2018 Launch Reports

Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec

January, 2018

There was about 6 inches of snow everywhere including the road down but it was drivable. No one was planning any high power motors so we held the launch just south of the road about 2/3s of the way down, at the top of the knoll before the steeper section of the road down to the large field. The forecast was for partly cloudy but it was almost completely overcast with just a few seconds of sunshine as we were setting up. The temperature was in the lower 40s but the steady wind between 10-15mph made it feel colder. The wind would ebb and flow between 5 and 20mph, with the average increasing as the launch went on. As we were packing up, the wind was over 20mph and gusting to 36 and the skies to the south were blue.

There were a total of 12 flights with 13 motors: 3-C, 7-F, and 3-G. This was a total of a I with an average motor and average per flight of an F.
The flights were as follows:

Guest Ebbe flew his 2.25 inch x 50 inch, white, red and black LOC IQSY Tomahawk twice. The first time was on an AT F50-6T with a JL Chute Release (CR) set for 300 feet and a JL Altimeter III which read 700 feet. The second time was on an AT G77-7R to 1217 feet. Both times the red parachute came out and expanded when allowed by the CR.

Guest Matt also launched his blue and red 2.6 inch x 39 inch AT Initiator twice, both times with a JL CR set to 300 feet. An AT F50-6T was also the first flight. An AT G64-7W was the second flight. The yellow parachute came out and expanded as expected with the CR. The second flight had the longest walk of the day to be recovered and one fin was cracked.

Member Jim flew a black and green Wildman Punisher Sport on an AT F39T with an altimeter III and a JL CR. This flight had a pucker factor of 9.5/10.0 as it went up 203 feet and was only 30 feet off the ground when the nosecone ejected and about 10 feet off the ground when the chute fluffed to slow the rocket down.

Member James flew his 2 inch x 65 inch, gold and black Estes Mammoth twice in 2 different configurations. The first flight was with a booster so the flight was powered by an Estes F15-0 and an Estes F15-6. The flight was almost horizontal when the booster lit causing a greater than 1:1 flight, going 516 feet up and about 800 feet down range. The same rocket flew much straighter on a single F16-5 and managed went up higher, to 856 feet. The rocket separated on the second flight but will fly again with minor repairs.

Member Ben had 2 flights, including part of the drag race which opened the 2018 flying season. His half of the drag race was an Estes 1/10 scale Patriot on an Estes C6-5. The 1.6 inch x 22 inch kit was classically painted in red, white, yellow and black. Ben's big flight of the day was a custom 3 inch x 60 inch AMRAAM on a CTI G68 white which was brought down nicely on a 24 inch red parachute.

Member Paul managed 3 flights. His first flight was also an Estes 1/10 Patriot on a C6-5 as part of the opening flights for 2018. Paul's Patriot was white and lime green and flew nicely. There was not real winner to the drag race. It was a nice way to start the 2018 season. A yellow and teal 3 inch x 14 inch Estes Big Daddy flew on an Estes C11-3 which did not go real high but the purple and white parachute brought it down fine. Paul's big flight was a 3 inch x 42 inch Estes Leviathan painted in magenta and black which flew on an AT F40-7W with a JLCR and altimeter III. The rocket reached 695 feet before the parachute was ejected and then the chute opened up for a successful recovery .

We packed up and were off the field at 1:50. Thanks to everyone for helping with the setup and take down.

Howie.

 

February, 2018

The forecast was for sunny skies, 5-7mph winds and temps in the mid to upper 20s. Three inches of snow from the previous night covered almost everywhere. The actual day felt much colder because the winds started in the teens. As the day progressed, the winds dropped but the clouds came in, so it never felt any warmer. Jim and I arrived at about 0900 to drive down and on the way down I managed to get stuck in a crusty snow drift from a previous snow storm. After about an hour of work from almost everyone there, including a lot of digging and connecting a tow strap, I was extricated and we proceeded down a different path to almost get to the lower field. There was a drainage ditch between where the vehicles parked and where we set up the launch equipment. It was filled with ice so it was a skate back and forth to set everything up. We were ready to go about 1030.

There were a total of 12 people at the launch, including 3 guests and 9 members (including 2 who had joined this month). The most exciting thing of the day was member James attempting his L2 certification flight. See the flight results below to see if he was successful (no spoiler here).
There were a total of 16 flights with 17 motors: 3-A,4-C, 1-F, 6-G and 1-J. This was a total of a J with an average motor and average per flight of an F.
The flights were as follows:

Guest Amelia flew a CRMRC saucer on an Estes C6-5. Her father had flown Estes as a kid and did not think the CRMRC saucer would fly. It was a typical CRMRC saucer flight and he was very impressed. Amelia and her family were the advance party to see if it was worthwhile for a home school group to get involved in rocketry. They let me know they would be contacting the club for some learning and a launch.

Guest Noah launched an Estes Cardis on an Estes C6-5. The flight was textbook and the 1 inch blue rocket floated down on its parachute without damage.

Member Mike's first flight was a silver and red Estes Firehawk on an Estes mini A10-3T. The small rocket almost disappeared from the push of the motor but it flew just fine and was recovered intact. His big flight of the day was a black and red Estes Big Bertha on an Estes C6-3. The short delay was just fine for that rocket and it came down under chute.

Member Ben flew a red and white custom rocket called Vesta on a CTI F29-9 Imax motor. This 1.6 inch diameter, 34 inch tall, 1 pound 2.5 ounce rocket had a JL Chute Release (JL CR), PerfectFlite Firefly altimeter, and an Eggfinder tracker. The PerfectFlite reported 1010 feet in altitude, and the JL CR which was set to 400 feet did its job for a very nice flight.

Member Matt flew a blue and red Aerotech Initiator on an AT G76-7G with a JL Altimeter 3 (JL A3) and a JL CR set for 300 feet on board. The up part was great but the parachute did not come out of the tube so the rocket hit the frozen ground hard and a fin came off.

Member Jim flew an orange and black Rocketry Warehouse Formula 54 on an AT G64-8W. It also had a JL A3 and a JL CR release on board. Jim has become consistent with these types of flights and the 1 pound 13 ounce rocket drifted down nicely on a 24 inch red parachute which fully inflated at around 300 feet.

Member Ebbe had the only complex flight of the day with his US Rockets Dual 18mm. The red, black and white rocket flew on 2 Quest A6-4 motors which were lit on the pad. The first flight for this rocket lit both motors and it flew straight up. Both ejection charges went off, separated by about half a second, and the rocket drifted to the ground safely. An Estes D12-7 powered Ebbe's flew his gray and yellow Estes Storm Caster to another nice flight. His 2.25 inch x 50 inch, white, red and black LOC IQSY Tomahawk with a JL CR set for 300 feet and a JL A3 flew on an Estes G40-7. This flight came down in two pieces. The airframe floated down without damage but the nosecone and parachute drifted far north. Ebbe was able to find this after the launch.

Member Paul managed 5 flights. A 42 inch by 1.2 inch blue and white scratch built Blue Bird Zero flew on an Estes C6-5 for a low and slow flight. Paul also flew a blue and pink Estes Storm Caster on a D12-7 for another nice flight. Paul had 3 G powered flights. A blue Madcow Skipper on an AT G64-7W to 1966 feet as reported by JL Altimeter 2 (JL A2) and the JL CR set for 300 feet opened the parachute for a gentle landing. Paul flew a Binder Design Excel Jr. which was painted dark and sky blue on a AT G76-7G with a JL A2 and a JL CR set for 300 feet to 1740 feet. The JL CR did its job and the rocket floated down gently on its 16 inch pink parachute. Another Binder Design, an Aspire, flew on an AT G77-7R with the same electronics on board and came down with the chute opening at 300 feet (no altitude recorded).

Member James had the big flight of the day for his L2 certification flight. His black and red 4 inch by 70 inch Madcow SuperDX3 was propelled on a CTI J330 Classic. Inside the rocket was a JL A3 and a JL CR set to 400 feet. The J propelled this 6 pound 4 ounce rocket to 3724 feet and the combination of motor ejection and CR opening at 400 feet brought the rocket down undamaged in the field just south of the road we use to get to the lower field. Congratulation James on his successful L2.

