August 2001 launch report (8/26/2001)
Beware the fog...
On Saturday, August 25, quite a crowd drove out to the sod
farm, eager to partake in the burning of solid propellants.
What they found, though, was a 300 foot cloud ceiling and thick
fog. Not to be denied, range setup started around 9:30 and was
finished by a bit after 10. Sitting around and waiting for
conditions to clear gave everyone time to prep rockets.
Finally, after 11, a few test rockets took to the air and flying
was opened up through B engines. About half an hour later,
flying was opened through E engines. About 1 in the afternoon,
with skies opening up and the ceiling up to 1,400 ft, the big
rockets were loosed from their cages... It turned into a
beautiful day, and launching went on until after 3pm.
A big thanks to:
- Ted Cochran, for hauling out all the gear
- LCO volunteers: Alan Estenson, Ted Cochran, Mark Thell,
Joe Kimmes, Tim Bush, Jeff Hove
- RSO volunteers: Walter Kjellander, Russ Durkee
- Everyone who came early and/or stayed late to help with the
range equipment
The theme of this launch was "It's a sci-fi
world." One special event was the 3rd Annual Great UFO
Drag Race. This year, 8 UFO's were set upon the model rocket
racks. The Estes Snitch dominated along with a couple Quest
UFO's and one scratchbuilt Tri-F-O. In addition, a MicroMaxx
UFO was set up to the side on its own pad. On the count of
one, the button went down and ALL NINE of the saucers took to the
air. (Participants were: Mark Thell, Ellison Lenz, Seth
Cochran, Ted Cochran, Dave Fergus, Alan Estenson, Mike Kutzke and
Mollie Frisvold.) It was an incredible sight and a lot of
fun! If you missed it, be sure to attend next August for the
4th annual UFO drag race.
Another special event was a Silver Comet drag race. Since
only 4 Silver Comet's were presented at the pads, a Big Daddy and a
V2 also joined them. Keeping the streak alive, all 6 rockets
successfully launched! (Participants were: Alan
Estenson, Ted Cochran, Dave Gensler, Dave Fergus, Jeff "Big
Daddy" Hove, and Neal "V2" Higgins.)
During the first couple racks of rockets, Walter Kjellander gave
away 2 Estes Firestreak kits. Walter also did stellar duty as
he served THREE RSO shifts. Thanks, Walter!
The winners of the July 1/2A streamer duration contest were also
presented with their prizes and ribbons. Congratulations!
A few of the flights:
In keeping with the theme of the launch, a number of
"sci-fi" type rockets took to the skies in addition to the
UFO's and Silver Comet's. Ken Jarosch flew an Alien Space
Probe on a C5-3, a Strike Fighter on a C5-3,and a Super Vega on a
D12-3. Quinn Carlson flew a Redi-Roc Raider on an
A10-3t. Mollie Frisvold flew a Quest Intruder on a
B6-4.
For the Star Wars contingent, Mike Kutzke flew a Star Wars Y-Wing
on a B6-4. Austin Carlson flew a small R2-D2 on an
A10-3t. Paul Newswanger flew a big R2-D2 on a C6-5. R2
didn't deploy his chute in time and went BONK on his head.
Mike Kutzke flew a mini Naboo Royal Starship on an A10-3t. Joe
Schneider launched a Tie Fighter using a C6-3 and then an Explorer
Aquarius on a D12-3.
Joel Henry flew a Mini Marz Lander on an A3-4t. Lee
Frisvold flew a 30-year-old Mars Lander on a C6-3. Rick
Vatsaas flew his kit-bashed Silver Comet, "Kidd Plasma's
Flaming Atomic Metor of Justice" on a G35 for a great looking
flight.
Jeff Hove flew vintage Centuri Orion ("2 foot ejection at
the crowd line gives us nervous fits") and Taurus rockets on
B6-4's. Later, Jeff flew his 25-year-old Estes Trident on a
C6-5. Larry Schwartz flew an Estes Nightwing on a B6-4.
Rick Vatsaas flew a Custom Satellite Drone on a C6-5 (and it was
stable this time.) Alan Estenson flew a Custom Dynamic Carrier
on a B6-4, Warrior 56 on a C6-5, Warrior 214 on a G38,
"Wanderer" on an E15, Invader on a C6-0, the Monolith on a
C5-3, and his flying pyramid "Khufu's Revenge" on an E15.
John Carlson followed up on his amazing scale showing last month
with an impressive number of scifi launches this month. He
flew: an Enterprise-E on a C6-3, a 25-year-old Mars Lander on
a C5-3, a Centuri Orion clone on a C6-5, a Star Blazer on an A10-3t,
a 25 year old Mars Snooper on a B6-6, a 20 year old Mars Snooper II
on a B6-6, and Odyssey on a C6-5.
For one of the "cooler" flights of the day, Tim Bush
flew his 2.3x upscale Orbital Transport on a G38. This year,
it's sporting shiny white paint and a full decal set. Boost
was great, and the glider separated and flew incredibly well.
The only little problem was a broken fin on the booster at
landing. Tim also flew "Beldar" on a cluster of 2
C6-5's.
A few gliders took to the air during the day. Ken Jarosch
had an amazingly good flight of his Estes Tomcat on a C5-3.
Ted Cochran flew his Edmonds RCX rocket glider and his Holverson
Swinger (trying to assassinate former club president Russ Durkee
when the Swinger decided to take a nose dive behind Russ as he was
busy piloting his Cuda.)
The Radio Control group didn't fare too well. Russ Durkee
had several good flights of his Cuda R/C rocket glider. Damian
Kostron had many small pieces to collect after his Cuda went
horizontal after ignition and plowed into the sod. (Sorry
Damian) Joe Schneider also tried to fly his Cuda, but
discovered that the controls had been inadvertently reversed.
Fortunately, damage was relatively minor.
Lee and Mollie Frisvold had great F20-powered flights of a LOC
Graduator and Onyx. The Onyx flew again later on a G35.
Damian Kostron flew a nice Centuri Little Joe II on an E11.
Joel Henry flew a #30 Japanese Artillery Rocket on a F23 and a Gekko
on an E15. Dan vanDyke went for some serious altitude with his
Aerotech Mustang on a G40. Unfortunately, the rocket was lost
from sight. Larry Schwartz put his new BSD Horizon on a quick
diet (with Ted Cochran's help) to keep it under the weight limit and
fly it on a G64.
The 2 H flights of the day were Dan Nestor with his Blue Streak
and Ed Ryan with his RD3, both on H128's. Dan also flew a new
ring fin rocket on a G35. Charlie Curtsinger & Ellison
Lenz teamed up to fly their "Phoenix" on a cluster of a
C6-5 and 3 B6-2's. It was their first cluster flight.
Mike Kutzke had an incredible ignition and boost of his Saturn V
on a cluster of four B6-4's and a G35. Unfortunately, neither
halves of the rocket managed to come down under chute, thus creating
major and minor fenceposts. A number of other people joined
the fencepost club: Tim Bush with his PML AMRAAM 2 (requiring
major excavations), Mike Kutzke again with his Mailing Tube rocket,
Mollie Frisvold with the sustainer of her 2-stage Fat Boy, John
Carlson with the upper stage of his upscale Apogee II, ...
MASA President Alan Estenson (in between announcements, an LCO
shift, and general running around) managed the greatest flight tally
with 12. [No, I don't know how I did it, either. - Alan]
John Carlson had 10 flights, Ellison Lenz & Ted Cochran each had
9, and Ken Jarosch had 8 flights.
In combined totals, the Cochran Crue came out ahead with 11
flights, with the Vatsaas Vanguard and Team Frisvold each having 10
flights.
The Details:
Full launch tally (in
Adobe Acrobat PDF form, requires version 4 or newer of the Acrobat
reader)
The totals were: 182 flights, 195 motors. The
cumulative total impulse was 4268 Ns with an average total impulse
of 21.9 Ns. The motor breakdown follows:
|
Type |
# Burned |
| MicroMaxx |
3 |
|
1/4A |
0 |
|
1/2A |
1 |
|
A |
23 |
|
B |
45 |
|
C |
47 |
|
D |
41 |
|
E |
5 |
|
F |
17 |
|
G |
11 |
|
H |
2 |
(Alan Estenson)
|
