I arrived about 9:30, and Rick Vatsaas was there just a few
minutes after. It was a chilly morning, with partly-cloudy
skies and a 8-10mph breeze out of the SSE. Rick and I set
up my 4-pad sawhorse and launch controller out in the southeast
corner of the field for maximum recovery space downwind.
Expecting a short and lightly-attended launch, I had hauled
along minimal range equipment.
Rick and I started flying rockets about 10am. I first
flew my Astron Sprint clone on an A8-3. Given the wind,
streamer recovery seemed like a good idea. I then flew my
old Der Big Red Max clone on a B6-4 and my Warrior 56 on a C6-5.
To wrap up my own flights, I launched my trusty ol' Maniac on a
D12-5. Since this launch was the last of MASA's 10th
anniversary year, flying the Maniac seemed fitting. It had
flown at the November 1998 MASA launch.
Rick had six flights including a first flight of his
"Starship Ursa" kitbash rocket on a D12-5. Unfortunately,
the wind carried it all the way to the parking lot, and two of
the leg pods broke on landing. Rick also had two great
flights of his "Tycho Express" retro-style rocket on C11-3
motors.
Buzz McDermott flew a MRI Lamda and an ARCAS. Scott
Gleason flew an odd-roc on a D21 (the only AP motor used today)
and his SpaceShipOne on a C6-5. Unfortunately, the SS1 did
a cruise missile flight into the wind and impacted before
ejection.
Lyle Merdan flew his Stormcaster on a D12-5 to chalk up his
NARTREK Bronze D-powered flight. He also attempted his
NARTREK Bronze streamer duration flight with a Quest Aerobee-Hi
on a B6-4, but came up just short at 27.16 seconds.
Glen Overby flew a variety of rockets under a variety of
assumed names. Since several of them were on D12 motors,
he also had a variety of long retrieval walks to the north.
By about 12:30, everyone had enough of the cold, so we packed
up and headed for home.
I was a little nervous about going out to the launch today,
because it appeared to be windier than forecasted, but I decided
to go anyway and had a great time.
I arrived at 9:30 and help Alan set up the range. We set it
up way over in the far south east corner of the field, the
maximum distance the carry the gear I think.
With no one but me an Alan in site we decided to start
launching a few rockets. I flew an Estes Flash on a B6-4 just to
get a feel for the wind conditions. After Alan flew a couple
more, I felt brave enough to put my Starship Ursa up on a D12-5.
The flight was great but it drifted the whole length of the
field to land hard in the parking lot, breaking two of the
landing struts, and then dragging on the rocky asphalt for good
measure. Thanks to the fact that Scott Gleason had just arrived,
and scooped the rocket off the ground saved it from further
abuse. I think the struts can be repaired, but the damage was
inevitable, I think.
Next I flew my Tycho Express Sci Fi Rocket for two good
flights on C11-3s. This has turned out be a fun flier, and
amazingly stable even in higher winds. I had originally it
loaded with a D12-5 but chickened out after the Starship Ursa
incident. I wrapped up with a flight of my Martini Rocket on a
D12-5 and an Edmonds Tinee that glided all the way over the
field to stage a perfect land attack on Glen Overby's car.
I had another commitment so I bailed at 11:30, but by then
there were a number of cars in the parking lot. So I thought it
was a pretty good launch.
The totals were: 21 flights, 21 motors.
The cumulative total impulse was 221 Ns with an average total impulse of 10.5 Ns.
The motor breakdown follows:
