Saturday’s crowd
Photo by James Case
Events:
With the exception of a sudden downpour Saturday afternoon around 3:30, weather both days was fairly good. The temperature was near 65-70 both days, and the winds were relatively light. Low clouds on Sunday morning limited our maximum permitted altitude a bit. A little (ok, a lot) of rain shut down the range early on Saturday, but it sure couldn’t dampen our spirits.
We were pleased to have some out of town guests attend including two from Arkansas and one from St. Louis, Missouri.
Dan Kirk worked on the silver level of the NARTREK program during this launch. He took second place in the Sport Scale event with a very nicely finished AMRAAM, so that took care of one of the NARTREK requirement. He had a 60 second flight with his Edmonds Deltie, a great kit he highly recommends. His kit-bashed Estes Fat Boy turned in a textbook perfect flight on three B6-6’s. The KCAR sport launch theme for next month is clustering, so hopefully the gang can talk him into trying more motors then. RockSim and swing tests show it's stable with up to 7 C6-7’s. Dan’s egg capsule separated and the booster was destroyed in the rain. He plans to build another egglofter before the next launch and should be able to finish the NARTREK silver packet at that time.
In other competition events Dan qualified but didn’t place in Open Spot Landing, with a distance of 33 meters. His 1/4A Parachute Duration flight was also disqualified after it made a looping, apparently unstable flight. He later discovered that it lost a launch lug at takeoff. Dan had a beautiful test flight of his ‘A’ SuperRoc at the last launch but forgot to remove the engine at that time. With the high humidity the spent casing had swelled enough that it couldn’t be removed.
George Scheil’s sport scale entry was a scratchbuilt Phoenix. George spent a lot of time working on this model and it showed, especially in the very impressive custom decals.
The grand prize winner of the contest was Stew McNabb from Arkansas. Stew decided to donate the grand prize (a Launch Pad HARM AGM-88A rocket kit) back to the club to be raffled off with the proceeds going to the NAR legal fund. Great idea, Stew!
The tables below show the contest results and scores. Congratulations to all who participated!
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In addition to the contest there were many memorable sport flights made over the two days.
While John Skelton kept busy keeping track of the contest results using the Contest Manager software on his laptop computer, his son Barry made several flights with a Custom Rockets Razor, and an Estes Shell Shocked.
In addition to the contest and NARTREK flights, Dan Kirk got some good sport flying in, too, including his ever-popular “Spudchick” on a C6-5. His wife, Tia, attended the launch and flew a few rockets, such as a Custom Ion Pulsar on a C6-5. Now she plans to join the NAR and get into competition. Even the Kirks’ 3-year-old and 1-year-old sons had a good time.
Tim Burger’s Estes Big Bertha made several very nice flights using C6-5 motors. Tim also sent a “Stretch Maniac” up on a D12-5 a couple times.
Nick Stich flew his Launch Pad ASRAAM on a pair of D12-5’s for a great flight. Nick also launched his scratch-built “Oat Burner” on a G64-4W. This was the same rocket he had used the week before for his Level 1 high power certification flight at Tripoli Mo-Kan. Unfortunately this time the motor suffered a blow-through failure half way through the flight. This ejected the recovery system, and the rocket spun in mid air like a pinwheel while still under power. The recovery deployed OK, though, and it landed safely. Talk about tough! This rocket had multiple layers of fiberglass and sustained very little damage. Two people managed to catch this flight on video.
Jerome Tonneson’s upscaled (x3) Mosquito made its obligatory appearance flying on a B4-4 and landed close the pads. Next he flew his kitbashed Big Daddy. This rocket has an interchangeable motor mount system that permits it to fly using a single 18 mm motor, a single 24 mm motor, or a cluster of three 18 mm motors. This time it flew using a RMS 18/20 motor with a D13-4W reload kit, and also landed close to the pads. Jerome’s Aerotech Initiator lifted off using a F12-3J. This rocket has made many nice flights, and this one was pretty good except that the RMS 24/40 motor kicked. It turned up after a twenty minute search of the field. His Estes Maxi Alpha III flew twice this weekend. The first flight was on a D13-4W, and after being pulled out of a tree it flew again using a D9-4W. His modified Long Shot flew on a D9-7W. The delay was a bit excessive for this rocket, but otherwise the flight was great.
KCAR would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in making Rocktoberfest 2000 a success. Thirty-six people from 25 families participated in the activities (eight as competitors). Thanks to all those who attended!
Total impulse over the two days of 2239.125 Newton-seconds (not counting most contest flights), like a partial K motor.
There were four clustered flights (#7, #8, #99, and #125) and four multi-stage flights (#17, #37, #57, and #61).
Thanks again to our hosts, James and Tricia, for letting us use their field.
