanished. For once, it turned out to be closer than
thought. In addition, it was hiding in tall grass that the snow had not
flattened. It flew later in the day on my last FWL motor, a G80-7.
The Initiator's final flight was an interesting way to
make an exit. As usual, I flew it off a rail, a 6' long rail. Upon ignition,
the motor chuffed, but produced enough thrust to propel the rocket up and off
the rail. A short distance above the rail the rocket stalled, and the wind
tipped it to the east. Then the motor resumed operation, and my rocket turned
into a cruise missile, quickly disappearing as it flew 30-50' above the ground
to the east. At least the motor was a single use
motor.
Four
problems today, Saturday, February 17.
1.
F50 CATO
2.
H238 reload: defective propellant grain. Motor was not flown.
3.
H128 reload: propellant grain liner was too large and would not fit in the
case.
Swapped liner with bad H238 reload kit.
4. G35 CATO
Early in the morning,
I opened the refrigerator to find no milk. I couldn't make hot chocolate
without milk, and there was no way that I'd get through the day without a
thermos full of hot chocolate. Not when the thermometer outside my house
reported ZERO degrees. A quick trip to the gasoline depot and convenience store
solved the day's first crisis. The good and unexpected news was the lack of a
wind.
I called the FAA office in
My trip from home to Bong took less time than
anticipated, even with a stop at the post office and a stop at exit 333 to call
the
I arrived at Bong before
I drove onto the runway from lot F. The access road was
icy but otherwise fine. The runway was icy. The road at lot H was very rutty. I
decided to use lot E due to the forecast of wind from the northwest. I called
the Bong office with my report. Apparently, the woman interpreted my report to
mean that the runway was inaccessible. Mike Dybul and Dave Zupan arrived
mid-day and wanted to use the runway but she would not issue off-road permits
to them.
I was setting up equipment in lot E, which no longer had
ice, when Don Wende arrived. The time was now nearly
The first rocket to be flown was going to be my Launch
Pad Harpoon on an E30. However, as I was loading it on the rail I found a fin
had broken away from the airframe, which may have happened during the trip to
Bong. I had some thick CA with me and applied some, but knew it would take a
while to cure in the cold. The CA did eventually cure but the Harpoon was not
flown.
I had prepared my AeroTech Initiator with an old G80
Fast White Lightening motor before leaving home, so I loaded and launched it. It
landed in the ATV field south of lot E. I returned empty handed after my first
trip into the field. I got a radio and Don gave me directions. Still no luck. Since
most of the grass is matted to the ground by snow/ice, the rocket should have
been easy to find. On my walk back, I found it in a patch of tall grass the
snow had missed. The rocket was closer than expected, but due to the grass, it
could only be seen from one angle.
At about this time two guys parked their truck where
parking isn't allowed and went hunting in the ATV field. They were in my
recovery area and they had bullets. I didn't dare fly, as they'd probably blast
any rocket coming toward them with their guns. They eventually went south to
the wooded area, and finally left after at least an hour being where they
should not have been.
A couple of people stopped in lot E and built a fire in
a fire pit to grill lunch. They seemed to enjoy watching the rockets. At least
they weren't bothered by them.
I flew my 4" diameter rocket with revised altimeter
bay on an I211 to 1200'. Once again, the rocket arced over apogee and fell a
few hundred feet before the altimeter activated the "apogee" event. I'm
beginning to think that an altimeter with accelerometer to sense apogee is a
better idea. The rocket landed in the ATV field right next to the fence, just a
short walk across the road. Later in the day, I flew another rocket on an I284
to 2100'. It also landed just across the road by the fence.
Dave Holberg had been debating a level 1 cert attempt
using a rocket he'd build several years ago but had never flown. He's already
told you about the flight, but not the motor building situation. The rocket
needed a short delay. I had H128-Medium and H238-Short reload kits. Both motors
have the same total impulse. The delays cannot be swapped between the motors. We
decided to use the H238. We stepped into my office (the back of my car) to
assemble Dave's first reloadable motor. I discovered that one of the H238
grain's has an air bubble. I didn't want to fly it as it may CATO. We decided
to risk using a medium delay, which I expected to be too long, and then found
that the H128's propellant grain liner would not fit into the motor case - its
diameter was too large. We used the H238's liner, which is the same size, and
finally prepared a motor. The lightweight rocket leapt off the pad, arced over
and fell a good ways before ejection occurred. However, everything was together
and there was no zipper.
While Dave Holberg assembled his motor, David Seer flew
a new rocket. It zipped off the pad, but suffered some damage when the
parachute didn't deploy, if I correctly recall what David told me.
During the first part of the day the wind was low and
from the west, maybe a little WSW. It grew stronger and shifted to coming from
the WNW.
Dave Zupan and Mike Dybul arrived around
Steve Piette stopped for a visit. I encouraged him to
fly a rocket. He had brought one with a 5.5" diameter and five or six fins.
It went up on an I300 for a nice flight, but suffered minor damage on landing. I
don't know which is worse, the ice or the gravel.
As already recounted, my AeroTech Initiator made a
"cruise missile" flight into the remote tundra ENE of lot E. A four-hour
search by three people might have found it. If I had used a reloadable motor, I
probably would have searched.
Late in the day, probably the last flight, Dave Zupan
flew a rocket with a J460 motor. The igniter would not fire. The problem was
traced to too much corrosion and crud on the 'gator clips and the banana plugs
of my Pratt box. After a quick cleaning, the igniter fired. When I left at
Yes, the temperature was cold, and got colder with the
wind. The chemical hand/toe warmers only work half of the time the packages
says they are good for (about 3 hours, not 6 or 8). However, they sky was blue
and clear. A few planes went over, including a couple of large ones with very
white bellies. A small one annoyed us by slowly circling a couple of times.
Fred Jarosch:
I don't know where I
was, but I missed your Cruise Missile flight. I'm sure that someone will find
it and return it to you. Watching the weather report in the morning, and
checking with my ground crew, I only put two rockets in my car for the ride out
to Bong. The first was the Initiator on a F25-6. The second was the Patriot on
a H97-S. Two nice flights.
When I left the park I went down Hwy 75 to look for
Mike's Patriot but came up empty handed.
It must be my old age, because I was the only one out
there that froze my A** off.