We packed up and were off the field at 2:00 with everyone crossing the ice multiple times to pack up the equipment. Thanks to everyone for helping with the setup and take down.

A video of the day's launches is HERE

Howie.

 

March, 2018

Sunday, March 4, 2018 - Special Launch

This was a special launch set up to help a team from Northeastern University get their qualification flight for the NASA Student Launch, along with any other launches CRMRC members wanted to fly. This year's NASA SL tasks are to fly a rocket as close to 5280 feet as possible and then do one of the following:

1. Identify a target on the ground

2. Deploy a rover

3. Determine position on a NASA grid

The team from Northeastern is doing No. 2, the rover although it was not part of this qualification flight.

The field was extremely muddy, so all vehicles were stopped before going down the final hill. Even then, some vehicles had a tough time getting back to Maquam Shore Road at the end of the launch. The weather was overcast to mostly cloudy, with the winds going from 5-25mph to the south and light flurries almost the entire time. Temps were hovering around freezing. Cloud ceiling was not an issue for the first two flights, but it was for the qualification flight. At the launch was 9 students from Northeastern, one guest who coaches another NASA team, one other guest and 3 CRMRC members. Everyone helped lug all the launch gear from where we were parked to a spot where almost at the tree line north of the field at the end of the road, about 1/4 mile. This included the yellow launch pad and the 1515 rail. This was not an easy task in all that mud and required multiple trips by everyone.

The day consisted of 3 flights, with a average per flight of J and total of an L. The flights were as follows:

Member Ben flew a custom blue and gold 1.5x upscale of a Dark Zero on an Estes D12-5. This acted as a test flight for the two bigger flights. The rocket went to 570 feet and was recovered successfully in the same field from which it took off.

Guest Arun, one of the members of the Northeastern team, attempted his L1 certification flight on a custom red black and gold rocket called NVSC In Amber Clad. The rocket weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, was 4 inch by 50 inch, and flew on a CTI H152 Blue Streak. Onboard were 2 Stratologgers set for apogee/apogee + 1 second, and 700 feet/600 feet. The flight up was nice but very short, only going to 823 feet and the apogee charges preceding the main charges by less than a second. The rocket came down under parachute and landed between the fields in tall grass with the laundry in a small tree. Everything was easily recovered and this rocket managed to avoid getting muddy, an amazing feat given the field conditions. Congratulation to Arun on his successful L1.

Guest Aiden, as the only L2 certified person on the Northeastern team, was documented as the flyer for the qualification flight. This rocket was custom designed and built for the NASA requirements. It weighed 48.6 pounds, 6 inch diameter, stood 11 feet tall and had 6 altimeters, including PerfectFlites and Stratologger CFs, which were primary/backup pairs to separate the rocket into 3 parts. Red fiberglass tubing was used (one of the Northeastern University colors). Once set on the pad, things became interesting to arm the altimeters. The lowest set of altimeters was about 8 feet up and the highest set about 12 feet off the ground. The team did not bring a ladder so invention was required. For the lower set, someone climbed on another person's shoulders (with muddy shoes wrapped in plastic bags to prevent covering the bottom person with mud). For the higher set, this team then stood on a table. If the switches had been a few inches higher, this method would not have worked and another way would have needed to be found. Once everything was set, everyone retreated to the launch table where we waited for the cloud ceiling to get high enough. This took about 15 minutes before the button was pushed and the CTI L1115 Classic lit. The thrust caused mud to splatter everywhere as the rocket took off (you can see this in one of the pictures quite well) and the rocket went up just fine. Coming down was a bit interesting. The aft section of the rocket landed just south of Maquam Shore Road, about 4000 feet from where it was launched. Given the wind, this was just about where it could be expected. The upper section had an issue with one of the Stratologgers which caused the main to come out at apogee, 5596 feet up. This section had a GPS tracker inside and the team watched it continue to float further and further south on their computer. It was still several thousand feet up when it crossed over the shore of Lake Champlain, continuing over the frozen (but unsafe to walk on) lake moving south. Then, at about 500 feet, it started drifting east, eventually over the relatively narrow 1000 foot wide St. Albans Point, with Kamp Kill Kare State Park at the southern tip. Amazingly, it landed on the point, and everyone watching on the computer cheered. The team recovered the aft section by driving on Maquam Shore Road and picked up that part, which was only about 20 feet from the road. The upper section on St. Albans Point would be picked up after all the launch gear was hauled back through the muck and mud to the cars.

Less than 15 minutes after the big launch, the winds kicked up and it started heavily snowing corn snow. This would have prevented that big launch, so we got it in just in time. It took about 30 minutes to get everything on the field back into the vehicles, and then everyone took about 10 minutes trying to scrape the mud off their shoes and pants. From there, we went to the Bayside to celebrate success, with the Northeastern team detouring down St. Albans Point to collect the remainder of their rocket.

Member Jeff took the following photos of the day: CLICK HERE

Howie.

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Sunday, March 18, 2018 - Montlhy Launch

This launch was postponed one day to Sunday because the winds on Saturday were in the high teens with gusts of almost 40mph. It turned out to be a good decision as the winds on Sunday were in the low teens and dropped off as the day went on, to almost calm by late afternoon. The skies started mostly sunny and by the end of the launch, it was a cloudless sky. The downfall was that the temperatures started in the single digits F (-15C) and did not get above the teens. The cold temperature, in combination of the starting winds made it feel like -13F (-25C).

The week before the launch, it had snowed about 12 inches but it was so windblown by the time of the launch. There was only 2-4 inches of snow on the open areas. With the extreme cold and thin snow, the ground had refrozen, not the muck and mud we had to deal with two weeks hence. The snow in the drainage ditches was level with the field and covered with a crust. As long as you stayed on the crust, walking over the ditches was like level ground. If you did post hole (break through the crust and sink), you would end up to your waist without your leg touching the ground.

The road down was drivable and had a snow crust that could be broken easily by a car or truck. Most people attending the launch chose to drive all the way down. Some were more conservative, and parked at the top so they would not even chance getting stuck. A wise move for those without 4WD or snow tires or lacking ground clearance.

The launch was set up to enable the larger rockets from the NASA teams from UMass Amherst and Northeastern to fly Ls off the yellow pad at 300 feet, Gs-Js were on the blue pad at 100 feet (which was moved to 200 feet for a K), and Gs on down on the red pad, at 50 feet. Setup was cold and took a while, but by 10:15, everything was ready to go. This launch was attended by about 30 people, including 4 CRMRC members. There were a total of 19 flights totaling an M, and averaging an I. The distribution included: 1 - 1/2A, 2 - C, 1 - E, 3 - F, 5 - G, 2 - H, 2 - J, 2 - K, and 1 - L. This included both an L1 and L2 certification flights.


Member Michael had 3 flights. The smallest flight of the day was a black and white Estes Puma on an Estes 1/2A3-2T. This only went up about 25 feet and hit the ground before the ejection charge went off. Michael's other two flights were both on Estes C6-5s, with 8 times the power, these went higher. A 1 inch x 14 inch red and black Estes Journey flew just fine and the parachute did come out before hitting the ground. A black and yellow Estes Helicat about the same size as the previous rocket had the same results.


Guest Daniel's smaller flight was an Aerotech Arreaux on an AT F50-4T. The rocket flew straight up and came down nicely on a yellow parachute. Daniel's large flight was a black and white Madcow Black Brandt II. This design is based off of the Canadian Black Brandt II, flew on an AT G61W-M but the M delay was well past apogee. But the parachute did eject and the rocket came down safely.

This was a day that member Ben had been looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. Ben's preliminary flight was an Estes Ventris in red, white, and black colors flew on a CTI F36-7 Blue Streak. The flight up was good but the nosecone came off on the way down, but everything survived. Ben's big flight was his Junior L1 certification flight, using a somewhat long burning CTI H90-12 Classic motor, a JLCR set for 300 feet and an Eggfinder to track the rocket. All of this was put in a red and white custom Vesta which was 1.6 inch x 36 inches. For such a small rocket, it went very high, around 4000 feet, and was only trackable by the Eggfinder. The rocket did come down and the JLCR worked just fine. There was no damage and it was a successful L1 flight.

Member James was able to get 3 flights off the ground, including flying the same rocket twice on different motors. A gold and black Estes Mammoth flew on both an Estes F15-4 and an AT G40-7W. The F15 is a long burn motor which makes for relatively slow takeoffs and thrust for a long time for light rockets. The G40 is also somewhat long burning although it has roughly 3x the average thrust of the previous motor. The G flew with an JL Alt III inside. Both flights were straight up, successful parachute deploy and safe recovery. Having just gotten his L2 last month, James decided to fly his L2 rocket, a red and black Madcow Super DX3 on a CTI J381 Skidmark. The 4 inch x 67 inch rocket took off with a loud road and sparks and smoke trailing behind. On board was a JLCR set to 300 feet and a JL Alt III. Everything was text book and the rocket landed across the field to the northeast.

Member Paul had the most flights, 5, including his attempt at L2. The smallest motored rocket was a green scratch built Fat Boy on an Estes E15-7 with a JL Alt II onboard. Despite an initial safety check on the launch system and a stutter step on the pad, the short, fat rocket had a nice flight. An Estes Leviathan flew 3 times, twice on an AT G64-7W and one on an AT G69-7W. All of these went straight up with white smoke trailing and landed successfully. Paul's big flight was a Madcow Super DX3 painted in white and purple on an AT J350-10W with both a JLCR set to 300 feet and a JL Alt II inside. The white plume was again straight up and the nosecone was ejected somewhere near apogee and the JL CR did a great job opening the chute at about 300 feet, with the rocket landing to the west for a successful L2 certification.

The UMass Amherst rocket team flew their NASA competition rocket on a CTI K940 WT. This maroon and grey rocket was 6 inch diameter by 103 inches in length and had an RRC3 and Raven 3 on board to handle the deployment duties. The 24+ pound rocket managed 2546 feet before all of the electronics took over to bring the rocket down safely. The rocket landed only a couple hundred yards away from where it took off, so we were able to watch the main deploy "up close and personal." The UMass team cheered as the parachutes deployed and the rocket landed.

The Northeastern University rocket team flew their NASA competition rocket on a what was supposed to be a CTI L820 Skidmark. As soon as the motor lit, the white smoke out the back ruled out the Skidmark; likely a CTI L851 White instead. The rocket was a little underpowered as it lifted off, and gave a little wiggle as it ascended, but it managed to end up going straight up. The 6 PerfectFlite Stratologgers handled all the deployment duties successfully and this time everything worked as expected. All of the deployments happened just as expected and the main came out where we could easily watch the flight.

As for me, I managed two flights. I flew my ever reliable light blue Styrofoam Pyramid on a borrowed AT H178 Dark Matter (Dark Matter is AT's equivalent of CTI's Skidmark). Because of the tremendous drag, the rocket does not get very high so everyone gets to see the entire flight "up close and personal." The noise reverberated until the motor burned out and then the pyramid flipped over and floated to the ground. My large flight was my 20+ pound black Giz Gone Wild!, which is an extended Performance Rocketry Gizmo, which flew on a CTI K600 White. There were 2 RRC2s on board to handle the deployment duties, set for apogee & 500 feet, and apogee + 1 second & 300 feet. The rocket flew straight up with white smoke trailing to 5146 feet before it separated and came down. I had inadvertently forgotten to check to see if the fincan was connected to the lower shock cord, so it came down without a parachute. It was found as a core sample, with the black fins sticking up out of the white snow. This did not cause any damage though. The remainder of the rocket worked just fine using a freebag to pull the main parachute out of the rocket. This meant the nosecone came down separately from the rest of the rocket. The main parachute ended up in a tree but the rocket was on the ground. Everyone helped to get the parachute out of the tree without damage.

The launch concluded around 1500hrs (3pm) and everything was packed up and ready to leave at 3:45. The winds had dropped and were almost calm by the time we left, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was still in the teens, but it was a great day. Member Jim has posted a launch video HERE

Howie.

April, 2018

The forecast for the day was predicting almost a perfect day and the actual weather was not a letdown. We had unabated sunshine the entire day with only one very small cloud to the northeast which most people did not notice until it was pointed out to them. The temperature started in the mid 40s and got to the mid 50s, but with the sun, it felt much warmer. The wind averaged just above 6mph, with times of almost no wind and an occasional strong gust rolling through.

The ground was mostly dry with occasional wet areas throughout the fields and most of the drainage ditches had some water in the bottom. The fields had not been plowed and no corn was planted. There were no bugs out yet. It was a gorgeous day to be outside and flying rockets; very few are better.

The cars were all parked on the road to prevent anyone potentially getting stuck in the field. The pads were set up and ready to fly about 5 minutes early. The first flight was almost exactly 1000hrs. Overall, twenty people showed up for the launch, of which 14 flew rockets, and there were 10 CRMRC members present, along with one member on sabbatical who is looking to become active again. There were a total of 37 flights, including 2 certification flights. Thirty-eight motors were burned (2-3x a normal CRMRC launch) for a total of an L motor with an average per flight and an average per motor of a G. The flights were: 10-C (including 1 with 2 Cs), 5-D, 2-E, 1-F, 11-G, 3-H, 2-I, 2-J, and 1-K.

The flights were:


Guests Rebecca and Alana each nicely decorated their CRMRC saucers and these both flew on Estes C6-5s. Both were typical saucer flights, with everything up close and personal.

Guest Kiera flew a custom pink rocket covered with sparkles and cupcake stickers. The rocket, appropriately called Cupcake, flew on an Estes C6-5 without issues. She also flew a pink and purple Estes Proto Star on an Estes D12-5 and everything went well.

Guest Bailey flew the same rocket 4 times, a custom black and white rocket with a variety of names, each time on an Estes C6-5. One time was a lawn dart but the other flights were successful. Bailey also had the most exciting flight of the day, his camo colored Estes V2 on what was supposed to be an Estes E9-6. At ignition, the motor spit out the nozzle and flames just shot out the bottom and nothing moved. All of the fins were toasted. This does not count toward closest to pad because it never left the rod.

Member Dave Lang managed 4 flights. His smallest was a scratch built saucer from a 4.5 inch diameter ketchup dish he obtained at Johnny Rocket Hamburgers and called it the same name. It was a great mini-saucer flight on an Estes C6-5. Flight hideo is HERE

Dave also flew a custom orange plastic spider web about 11 inches in diameter, although mostly holes, on a D12-7 for another low and slow flight. Video is HERE

Dave's final low and slow was a tribute to Art Bell. It was an Art Applewhite 7" saucer he calls Alien Invasion on an Estes E9-6 with much better results compared to Bailey's V2 on the same motor. Video is HERE

For altitude, Dave flew a Wildman Darkstar Mini on an AT F23FJ-7. The delay was 3-4 seconds late but the parachute came out and everything landed successfully. Video is HERE

Member Jeff returned from a flying hiatus to fly his red PML IO on an AT G40-7W. The IO is a high performance flier and even on the G, this 1lb 12oz rocket managed well over 1000 feet, with a successful deploy and landing.

Member Matt recorded a single flight for the day, and for him it was a big one. He flew a black, white and silver painted LOC Iris on a CTI H152 with the delay drilled down to 9 seconds for his L1 certification flight. Onboard was both a JL Alt III and a JL CR set for 400 feet. The rocket flew to 1526 feet before the scrunched up parachute ejected, then the JL CR worked and the parachute deployed and the rocket floated down to the ground. It was a successful L1 certification. Congratulations. Flight video is HERE.

Member Kevin returned from his winter hibernation to make two flights of rockets with interesting fin configurations, one small and one much larger. The small one was a Giant Leap Talon 2 on an AT G80T-8. The rocket managed 1430 feet before the green parachute ejected and then fully deployed at 300 feet when the JLCR opened up. The big flight was a grey Madcow AGM-33 Pike on an AT I435T-10 with a Raven 3 onboard along with a JL CR set for 300 feet. The flight went up 2022 feet and deployment occurred as planned.

Member Zachary had 3 flights, including a red Estes Big Daddy on a D12-5. The delay was a bit long but no damage. Zach also flew a yellow Wildman V2 Sport on an AT G76-7 as a non-eventful flight. Last, a black and yellow LOC Weasel flew on an AT G79W-10 with a JL CR set to 400 feet. This shot up and landed nicely.

Member Ebbe managed 3 flights, burning 4 motors with the only complex 2 motor flight of the day. A US Rockets Dual 18 was powered by 2 Estes C6-5s. Both motors lit successfully at takeoff but the rocket severely arched over, never getting more than about 50 feet off the ground before landing hard. Both ejection charges went off after the rocket hit the ground. Ebbe's woes continued when his blue and red AT Initiator flew on an AT G40-7 with both a JL Alt III and a JL CR set to 500 feet. The compacted parachute ejected but the CR never allowed it to open up. A black, white and red LOC IQSY Tomahawk flew on an AT G64-7 with the same electronics as above. The result was more successful though, with the parachute opening.

Member Jim managed 3 flights, including a big one for him. The only skidmark of the day was an orange Rocketry Warehouse Formula 54 on an CTI G106 Skidmark with both a JC ALT III and JL CR set for 300 feet. Everything went fine on this flight. Jim flew a black and brown Madcow Aerobee_HI on an AT H165 red also with the same electronics as above on board. Everything went exactly as planned and the rocket was recovered unharmed. Jim's big flight of the day was a classically painted (red, white, black, yellow with dot and stripe decals) 4 inch Wildman 1/4 scale Patriot on a CTI J280 Smokey Sam-10 with the same electronics on board for his L2 certification flight. The 9 pound rocket took off with a nice black smoke trail and deployment was almost perfect for the crumpled parachute. The JL CR, now set for 500 feet, worked perfectly and the rocket landed undamaged. Congratulations to Jim on a successful L2.

Member Paul took advantage of the great weather and got 7 flights off the ground, all were successful. A scratch built Goonie Bird Zero flew on an Estes C6-7. This cream and blue rocket was 1.6 inches in diameter and 11 inches tall. A scratch built green Fat Boy flew on an Estes D12-3. A very interesting rocket titled "J350 W" also flew on an Estes D12-3. This yellow and red rocket was made out of the tube his L2 motor was shipped in (an AT J350 W) with fins and a 3D printed nosecone added. A scratch built upscale Black Shadow painted in all black flew on G64-7W to 2181 feet. Paul also flew a Giant Leap Talon 2 on a AT G75-7J. The purple and lavender flame painted rocket contained both a JL Alt III and a JC CR set for 300 feet. A white PML AIM-120 AMRAAM with the same electronics on board flew on an AT G64-7W. Paul's big flight of the day was a 4 inch Madcow Super DX3 painted white and purple. This flew on an AT I245G-7 with a JLCR set for 300 feet. An Eggtimer Quantum also flew along but this was for testing only and was not part of the deployment mechanics. This flew to 2152 feet and came down successfully.

Member James managed to burn the most APCP and flew the biggest rocket with the highest pucker factor I have seen in a long time. An ever reliable gold and black Estes Mammoth flew on an AT G74-9W. James took the largest CTI 38mm motor and stuffed it in this Madcow Super DX3 which was painted in red and black. The CTI J530 Imax motor pushed the rocket and a JL Alt III and JLCR to 5121 feet before the deployment went as planned. The big flight of the day was a purple and black LOC Bruiser EXP3 with a JL ALT III and JLCR set for 400 feet on board. This very large, 7.67 inch diameter, 112 inch tall rocket flew on a CTI K780 blue. Ejection of the compressed parachute was fine but when the JLCR release was supposed to release, something happened. The green and black chute remained crumpled and tangled leaving the 18 pound rocket with a unknown fate. Miraculously, with the rocket about 50 feet off the ground, the chute untangled and inflated with the rocket less than 20 feet off the ground for a safe landing. Everyone clapped when this happened. A video of this largest flight of the day is HERE

As for me, I managed a single flight. My fully custom Saranac Root Beer flew absolutely straight on a CTI H120 red to about 1000 feet before the green chute ejected and the rocket floated to the ground.
The launch concluded around 1400hrs (2pm) and everything was packed up and ready to leave at 2:30 with all the help. It was really a great day to be out flying rockets all day, the best of the year so far.

A video of all today's launches can be found HERE.

Howie.

May, 2018

The club's May launch was cancelled due to poor weather.

 

Northwood School Launch - Wednesday, May 23, 2018


The Northwood School in Lake Placid has a one week devoted to several mini-topics which the instructors chose what they want to do. One of the instructors, Matt R does low power model rocket launches throughout the school year and has been doing a mini-topic rocketry for class for several years.

The class has two types of launches:
F-G rockets that the kids build; these are late in the week because it takes most of the week for the students to design and build their rockets.

An open launch where Matt and I show the students a wide variety of launches, including high power.

The students have work to do with all of the launches. They have to move a distance away from the launch position and measuring the height of the flight using a theodolite (angle measuring device). and later will use trigonometry to determine the height of the flight. If a flight has an altimeter, then the two values are compared.

The weather was sunny, temps in the upper 60s, but windy.

I had 3 flights:

Gold Star on a CTI G88 Smokey Sam. The first somewhat loud motor the students had seen. A textbook launch and recovery with a JL CR set for 200 feet but was closer to 50 feet.

Saranac Root Beer (SRB) on a CTI H123 Skidmark. The beer bottle format does not lend itself to a fast and high flyer, but it is. The student were shocked by several things: how loud a Skidmark is, how sparky it can be, how fast the SRB took off, and how well the SRB flew. Again, another text book flight which end up downwind quite a bit because the SRB is a short, fat rocket which just drifts downwind instead of weather cocking.

Quarter scale Patriot on a CTI J381 Skidmark. By now, the students were used to Skidmark, but the J still impressed them. The flight went downwind quite a bit for a 1:1 flight. The dual deploy altimeter worked fine, recording 1556 feet and deploying the parachute just fine.

Matt had several flights which I did not record and were C-G. The final flight of the day was Matt's L3 Coke bottle, a recycling bin roughly 17 inches in diameter and 6 feet tall on a homemade L motor. The flight weather cocked significantly and only got about 300 feet off the ground. The parachute opened at about 50 feet and only stopped the rocket at about 20 feet off the ground.


It was good to see a whole new group of kids flying rockets.


National Sport Launch, Geneseo, NY Saturday - Monday, May 25-27, 2018

Seven CRMRC members made it to the NSL in Geneseo, NY: Paul S, Kevin T, Zach T, Ben G, Dan M, Eric M, and myself. There were also several notable rocketry related people there: Vern and Gelda Estes, founders of Estes Industries, John Hochheimer, NAR president, and Trip Barber, former NAR president. The field is part of the Historic Air Group, so there many old aircraft which could be seen, but the highlight of aircraft portion was on Memorial Day, watching the B17 take off and land. The roar of the four Wright R-1820 motor's nine cylinders is like nothing else.

There were almost 1100 flights over the 3 days, from 1/2 A to N and here is what I know about what the CRMRC members flew:

Paul S managed the following:

Saturday: Mega Mosquito on a D12-3, Leviathan on a G76

Sunday: "J350W" (scratch build) on a D12-3, my Super DX3 on an I218, my Deuce's Wild on 2x C6-7, and my Black Shadow (scratch) on a G75DM for the night launch

Monday: LOC ISP-Caliber on the I65W DMS, which I lost. Note: the ISP-Caliper was found and returned to the NSL after Paul had left the field. It will be retrieved.

I was able to do 5 flights. NSL had an alphabet challenge as part of the launch, starting with "A". I did a high power alphabet challenge with as many flights as I could get done, H-L, totaling a large M:

Saturday:
Saranac Root Beer (SRB) on a 38mm CTI H120 red lightning. Beer bottles are always a crowd pleaser, and it came down without any issues, near the farthest away launcher while they were prepping a 15 foot tall Big Bertha, which I stopped and helped them load.

Dark Star 3 inch on a 38mm CTI I470 white thunder for the first flight. It went to 1560 feet and the recovery was text book dual deploy.

Sunday:
Quarter scale Patriot on a 54mm CTI J293 blue streak to 2879 feet. Again, the both altimeters for the dual deploy worked as expected and it landed fine.
Giz gone wild! on a 54mm CTI K1200 white thunder to 4674 feet. No issues with the dual deploy, primary or secondary, and it came down like expected.

Monday:
Firebolt on a 75mm CTI L1410 skidmark to 4960 feet. This was not a picture perfect flight. The skidmark was not that impressive and the main deployed at apogee. This caused the rocket to drift significantly. The separate nosecone landed about 3000 feet away on the side of Rt 63, not run over but the point of the nosecone was crushed. The rest of the rocket landed another 1000 feet further away, on the SUNY Geneseo soccer field without damage, but one of the main charges did not go off. Neither of the pieces landed where they were visible from the field, so these had to be searched for. Thanks to Kevin and Dan for helping me look and find the parts.

 

June, 2018

The forecast for the day was mostly sunny, winds under 10mph, and temps getting to the lower 80s. The forecast was true, with the wind varying as low as 0mph at times. The sun was strong, but I had asked the CRMRC members to bring EZ Up tarps and 3 did, giving everyone a place to hide from the sun. The bugs were not out yet, so it was a warm but pleasant day with a varying breeze direction.

The ground was mostly dry with the corn about 6 inches tall. We set up at the edge of the corn with the launch control at the bottom of the road. Most cars parked along the road and a few at the top of the hill next to the road. For a CRMRC launch, it was well attended with about 30 people overall, including 15 members. There were 18 people who flew rockets, of which 5 were not members. There were a total of 44 flights, 47 motors used, an average flight impulse of "E" and a total of an "M". The motors were: 1-A, 4-B, 6-C (including 3 flights using 2 Cs), 7-D, 5-E, 6-F, 6-G, 4-H, 5-I, 1-J, and 2-K.

There were too many flights for me to remember each so I will just list what everyone had written on their flight cards:

Guests Liam flew his nicely painted Space X Falcon 9 twice, once on an Estes D12-9 and again on an Estes E9-6.

Guest Andy lofted a Sunward "CFX Six-Footer" on an AT E15W-5 and his gold and black Estes Mammoth on an AT F23-FJ7.

Guest Ron launched a yellow and black Estes Stinger twice. This is a 2 stage rocket and each time was a C6-0 to a C6-3. The first flight had an issue with the C6-0 as there was a large flash but it managed to get off the rod and ignite the upper stage.

Guest Molly flew her scratch built 3 inch x 62 inch Red Rover on a CTI I255 red lightning with a Stratologger CF doing the recovery duties.

CRMRC webmaster Dave got two birds off the ground: a Rocketry Warehouse blue Lil Rascal on a CTI H123 Skidmark and another Rocketry Warehouse red & white Broken Arrow on a CTI I180 Skidmark with a Stratologger CF responsible for the separation and parachute ejection.

New Member Kye put his orange and black Estes Mammoth up twice on a AT F30-6FJ and an AT F32-8T both times with a JPCR set to 400 feet.

Member Michael managed four flights: a blue and yellow Estes Sky Shark on an Estes A8-3, a "Pulsar Pink" on a Estes B6-4 twice, and a red and yellow Estes Red Flare on anEstes D12-3.

Member Bailey used a Estes E18 to get his camo colored Estes V2 off the pad and a F15 to get his purple Majestic going.

Member Zach flew a yellow and red LOC Graduator on an AT G80T with a JL CR set for 400 feet and onboard video.

Member Kevin got his black and yellow LOC Weasel going on an AT G77R-10.

Member Ebbe got two flights in, a red and blue Aerotech Initiator on an Estes G40-W with a JLCR set for 400 feet and a red, white and black LOC ISQY Tomahawk on an AT G64-7W with the same JLCR.

Member Matt had two birds leave the pad, a LOC V2 on a CTI I175 white with a JLCR set for 400 feet, and a LOC IRIS on a CTI I180 Skidmark with the same JLCR.

Member Jim attempted 2 flights but only one got off the pad. His successful flight was a Madcow Orangutan on a CTI J290 white with Jim's first time using an altimeter, specifically an RRC2. This flight was successful. Jim's second attempt was a Binder Design Thug on a CTI H152 blue which clearly had problems on the pad with flames out the bottom, top and eventually everywhere which needed the fire extinguisher to be put out. Jim had made an assembly error.

Member Daniel had three flights, a Centauri on a Estes C5-7, a red and white Estes Excalibur on a AT E30-7T and an Aerotech Arreau on an AT F57-6.

Member James had three flights, including the two big flights of the day. An Estes Mammoth on an AT G64W. An extended Madcow Super DX3 on a Loki K627 red, aiming for a mile high . His 19 pound, 7.67 inch x 112 inch tall LOC Bruiser Exp3 powered by a CTI K675 Skidmark and 2 JL CRs doing the drogue at 700 feet and the main at 500 feet..

Member Paul burned 6 motors for 5 flights. A lavender colored Estes Quintar which is a saucer like rocket, flew on an Estes C6-0. A red and black Der Red Max was propelled by an Estes C6-5. Jim Flis, of Fliskits, created a Deuce's Wild kit with 2 motors canted outward and Paul used two Estes C6-5s to get this off the ground. A Giant Leap Rocketry Talon painted purple and lavender on an AT H238 with a JLCR set to 300 feet. An AT I245G-8 powered a white and purple Madcow Super DX3 went up with the same altimeter.
o Note: Jim Flis is closing Fliskits (unless someone buys the business) so now is the time to get some of the most unique kits available, http://www.fliskits.com/ .

Member Ben had the most flights 6. These included a white Estes Interceptor, an Estes Alien Invader and a scratch built Longbow, all on Estes B6-4s. A C6-3 powered an Estes Interceptor, and a scratch built AMRAAM went up on an Estes D12-3.

I managed 3 flights: my custom Fat Boy III on a CTI E22, and the next two items flew with a JLCR set to 300 feet, a Wildman Dark Star Lite on a CTI G133 and my fully custom Coors Beer Bottle bank on a CTI H123.

The launch concluded around 1430hrs (2:30 pm) and everything was packed up and ready to leave at 3:00 with all the help.

 

July, 2018

The weather was mostly sunny, winds under 10mph, and temps in the mid to upper 80s. The sun was strong, but I there were two EZ Up tarps as places to hide from the sun. The bugs were not bad it was a somewhat hot but pleasant day with winds at ground level going south and southwest, but upper level breezes varying.

For the first time ever, the CRMRC had a dealer at the launch, MAC Performance Rocketry. This was known about in advance and people placed orders ahead of time. Additionally, several people made purchases on the field. The ground was dry with the corn about 4-6 feet tall. We set up on the field just north of road and down by the edge of the corn. Most cars parked along the road and a few at the top of the hill next to the road. For a CRMRC launch, there were about 25 people overall, including 8 members. There were 15 people who flew rockets, of which 7 were not members. There were a total of 33 flights, 33 motors used, an average flight impulse of a large "G" and a total of a large "L". The motors were: 4-A, 2-B, 7-C, 2-D, 4-E, 1-F, 3-G, 2-H, 3-I, and 4-J.

Congratulations to Ken on a successful L2 flight.

Here are the flights:

Four guests flew CRMRC saucers. Each was a kid which had a great time coloring their flier, and all wanted to launch them.

They were: Judah, Nehamich, Rikva, and Silas.

The best part of working with the kids is the huge smile on their faces as they watch their rockets go up. It never fails.

Guest Eric - a SpaceX Falcon 9 did just fine on an Estes D12-5. This kit was designed by the same people who designed the real Falcon 9 and is painted just like the real one, so it drums up a lot of interest by people.