If you have pictures taken during this launch please let us know so that they can be posted on the web site. If you can scan them and save them as GIFs or JPGs that would be great. If not, a few of the club members have scanners and can get the pictures into digital format. Send e-mail for details.
Please let us know if any corrections need to be made to this launch report.
Contest results submitted John Skelton, KCAR Senior Advisor.
Edited by Jerome Tonneson, NAR #76200.
Portions of this report courtesy of: Dan Kirk, NAR #75066; Stew McNabb, NAR #14002; and Jerome Tonneson, NAR #76200.
| Launch | Pad | Flyer's Name | Rocket Name | Motor(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Tia Kirk | Custom Ion Pulsar | C6-5 | Nice Flight! |
| 2 | 5 | Jerome Tonneson | Modified Estes Longshot | D9-7W | Beautiful flight; Delay a bit long for this rocket. |
| 3 | 3 | Marc Schroeder | Wildfire | A8-3 | |
| 4 | 1 | Marc Schroeder | Estes Banshee | B6-2 | Leapt off the pad - great flight! |
| 5 | 4 | Will Schroeder | Condor | B6-2 | |
| 6 | 4 | Alan Hughes | Big Rage | C6 | |
| 7 | 5 | Blair Clark | "Cluster's Last Stand" | B4-4 x3 | Heads Up! |
| 8 | 5 | Blair Clark | "Cluster's Last Stand" | C6-7 x3 | Beautiful cluster flight! |
| 9 | 5 | Mike Barzee | North Coast Lance Beta | F62-4 | |
| 10 | 4 | Barry Skelton | Estes Shell Shocked | C6-3 | |
| 11 | 2 | Alicia Hughes | ? | B6-4 | |
| 12 | 3 | Alicia Hughes | ? | B6-4 | |
| 13 | 4 | Taylor Jessee | Estes Prowler | C6-5 | Nice |
| 14 | 2 | Taylor Jessee | Estes Prowler | C6-5 | |
| 15 | 1 | Larry Zeilmann | Estes SR-71 | C6-3 | |
| 16 | 5 | Jerome Tonneson | Estes Maxi Alpha III | D13-4W | Landed in a tree but easily recovered. |
| 17 | 4 | Mike Barzee | "Blue Lightning" | D12-0,D12-5 | Great staging. |
| 18 | 6 | Nick Stich | Aerotech Initiator | F52-5 | Blacksky altimiter fired the recovery system right at apogee. |
| 19 | 3 | Chris Hughes | Estes Skywinder | C6-5 | Very nice flight |
| 20 | 3 | Chris Hughes | Estes Skywinder | C6-5 | Another great flight |
| 21 | 2 | Chris Hughes | Estes Skywinder | C6-5 | Yet another great flight |
| 22 | 2 | Chris Hughes | Estes Skywinder | C6-7 | Prang. |
| 23 | 4 | Taylor Jessee | Estes Corkscrew | B6-4 | Partial deployment |
| 24 | 4 | Taylor Jessee | Estes Corkscrew | B6-2 | |
| 25 | 2 | Jonathan Diehl | Estes Firebird | C6-5 | |
| 26 | 1 | Leo Diehl | "JR 1" | 1/4A3-3T | |
| 27 | 1 | Curtis Walters | Quest Tomahawk | C6-5 | |
| 28 | 3 | Mike Barzee | Sizzler | C6-5 | |
| 29 | 3 | Daniel Kneedler | Custom Luck #13 | A8-3 | Nice Flight |
| 30 | 3 | Daniel Kneedler | Custom Luck #13 | C6-7 | |
| 31 | 1 | Bill Hensley | Lockheed X-7 replica | C6-3 | Partial Deployment |
| 32 | 4 | Mark Hawkins | Estes Sizzler | B6-4 | Good flight |
| 33 | 4 | Taylor Jessee | Estes Prowler | C6-3 | A-OK flight |
| 34 | 6 | Bill Hensley | Navy SM-3 Seahawk | D12-5 | Great flight |
| 35 | 6 | Mike Boldizs | V-2 | D12-3 | Nice flight after two misfires. |
| 36 | 6 | Bill Hensley | Estes Big Daddy | D12-5 | |
| 37 | 2 | Taylor Jessee | custom | C6-0,A8-3 | A-OK |
| 38 | 4 | Curtis Walters | Estes Star Wars | B6-4 | A-OK |
| 39 | 5 | Blair Clark | Fatboy | E18-7W | Great flame and roar; Blasted off the pad. |
