March 3^rd, 2001 Launch Report

WOOSH Launch at Consolidated Sod Farm

 

Dave Seer:

 

The temperature was in the mid forties, the sun was out, the sky was crystal clear, and the wind was almost dead calm. For March, it was perfect weather for launching rockets.

 

I had eleven flights. I tried flying my Mini Dactyl clone twice, but each time the glider separated early. My most notable flight was a Sprint flying on a C6-7. It wasn’t visible for most of the flight, but as it was descending, the tracking smoke was sighted far to the west. It landed in the parking lot of the business just west of the sod farm. Despite a hard landing on cement, the rocket was undamaged and was flown again later in the day.

 

The most popular rocket flown was a Snitch, accounting for what seemed like half of the flights. Paul Smith flew his five hundredth flight and also had an impressive two-stage flight. Scott Goebel closed out the launch by flying an E-18 reload.

 

 

 

Paul Smith:

 

Lots of sunshine, almost no wind, no noticeable earthquakes or rioting Mardi Gras revelers... 

 

Despite a LOT of wet ground (including a fairly deep little hole right where we'd set up), we got in a LOT of launches today. I had 15 flights. First up was my Cherokee D/2 (Cherokee D with a BMS V-2 nose cone) on a B6-4, in a drag race with Dean. That rocket flew eight times today, on B6-4, B4-2, C6-3, C6-5, and C6-7 engines. It's up to a total of 35 flights now. 

 

My second flight was my 500th flight since becoming a BAR on Labor Day of 1998. I went with the same rocket and engine that I used for my first BAR flight: an Estes Viking with an A8-3. Perfect flight - I'd forgotten how high that little rocket goes (it hasn't flown in two years). 

 

I also flew my BT-60 sized V-2 (BMS nose and tail cone) three times. My Apogee III (BT-50 sized body with Astron Apogee II fins salvaged from a clone that didn't survive its first flight) flew once as a two-stager (B6-0/A6-4) and once single staged (B4-2). 

 

The remaining flight was the first flight of a little five-engine cluster rocket I scratch built. For this flight, I used only three engines: a B6-6 in the central tube, and A3-4Ts in two of the four outboard "strap-ons". Everything lit, and it flew straight, but the B6-6 had a REALLY energetic ejection charge that simply snapped the (brand-new) 1/4" elastic shock cord. Not much damage, though one fin will need replacing. 

 

Other than that, lots of drag races, lots of Snitch flights... A guest flew an Estes Tomcat twice, with fairly poor results (it was painful to watch). Dean had a couple of innovative twists on Snitch propulsion. David Seer flew his Mini-Dactyl clone, his Sprint several times, and his Equinox. Fred flew a Maxi Alpha 3 a couple of times, as well as some smaller rockets. Mark Stehlik flew his large V-2, his Bullpup, and a few other rockets. David Holberg flew a few small rockets, occasionally remembering to include a recovery system. There were a LOT of Quest kits flown today – a conspiracy theorist would have been worried. 

 

All-in-all, a great way to spend a day like this.