Guest Molly - a scratch Purple Haze Crayon on CTI H22-11 blue streak witha nice blue flame at takeoff but the chute tangled on the way down for a hard landing.

CRMRC webmaster Dave - a grey and black, 6 foot tall, 4 inch diameter Rocketry Warehouse AGM-58 on CTI J355 red with a Raven and a Perfectflite MAWD to deal with the parachute got to 3482 feet.

Member Ben - a custom white with some black Altis V flew on an AT E11-3J with lots of black smoke, coming down just fine and Ben's custom ISQ Tomahawk on AT E28-4T did nicely on the up but came down in separate pieces.

Member James - a red and black 4 inch by 78 inch Madcow Super DX3 on CTI I287 smoky Sam with a JLAlt3 and a PerfectFlite APRA onboard to 1985 feet but it came down without the chute inflating, and his 7 foot tall, 7.5in diameter, purple and black LOC Bruiser on CTI J394 green to 1724 feet and attempted a dual deploy of some sort that did not work, so it came down on the small 48 inch chute.

New member Mike - a 3inch by 6 foot orange MAC Razor 54 lifted on a CTI J330 classic to 3956 feet and an RRC3 handling the parachute duties just fine and Mike's MAC Villain on CTI J600 red lightning flew very nicely with an RRC doing the dual deploy but landed quite far away.

Member Paul - his classic red and black Estes Der Red Max on Estes C6-7 which did not have the nosecone come off so it landed like a lawn dart, a red and yellow Binder Design Aspire on AT G64W-7 which went straight up and came down with a JLCR set for 300 feet, and Paul's pink with black flame painted Estes Leviathan on AT G77R-7; the delay was a bit long but the chute did come out and and the JLCR opened the full chute, allowing for a fine landing.

Member Ken - Estes Sizzler on Estes C6-5 flew up and ejected the chute, landing in the corn, an Estes Trojector went up fine on an Estes E12-4 but the chute tangled on the way down, and his big flight of a Madcow OFR-72 on AT J270W-14A for a level 2 attempt which angled after leaving the rail but was recovered successfully due to tracking. Ken also did a motor test of FSI F100-8 before putting some of the others he had in a rocket.

Member Jim - Estes Baby Bertha on Estes A8-3 did not go very high was closest to pad, a saucer-like Squirrel Works Pie in the Sky on Estes B6-0 which landed close, an Estes Honest John on Estes D12-5 which went up fine, released a tangled chute which eventually fully fluffed for a cheap dual deploy, and a nicely painted Wildman 4 inch Patriot on CTI I212 smokey Sam with a JLCR set for 300 did well although it did land amongst the cars, but did not hit any.

Member Michael - a blue and white Estes Farside flew twice on an Estes A8-3 & B6-4 with the chute tangled both times, Estes Humdinger on Estes A10-3T, Estes Firehawk was minimum diameter on an Estes A10-4T straight up and came down just fine without a parachute but landed in the corn, an Estes silver and red Firebolt on Estes C11-3 but no parachute ejected so it came in hard, and an Estes Eliminator on Estes D12-3 which was fine on the way up, but the Estes logo was not cut out of the parachute so it came down very slowly and drifted into the corn.

Howie - a PML MR-1 on CTI G185 Vmax kicked off the pad, came down fast with a JLCR set for 300 feet and landed in the corn and a black Wildman 3 inch Dark Star on CTI I470 white which peaked out at 1536 feet, an RRC2 handling the standard dual deploy; a nice flight with a whistle from the split fins.

The launch concluded around 1430hrs (2:30 pm) and everything was packed up and ready to leave at 3:00 with all the help.

The launch video can be found HERE


August, 2018

The weather was warm, in the lower 80s, with little or no breeze for most of the day. The sun was out and the humidity was up so it felt a lot warmer than it actually was. The fields were wet with morning dew, but as the sun took effect, that dried off, and the drainage ditches were dry. The corn was about 8 feet tall and captured several rockets but all were begrudgingly given back to their owners.


There were a total of 35 flights and 36 motors burned, ranging from 1/2A all the way to K, which included 1-1/2A, 3-B, 10-C, 6-D, 1-E, 3-F, 6-G, 2-H, 3-I and 1-K. This made for a total of a small L, and an average per motor and per flight of a G. Twelve different rocketeers flew: 2 were guests and 10 were members. The total crowd was about 25 people.

Congratulations to member John and guest Bob on their successful L1 flights.

With all the flights and also with me flying, I am not able to remember or see every flight. For this report, I have listed the time of the flight on Jim's video listed at the bottom. If something interesting happened on the flight, that is noted. Otherwise it was a successful flight. Also, if a motor does not have a manufacturer, it is an Estes motor,

Here are the flights:

Guest Andrew had 4 flights:
- Green and yellow Estes Viking Cam on a B6-4
- Grey and red Estes Flutter By on a B6-4 (27:33)
- White and orange Estes Twister on a C6-5 (15:13)
- Red and white Estes Super Big Bertha on a D12-5 landed in the corn but was recovered (22:30)

Guest Bob had 7 flights:
- White Estes SST on a C6-5 with very late ejection charge, but not too late (1:54)
- White and black Estes Double-D on 2 D12-5s was the only dual motor flight of the day and landed amongst the tables and people (25:12)
- Black and red Estes Broadsword on AT E30-9 landed just in the drainage ditch weeds (0:50)
- White and black Estes Saturn V on AT F-30-8 blue thunder with no separation so no parachute, hard landing with damage (17:07)
- Black and silver LOC IRIS on CTI H143-6 Smokey Sam -- unsuccessful L1 attempt with nosecone separation (5:37)
- Black and silver LOC IRIS on CTI I125-7 white longburn -- successful L1 (12:15)
- White and red Madcow Torrent on CTI I-255-8 red lightning -- lost to the northwest (23:16)

Member Keira had a single flight:
- Custom pink Cupcake on C6-5 landed well in the corn but was recovered (24:06)

Member Bailey had a single flight:
- Black and grey AMW White Wolf on AT F15 (26:23)

Member Michael had 5 flights:
- Purple and white Estes HumDinger on 1/2A3-4T had something separate (8:36)
- Estes Journey on B6-4 had the body tube separate (29:56)
- Yellow and black Estes Helicat on C6-3 was the first flight of the day (0:08)
- Pink, white and black Estes Savage on C6-3 (21:49)
- Red and yellow Estes Red Flare on D12-3 (4:48)

Member Scott had 3 flights:
- Custom black saucer-like Pi-R-Feared saucer on C11-3 with closest landing to pad, about 3 feet away (9:13)
- Custom silver ball with sticks Sputnik-24 on C11-3 (15:51)
- Custom Stealth Saucer on AT F30-6A (21:21)

Member Matt had 3 flights:
- Silver and black Madcow Sport-X on AT G53-7FJ twice landed just in front of trees (3:02), landed in the corn but recovered (18:46)
- Silver and black Madcow Sport-X on AT G53-10FJ w/JL Alt1 (28:42)

Member Jim had 4 flights:
- Black Estes SR-71 on C6-3 (28:09)
- Yellow and black Estes Big Bertha on C6-5 (2:15)
- Green Estes Honest John on D12-5 (16:11)
- Brown and black Madcow Aerobee Hi on AT H165-7 red (9:39)

Member Paul had 4 flights:
- Blue and cream custom Gooney Bird Zero on C6-7 landed well into the corn but was recovered (30:20)
- Two tone blue Estes Solar Warrior on D12-7 (7:30)
- White PML AIM-120 AMRAAM on AT G64W-7 with JLCR @ 300 feet & JL AltIII (17:36)
- Black custom Black Shadow (up scale) on AT G77R-7 with JLCR @ 300 feet & JL AltIII did some nice skywriting (4:17)

Member John had 1 flight:
- Naked (unpainted) Madcow Little John on CTI I345 white thunder with JLCR and JL Alt successful L1 (31:28)

Member Eric had 1 flight:
- Green Binder Velociraptor on AT K695 red was the largest motor of the day (10:52)

Member Howie had 1 flight:
- Gold Wildman Dark Star Light Gold Star on CTI G118 blue streak with JLCR @ 300 feet came down with chute out but tangled (20:16)

The launch concluded around 14:45hrs (2:45 pm) and everything was packed up and ready to leave at 3:30 with a great deal of the help.