| 40 | 6 | Bill Hensley | Maxi Alpha III | D12-5 | Great flight |
| 41 | 4 | Mark Hawkins | Estes Big Daddy | D12-3 | Beautiful flight. |
| 42 | 4 | Mark Hawkins | Estes Big Daddy | D12-3 | |
| 43 | 6 | Bill Hensley | North Coast Phantom 4000 | F62-4 | Good smoke |
| 44 | 2 | Stew McNabb | "Straight Up I" | A8-3 | NARTREK Bronze level baseline flight; 9.93 seconds. |
| 45 | 5 | Jerome Tonneson | Estes Big Daddy kitbash | D13-4W | OK flight, delay a bit long. |
| 46 | 2 | Randall Jessee | RocketVision Solar Venture | D12-5 | Unstable! |
| 47 | 2 | Jordan Boldizs | Quest DCY Clipper | C5-3 | Marginal stability |
| 48 | 3 | Dan Kirk | "Edmund 1B" | A3-4T | Unstable |
| 49 | 5 | Mike Boldizs | Cox Saturn 1B | D12-3 | Unstable |
| 50 | 5 | Jordan Boldizs | Estes Mk-109 | B6-4 | Good flight |
| 51 | 2 | Jerome Tonneson | Upscaled (x3) Mosquito | B4-4 | |
| 52 | 5 | Mike Boldizs | Estes Titan III | D12-3 | Pretty flight. |
| 53 | 2 | Larry Zeilmann | Estes Venus Probe | C6-3 | First flight; Cool! |
| 54 | 4 | Randall Jessee | Scratch built 6-tuber | D12-3 | Seperation |
| 55 | 5 | Ryan Kneedler | Estes Python | D12-3 | Dual 'chutes, good flight. |
| 56 | 5 | Ryan Kneedler | Estes Python | D12-3 | Nice flight. |
| 57 | 2 | Larry Zeilmann | Custom Rocket SAM-X | B6-0,B6-6 | No ejection charge - lawn dart. |
| 58 | 5 | Mike Barzee | Estes Honest John | C6-5 | Good flight. |
| 59 | 5 | Mike Barzee | LOC Onyx | F20-7W | Blasted off the pad; Very nice! |
| 60 | 1 | Jordan Boldizs | Estes 1/100th scale Little Joe II | A10-3 | Not too good. |
| 61 | 2 | Rick Thompson | Estes Mongoose | C6-0,C6-7 | Good flight. |
| 62 | 4 | Fred Copson | Andromena | C6-3 | Good flight after one misfire. |
| 63 | 2 | Mike Boldizs | Estes Mercury Redstone | B6-4 | |
| 64 | 3 | Blair Clark | "Scratched" | C6-7 | |
| 65 | 2 | Blair Clark | "Scratched" | D10-7 | Great flight - beautiful delay selection. |
| 66 | 3 | Blair Clark | "Scratched" | C6-7 | Seperation - flew all over the sky. |
| 67 | 3 | Marc Schroeder | Estes Yankee | A8-3 | Seperation |
| 68 | 5 | Larry Zeilmann | Scratchbuild Bomarc | D12-5 | First flight. |
| 69 | 6 | Jerome Tonneson | Aerotech Initiator | F12-3J | Nice flight. Motor kicked but was recovered. |
| 70 | 5 | Taylor Jessee | Estes AMRAAM | D12-3 | Good flight. |
| 71 | 4 | Alan Hughes | Estes Fire Flash | B6-4 | |
| 72 | 5 | Fred Copson | Estes Shadow | D12-5 | |
| 73 | 5 | Mike Barzee | Aerotech Barracuda | F23-7J | |
| 74 | 4 | Alan Hughes | Estes Alpha | B6-4 | Good flight. |
| 75 | 1 | Will Schroeder | Estes Code Red | C6-3 | |
| 76 | 5 | Fred Copson | North Coast Lance Beta | F62-6 | |
| 77 | 4 | Randall Jessee | Scratchbuilt AMRAAM | D12-3 | Pretty flight. |
| 78 | ? | Will Schroeder | Estes Blackbird | C6-3 | Good flight. |
| 79 | 2 | Wesley Waldon | Estes Big Bertha | C6-5 | Nice flight. |
| 80 | 3 | Chris Hughes | Estes Big Bertha | C6-5 | |
| 81 | 1 | Chris Hughes | Estes Big Bertha | C6-3 | Nice flight; saw a few sparks at ejection. |
| 82 | 6 | Randall Jessee | North Coast Phantom 4000 | F22-5J | Pranged; Seemed underpowered. |
| 83 | 2 | Chris Hughes | Quest Saturn V | B6-4 | |
| 84 | 1 | Chris Hughes | Quest Saturn V | B6-4 | Nice dual-chute recovery. |
| 85 | 3 | Mike Barzee | Black Brant III | D12-5 | Great Flight! |
