Launch date and time: 11:00AM, Saturday, 25 October 2003
Launch location: Tickwood Ranch
Launch wind and weather: High overcast, about 60F, 15MPH at Noon, less than 5MPH at 2:00
This was quite a launch. It started out very slowly, with one person alone on the field until almost 2:00PM. Then Dave B. arrived, and most everyone else within the next 20 minutes. Then the action started. The lone flier on the field had set up a single pad and was launching from the tailgate, but when the others arrived we decided to set up a table and two other pads. We flew on a very informal range with each flier being trusted to know what he’s doing. There were no real problems with this system; everyone observing the safety rules and being careful of each other.
We have two new level one fliers; Mark Bazinet and Hans Jessee made successful certification attempts. Congratulations!
The wind was a bit strong at first, but by 2:00PM had settled to mostly calm, with an occasional gust of 5MPH wind. The winds aloft were still running a bit though as rockets flown straight up drifted South and East a good deal. The sun would break through the clouds from time to time and warm us all up.
There were some minor problems getting the waiver activated; and since it was in question the members on the field voted to waive launch fees. By 2:30, though, the waiver had been activated to 6,000-feet, with call in windows to 10,000 (which we didn’t use) and the big rockets came out.
There were a couple of flights that were noteworthy - one was Dave Bucher’s very large Sprint that shredded in flight. That’s the first one many of us had ever seen. Dave Lucas had some problems getting an E11 to light - it chuffed hard a couple of times, and would then go out. He even tried a custom made Magnelite with no luck. Dave Bucher has also been having a bit of a grudge match with his scratch built, scale Von Braun Ferry. It’s a neat rocket but is really unwilling to fly straight and pranged twice! Neither time resulted in serious damage, luckily.
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| Hans (left) and Mark (right) display their successful certification rockets. (Photo by Tim Burger) |
Hans Jessee made his attempt with a PML AMRAAM III weighing 50-ounces on a Pro-38 H153. It, too, was a perfect flight. Congratulations Hans!
Mark also flew his BSD Thor on an H148R. A really straight boost and a perfectly timed ejection! Nice!
Randall and Taylor were able to get in a lot of flying, as did Darwin May who is back from NARAM and has lots of observations to make.
A few fliers were staying late to launch at night. A report on that will follow.
We launched 59 (number 15 was a no-go) flights, burning 74 motors. There were three stage flights (numbers 18, 21, and 49), and four clustered flights (flights 28, 50, 53, and 59). The total impulse burned was 2,358.65N which falls in the ‘K’ range.
| Launch | Flier’s Name | Rocket Name(s) | Motor | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Burger | Astra | B6-4 | Some drift |
| 2 | Tim Burger | Sprint | A8-5 | Good, a little late on deploy |
| 3 | Tim Burger | Sprint | B6-4 | Good |
| 4 | Tim Burger | A Sparrow | A3-4T | Good |
| 5 | Tim Burger | Silver Comet | D15-4 | |
| 6 | David Lucas | UFO | D12-3 | |
| 7 | Mark Bazinet | Big Daddy | E9-4 | |
| 8 | George Scheil | Cat RG Glider | A8-3 | |
| 9 | Tim Burger | Airspike | F21-6 | |
| 10 | Mark Bazinet | Big Daddy | E9-4 | |
| 11 | George Scheil | Mini-RG | A10-3T | |
| 12 | Tim Burger | Silver Comet | D15-4 | |
| 13 | Dave Bucher | Falcon B6 | A8-3 | Power roll and prang |
| 14 | Darwin May | Wacky Wiggler | A8-3 | Separation |
| 15 | David Lucas | UFO | E11-3 | Gave up after four attempts to light the motor |
| 16 | Darwin May | Mongoose | A8-3 | Broken fin |
| 17 | Dave Bucher | Cherokee D (clone) | D12-5 | Perfect! |
| 18 | George Scheil | Zenith II | B6-0 to A8-5 | |
| 19 | Mark Bazinet | Alpha | B6-2 | |
| 20 | Darwin May | Blue Ninja | D12-3 | |
| 21 | Dave Bucher | 2-stage DOW | A10-0 to A3-4T | Total power prang |
| 22 | Taylor Jessee | Aspire | D12-7 | |
| 23 | David Lucas | Manga | C6-5 | |
| 24 | Dave Bucher | Holy RPG of Antioch | D12-3 | As usual! |
| 25 | George Scheil | Cosmic Cobra | C6-3 | |
| 26 | Tim Burger | Sprint Magnum | E30-4 | Good |
| 27 | Randall Jessee | Red Mean Machine | E9-6 | |
| 28 | Dave Bucher | Super, Mega, Ultra Big Bertha | 4 X D12-5 | |
| 29 | Taylor Jessee | Mercury Redstone | C6-3 | |
| 30 | Mark Bazinet | Sumo | H70-10 | Level 1 Cert — successful! |
| 31 | David Lucas | Liberator | C6-3 | |
| 32 | George Scheil | Meteor Masher | C6-3 | |
| 33 | David Lucas | UFO | E9-6 | |
| 34 | Tim Burger | Bertha Magnum | F25-4 | Good! Nice straight boost |
| 35 | George Scheil | Black Brandt A | C11-5 | |
| 36 | Mark Bazinet | Sprint | G38-4 | |
| 37 | Darwin May | Blue Ninja | D12-3 | |
| 38 | Hans Jessee | PML AMRAAM III | H153-9 | Level 1 Attempt — Successful! |
| 39 | Randall Jessee | Yellow Bird 1oz Tube Rocket | C6-3 | |
| 40 | George Scheil | Wacky Wiggler | C6-5 | |
| 41 | Mark Bazinet | Thor | H148M | Perfect! Beautiful |
| 42 | Darwin May | Blue Ninja | D12-3 | |
| 43 | Tim Burger | Sprint Magnum | F21-6 | Nice! |
| 44 | Hans Jessee | AMRAAM II | F20-4 | |
| 45 | Dave Bucher | Super, Mega, Ultra Sprint | I211-10BT | Shred! |
| 46 | Taylor Jessee | Patriot | C6-5 | |
| 47 | Darwin May | Blue Ninja | D12-3 | |
| 48 | Taylor Jessee | Airspike | F21-6 | |
| 49 | Randall Jessee | PML Weasel 29 | D12-0 to E9-6 | Second stage didn't ignite |
| 50 | Dave Bucher | Von Braun Ferry | 4 X D12-3 | Only two lit, strike two — it survived |
| 51 | Tim Burger | Airspike | F40-10 | |
| 52 | Taylor Jessee | Birdie | A10-3T | |
| 53 | Dave Bucher | Von Braun Ferry | 4 X D12-3 | Ouch; they all lit this time, crunched after a loop the loop |
| 54 | Taylor Jessee | Birdie | A10-3T | Scratch built - very fun |
| 55 | David Lucas | Manga | C6-7 | |
| 56 | Randall Jessee | PML Weasel 29 | G55-10 | Very high! Nice flight |
| 57 | Taylor Jessee | AMRAAM II | F20-4 | |
| 58 | David Lucas | Mercury Redstone | D12-5 | Good flight but lost the tower |
| 59 | Dave Bucher | Super, Mega, Ultra Big Bertha | 4 X C11-5 | Beautiful |
| 60 | Taylor Jessee | Patriot | C6-5 |
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