The launch video can be found at HERE



September, 2018

The weather was very warm for mid September, in the lower 85s, with winds under 10mph all day. The day started mostly cloudy and by the end of the launch is was sunny. It was a lot hotter, sunnier and more humid than predicted. The fields were dry with almost no water in the drainage ditches. On the drive to the field, I saw several fields where the corn had been or was being harvested, but that was not the case for our field. The corn was still about 8 feet tall.
With the help of many members, the field was ready to fly just a few minutes before 1000hrs, right on time. There were a total of 22 flights and motors burned, ranging from 1/2A all the way to L, which included 1-1/2A, 1-B, 3-C, 1-D, 3-E, 2-F, 5-G, 2-H, 2-I, 1-J and 1-L. The average was an H, and total was a 92% L (close to an M). Eleven different rocketeers "flew": 3 were guests and 8 were members. The total crowd was about 25 people.
Congratulations to new member Claude on his successful L1 flight.

With all the flights and also with me flying, I am not able to remember or see every flight. For this report, I have listed the time of the flight on Jim's video listed at the bottom. If something interesting happened on the flight, that is noted. Otherwise it was a successful flight. Also, if a motor does not have a manufacturer, it is an Estes motor,

Here are the flights:

Guest Stephane had 1 flight:
- Blue Aerotech Initiator on AT G78-10 but was unable to get the motor to ignite

Guest Silas had 2 flights:
- Black and orange Estes Alpha III on Estes 1/2A6-2 (17:22)
- Black and orange Estes Alpha III on Estes B6-4 (19:46)

Guest Luke had 2 flights:
- Red and black Estes Der Red Max on an Estes C6-5, 2x (17:40, 20:50)

Member Bailey had 1 flight:
- Black and grey AMW White Wolf on AT F15-8 (18:44)

Member Daniel had 1 flight:
- Yellow, red and black Aerotech Arrow on AT F50-4T (3:05)

Member Ben had 2 flights:
- Custom white Altus V (1.6 inch x 36 inch) on an AT E11-3J (22:42)
- Gray Estes AMRAAM on CTI G80-7SK with JLCR @ 300 feet (11:30)

Member Jim had 3 flights:
- Grey and black Rocketry Warehouse Mouse 38 on an AT E28-7 (26:14)
- Black and green Wildman Punisher Sport on AT G64-W with JL Alt III and JLCR @ 300 feet, to 1598 feet (15:06)
- Orange and black Rocketry Warehouse Formula 54 on AT G76-G with JL Alt III and JLCR @ 300 feet, to 1654 feet (5:10)

New member Claude had 3 flights:
- Naked PML Phobos on AT H182 R with JLCR @ 400 for successful L1 attempt (1:16)
- Green PML Styker on AT J425R-14 with JLCR @ 400 feet, unsuccessful L2 attempt with rocket opening after end of boost (12:52)
- Blue Hawk Mountain Raptor on AT I200W-14 rocket was lost in the corn south of where we launched (21:50)

Member Paul had 5 flights:
- Silver Thrust Live Sea Dart on Estes C6-7 (4:28)
- Purple and pink Estes Mega Mosquito on Estes D12-3 (25:36)
- Purple and pink Estes Mega Mosquito on AT E20-4 with JL Alt II to 932 feet (6:18)
- Pink and black Estes Leviathan on AT G75J-7 with JLCR and JL Alt II (13:50)
- Pink and black Estes Leviathan on AT G77R-7 with JLCR and JL Alt II to 1246 feet (0:08)

Member Eric had 1 big flight:
- Red Performance Intimidator 5 on CTL L1395 blue streak with Missile Works (MW) RRC3 and MW RRC2 altimeters to 7939ft (7:36)

Member Howie had 2 flights:
- Brown custom Coors beer bottle on CTI H-175 Smokey Sam (24:38)
- Black Wildman 3 inch Dark Star Light on CTI I470 white thunder with JLCR to 1464 (16:20)

The launch concluded around 1445hrs (2:45 pm) and everything was packed up and ready to leave at 1515hrs (3:15) with a great deal of the help.
The launch video can be found HERE


October, 2018

The club's May launch was cancelled due to poor weather.

 

November, 2018

There was a significant snowfall of about 8 inches before the weekend so the field was covered with crusted snow. The temperature on Sunday was a high of 28degF, mostly sunny and almost no wind all day. The sun and no wind made the day feel much warmer than it actually was. There were even places where the dirt appeared due to the sun. The skies gradually became more and more hazy but still thin enough to see through. The anemometer registered a high of 3.6mph and that happened within the first 30 minutes of the launch. Most of the day had ground winds of 0. There were slight upper winds to the northwest but nothing too bad.

There were a total of 19 people at the launch, which is a great number for a day below freezing: 3 non-flying non-members, 2 flying non-members, 1 non-flying member and 13 flying members. There were a total of 35 flights and 39 motors flew, including 4 flights with 2 motors. There was even a time where all 5 low power pads and both high power pads were filled with rockets. The distribution of motors was: 3-A, 4-B, 3-C, 5-D, 3-E, 3-F, 6-G, 2-H, 4-I, and 6-J. With all the multi-motor flights, the flights were slightly different at: 3-A, 3-C, 5-D, 3-E, 3-F, 6-G, 2-H, 4-I, and 6-J. The total propellant was an "M" motor, with an average of an "H" per flight and just below an "H" per motor. This is the first time in a long time that the average has been high power.

The start to the day was sluggish to say the least, starting with Jim and I making a second trip from the road down to the field which had been corn all summer. The extra trips were so that other vehicles without 4WD or snow tires could make it down and back up. There was no corn anywhere and we set up the pads and controller on the first field that had been corn. By about 1030, we were finally ready to launch rockets. It turned out to be a great day with more than 6 rockets landing within 50 feet of the pads. Two rockets landed far enough away toward the east that their owners drove to Dunsmore Road to recover their rockets as opposed to trudging through the crusty snow. With this many flights, and the slow start, getting off the field was about 3:15, which is quite late, especially for this time of year.

Congratulations to member new member Claude on his successful L2 flight.

As usual, Jim did a great job recording all of the flights. In the list below, you will see where in time all the flights are in Jim's video. Thanks Jim. Also, if a motor does not have a manufacturer, it is an Estes motor.

Here are the flights:

Guest Nathan had 1 dual motor flight:
- Blue Fliskit Deuce Wild on 2 B4-4s, with both lighting (14:43)

Guest Hugues had 4 flights including 1 dual motor flight:
- Yellow and black Estes Goblin on a D12-7 (8:08)
- Dual engine yellow Quest Magnum on 2 AT D21-7s to 1076 feet and max speed of 756mph according to the Firefly altimeter (not sure how accurate this is as mach for a paper rocket is not really believable) (23:22)
- Blue Rocketarium Alamo AA-10 on an E9-6 to 592 feet (31:46)
- Grey and white AT Mustang with JLCR @ 400 feet on an AT G78-10 to 2708 feet and max speed of 484mph according to the Firefly altimeter (13:52)

Member Zach had 1 flight:
- Yellow Wildman V2 on an AT G64W (0:10)

Member Michael had 2 flight and one abort:
- Silver and red Estes Firehawk on an A10T (22:57)
- White, black and pink Estes Savage on a C6-5 (3:40)
- Maroon Estes Red Flare failed to ignite a D12-7

Member Stephen had 2 flights:
- Naked Estes Laser Lance on a D12-5 (18:48)
- Black Estes Mega Mosquito on an E9-6 (32:57)

Member Ben had 2 flights:
- Black and white custom Saturn 1B on an AT E28-4T (9:03)
- Black and silver MAC 3 inch Black Fly on a CTI F36-5 blue with Eggfinder and ArdIV (26:01)

