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October 2000 launch report (10/30/2000)
Rocket Nuts Launch Despite Wind!
On Saturday October 28, an amazingly large group came to the sod
farm in Blaine for the MASA launch. The weather was cool,
cloudy, and windy, but it didn't seem to really stop anyone - they
were there to fly rockets! The crowd included many new faces
launching rockets or just watching. There were 98 flights in
about 3 hours.
As always, a big thanks to all the volunteers! Especially:
- LCO's: Mark Thell, Dave Fergus, Steve Robb, Mike Martens, Art
Gibbens
- RSO's: Russ Durkee, Steve Robb, Kerry Hodges, Lee Frisvold,
Ben Hovland
- Thanks to those who stuck around to help clean everything up
- As always, a big thanks to Mark Thell for lugging the
equipment around!
The day's theme was "Missiles of October", and a few
scale models of missiles did make an appearance.
A few of the flights:
Steve "glider guy" Robb brought out his new
"Swinger II" and was determined to fly it despite the
wind. On its' first C6-3, it stuck on the launch rod. On
a second C6-3, it lawn-darted before motor ejection. On the
third C6-3, it finally deployed its wings and did a bit of
flying. Not content, Steve threw a D12 in it for one last try
- resulting in a power prang and some (repairable) damage.
Later, Steve tried his Deltie Thunder on an E11-3, but that flight
came crashing to earth after some unintentional aerobatics.
Alan Estenson showed his alumni spirit by flying two maroon and
gold rockets to mark the University of Minnesota homecoming.
First, a maiden flight of a Holverson Tangent on a B6-4 (drag racing
against Mollie Frisvold's Tangent on a C6-5). Later, a maiden
flight of a big new tubular fin rocket dubbed "Gopher
Holes" on a D12-3. Alan also flew the "Pumpkin
roc" (made out of a $1.49 pumpkin flashlight) on a B6-2; the
parachute didn't make an appearance, but the flashlight, err, rocket
was unharmed.
John Carlson flew a bevy of 25 year old rockets. Must've
had them hidden away somewhere. He flew a Nike Ajax on a C6-7,
an Estes Patriot on a C6-7 (an unfortunate lawn dart), an Estes
Apogee II 2-stager, a Centuri Raven on a C6-3 and an Interceptor on
a C6-7.
Jeff Hove chalked-up a nice flight by launching a Bic pen on a
Micro Maxx motor with itty-bitty parachute recovery. He also
flew a Mosquito clone on a Micro Maxx motor. Lee Frisvold had
a very nice first flight with his "The Launch Pad" Martin
Pescador on two D12 motors. Ted Cochran also had a great
flight when he ignited a cluster of three E15 motors in "Ted's
Testbed".
Nathan Clark wins the most unusual name of the day award with his
"South Texas Death Ride" flown on an E30. On the
"pyro" side of things, Russ Durkee had an old Quest C
motor CATO in his Astrocam, and Ed Ryan had an Aerotech G35
CATO in his scratchbuilt "Vertical".
The Details:
Full launch tally (in
Adobe Acrobat PDF form)
The totals were: 98 flights, 107 motors. The
cumulative total impulse was 2017 Ns with an average total impulse
of 18.9 Ns. The motor breakdown follows:
|
Type |
# Burned |
| MicroMaxx |
2 |
|
1/4A |
0 |
|
1/2A |
0 |
|
A |
11 |
|
B |
17 |
|
C |
36 |
|
D |
24 |
|
E |
7 |
|
F |
4 |
|
G |
6 |
|
H |
0 |
(Alan Estenson)
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