| 86 | 2 | Josh Zeilmann | Estes Marte Mk II | C6-5 | Seperation |
| 87 | 4 | Josh Zeilmann | Estes Marte Mk II | A8-3 | Nice second flight. |
| 88 | ? | Matt Zeilmann | Estes US Army | A8-3 | Nice flight. |
| 89 | 4 | Gage Waldon | Estes Prowler | D12-5 | Good flight & recovery |
| 90 | 3 | Gage Waldon | Estes Prowler | C6-5 | |
| 91 | 3 | Gage Waldon | Estes Prowler | C6-5 | |
| 92 | 1 | Alicia Hughes | Quest Big Rage | C6-5 | Two 'chute recovery. |
| 93 | 4 | Alicia Hughes | Quest Big Rage | B6-4 | |
| 94 | 1 | Alan Hughes | Estes Tornado | A8-3 | Seperation |
| 95 | ? | Dan Kirk | Deltie | A3-4T | Beautiful flight with a one minute duration. |
| 96 | 2 | Tia Kirk | Firebird | C6-5 | |
| 97 | 2 | Andrew Ticknor | Estes SerNo 20227 | C6-7 | |
| 98 | 2 | Andrew Ticknor | Estes SerNo 20227 | B6-4 | |
| 99 | 5 | Nick Stich | Launch Pad ASRAAM | D12-5 x2 | Great clustered flight. |
| 100 | 2 | Andrew Ticknor | Estes M136A2 | B6-4 | |
| 101 | 2 | Andrew Ticknor | Estes M136A2 | C6-7 | |
| 102 | ? | Tia Kirk | AMRAAM | C6-5 | |
| 103 | ? | Dan Kirk | Trans Wing | C6-3 | |
| 104 | 2 | Barry Skelton | Custom Razor | B6-6 | Returned nicely. |
| 105 | 4 | Barry Skelton | Manta | B6-6 | |
| 106 | 3 | Barry Skelton | Estes Shell Shocked | C6-3 | Had a little hang time. |
| 107 | 2 | George Scheil | QCR Easter Egg Lofter | C6-5 | C ELD attempt; DQ due to broken egg. |
| 108 | 4 | Dan Kirk | AMRAAM | C6-3 | SpSc flight; Seperation. |
| 109 | 2 | Stew McNabb | C ELD | C10-4 | C ELD attempt; DQ due to seperation. |
| 110 | 5 | George Scheil | Scratchbuilt Phoenix | D12-3 | SpSc launch; Landed in a tree but was recovered (after using a saw!) |
| 111 | 2 | Mark Morley | D Region Tomahawk | B6-4 | SpSc launch; Great! |
| 112 | 4 | Dan Kirk | AMRAAM | C6-3 | SpSc launch; Good flight, simulated smoke visible. |
| 113 | 5 | Tim Burger | Estes Big Bertha | C6-5 | |
| 114 | 3 | Barry Skelton | Custom Razor | B4-2 | Nice flight. |
| 115 | 5 | Jerome Tonneson | Estes Maxi Alpha III | D9-4W | |
| 116 | 5 | Tim Burger | Stretch Maniac | D12-5 | Landed near the trees; Nice flight. |
| 117 | 6 | James Case | Aerotech Mirage | G80-7 | Nice flight. |
| 118 | 5 | Tim Burger | Estes Big Bertha | C6-5 | |
| 119 | 4 | Andrew Ticknor | Estes M136A2 | C6-7 | Stable this time, nice flight. |
| 120 | 2 | Tia Kirk | AMRAAM | C6-5 | Great flight. |
| 121 | 5 | Tim Burger | Stretch Maniac | D12-5 | Another great flight. |
| 122 | 6 | Nick Stich | "Oat Burner" | G64-4W | Motor failure (blow-through). Landed safely, very little damage to the rocket. Forward closure of the RMS 29/40-120 was damaged. |
| 123 | 6 | James Case | "Trusty Lawn Dart" | G35-7W | Nice flight. |
| 124 | 5 | Tim Burger | Estes Big Bertha | C6-5 | |
| 125 | 1 | Dan Kirk | Kitbashed Fat Boy | B6-6 x3 | NARTREK cluster flight. All motors lit. Very nice! |
| 126 | 4 | Barry Skelton | Estes Shell Shocked | C6-3 | |
| 127 | 2 | Dan Kirk | "Spudchick" | C6-5 | |
| 128 | 6 | James Case | "Trusty Lawn Dart" | G35-7W | |
| 129 | 2 | Dan Kirk | "Nerf Rocket" | A8-3 |
Total engines by class:
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Page last updated on March 23, 2006
Photos removed (to save space on the site) February 28, 2008.