Member Matt had 2 flights:
- Black, white and silver LOC IRIS on CTI 287 Smokey Sam with JL AltIII and JLCR @ 400 ft (33:18)
- Black and white LOC V2 on CTI I175 white with JL AltIII and JLCR @ 400 ft (27:30)

Member Kevin had 2 flights:
- Red Giant Leap Talon 2 on AT G75J (11:53)
- Grey Madcow AGM-33 Pike on AT J350W with Eggfinder TRS and JLCR @ 500 (21:44)

Member Claude had 2 flights, including a successful L2 attempt:
- Green PML Stryker on CTI J330 classic which came apart under thrust so not a successful L2 (2:51)
- Yellow and red PML Phobos on CTI J330 classic which landed very far away (17:44)

Member Jim had 2 flights and one abort:
- Grey and red Madcow Seawolf on CTI I2212 Smokey Sam with JL AltIII and JLCR @ 400f to an altitude of 1450 feet (4:29)
- Orange Madcow Orangutan on CTI J285 classic with RRC2+ and JL AltIII which separated early but survived due to dual deploy electronics working (34:53)
- Green and black Madcow Mantis on CTI H163 white thunder could not get the altimeter to beep correctly on the pad so aborted (better safe than sorry)

Member Matt had 3 flights:
- Yellow and black Estes Mini Heli on A10-3T ()
- Black and red Estes Star Orbiter on AT F42-7 (1:35)
- White (and lobster) MAC Zodiac on AT G76 with JL AltI to 1616 feet (15:41)

Member Paul had 3 flights:
- Blue and yellow Estes Big Daddy on D12-3 (32:39)
- Purple and lavender flame Giant Leap Talon 2 on AT H97J with JL Alt III and JLCR @ 300 feet (26:45)
- Green and black LOC Goblin on AT I245G with JL AltIII and JLCR @ 300 feet to 2125 feet (5:41)

Member James had 2 flights and one abort:
- Gold and black Estes Mammoth on AT F27 red (24:55)
- Black and white MAC 3 inch Black Fly on CTI H152 blue with JLCR @ 300 feet (2:13)
- Purple and black LOC bruiser on CTI J316 pink had the motor disassemble on the pad for an abort(13:34)

Member Ebbe had 5 flights including 2 dual motor flights:
- Black and white custom Saturn V on A6 to about 10 feet and closest to the pad (4:06)
- Red, white and black US Rockets Dual 18mm on 2 B6-4s (11:05) and again on 2 C6-5s (21:18)
- Madcow Green Honest John on AT G53FJ with JL Alt III and JLCR @ 400 feet (10:15)
- Red, black and white LOC IQSY Tomahawk on AT G64 with JL Alt III and JLCR @ 400 feet (20:06)

Member Howie had 2 flights:
- Black modified 5 inch Gizmo "Giz Gone Wild!" on CTI J354 white with PerfectFlite and MARS54L altimeters on board to 1182 feet (7:02)
- Black Wildman 3 inch Dark Star on CTI J410 red with RRC3 to 3093 feet (29:25)

The launch video can be found HERE

December, 2018


There weather when I arrived on the field was calm, cloudy, temps in the mid 20s and the ground was frozen with frost on everything. As the day went on, the wind stayed under 5mph, the sun poked its weak head out for a few hours, and the temperature got up into the mid 30s. Since the ground was just dirt, the warming meant mud everywhere, but only about half an inch deep. This was still enough for cars to get stuck and people to have trouble walking on the uneven, slipper ground. For December, it still was a nice day. The pads were set up by 1000hrs and operations started.

There were two uncommon things at the December launch. First, was a team from Northeastern University working on their rocket challenge. The team did a great job getting to the field by 1100hrs after a 6 hour drive north. They needed a 1515 rail so they helped us set up the large yellow pad. I am not sure why, but most college teams take several hours to get their rocket ready and they were no exception. Part of the reason could be that their rocket had 4 different events which were controlled as it flew.

The other interesting thing was member James flew his Madcow Super DX Extended to over 6000 feet without any tracking. Literally the rocket went out of sight and no one saw it come down. After about half an hour, someone drove down to the field. He was local and had been to a couple of launches before, so I recognized him. He said he had seen a rocket on the ground near the intersection of Maquam Shore Road and Samson Road, about 3500 feet northwest from where it took off. James followed him out and to where the rocket was.

There were a total of 24 people at the launch including 9 members, 4 guests, and 11 from Northeastern University. There were 20 flights with no multi-motor launches, and the average launch being an H. The total propellant burned was an L, but an I short of an M. The distribution of motors was: 4-C, 2-E, 2-F, 3-G, 4-H, 2-I, 1-J, and 2-K. Again, the average was high power.

With the help of everyone cleaning up, we were off the very muddy field at 1500hrs. Two cars had to be pushed to get going but everyone else was able to navigate by themselves.


I
n the list below, you will see where in time all the flights are in Jim's video. Also, if a motor does not have a manufacturer, it is an Estes motor.

Here are the flights:

Guest Arun, whose name is on the flight card for the Northeastern team, had 4 events during the flight as part of the requirements for their Battle of the Rockets competition, flew to 1228 feet.

-Blue custom 4 inch by 107 inch Cererus of almost 30 pounds on a CTI K630 Blue Streak motor. (18:11)

Guest Luke had 1 flight:

-Red and black Estes Der Red Max on a C6-5 (17:18)

Member Michael had 2 flights:

- Black and yellow Estes Sky Twister on two C6-5s (0:08) (8:40)

Member Ben had 1 flight:

- Black and silver MAC 3 inch Black Fly on a CTI H123 Skidmark with Eggfinder, ArdIV, and JL CR @ 300 feet (14:20)

Member John had 1 flight:

- Primer grey (not yet fully painted) Madcow 4 inch Little John on a CTI I345 White Thunder with an altimeter and JLCR on board (21:58)

Member Matt had 3 flights:

- All white with red lobster decal MAC Performance Zodiac with a JL Alt I, three times, once on an AT F42-4 Blue Thunder (6:42), once on an AT G53-7 Black Jack (16:12) and once on an AT G76-10 Green (10:54)

Member Daniel had 3 flights:

- Yellow, white and orange Estes Centri Quest on a C6-5 (15:02)
- Red Estes Excalibur on AT E30-7 Blue Thunder (9:58)
- Black and white Madcow Black Brant II on a AT H242 Blue Thunder (4:29)

Member Paul had 3 flights:

- Pink and purple Estes Mega Mosquito on a AT E30 Blue Thunder with a JL Alt II which landed between Jim's truck and Howie's car, which were only about 10 feet apart, to 800 feet (0:49)
- Dark blue and sky blue Binder Design Excel Jr. on a G64-7 White with a JL CR @ 300 ft and JL Alt II, to 1988 feet (20:36)
- Purple Wildman Dark Star Jr. on a AT H242 Blue Thunder with an Eggtimer Quantum and GPS tracker to 1252 feet, but the main failed to deploy, and the rocket landed unharmed (7:38)

Member James had 3 flights:

- Dark blue scratch built 3 inch by 31 inch blue tube on an AT F27-4 Red but the rocket was underpowered and did not get very high so the chute deployed almost simultaneously with the rocket hitting the ground (15:49)
- Florescent orange Always Ready Rocketry Predator 10K on a CTI I254 White Thunder (9:14)
- Red and black Madcow Super DX3 Extended on a Loki K627 Red with a JLCR, JL Alt III, and Perfect Flite APRA to 6209 feet and max speed of 647 mph (3:18)


Member Howie had 2 flights:


- 1/6 scale Madcow Patriot on CTI H123 Skidmark with JLCR @ 300 ft (2:03)
- 1/4 scale Wildman Patriot on CTI J425 Blue Streak with 2 RRC2+ onboard which reported 2753 ft and 2754 feet (12:03)


I want to thank, Jim, who was not feeling well for bringing all of the launch equipment to the field and then videoing all of the flights. The launch video can be found HERE


 




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