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June 5 and 6, 2010 MASA 2nd Annual Regional Contest launch report (6/7/2010)

On Saturday and Sunday, June 5th and 6th, MASA held its second NAR Sanctioned Regional Contest.  Once again, Mike Erpelding served as the contest director.  Thank you, Mike, for all of your hard work!

The events were:

• B Streamer Duration (WF 9)
• 1/2A Parachute Duration (WF 7)
• 1/4A Boost Glide Duration (WF 18)
• D Helicopter Duration (WF 23)
• A Cluster Altitude (WF 16)
  [total weighting factor of 73)

Thank you to all the competitors, timers, altitude trackers, and everyone who helped out!

Saturday morning was calm and overcast.  The first rain drops began to fall around 10:30.  We persevered, launching in between drops and even getting in some altitude tracking.  (Big thanks to Mike and Caleb for standing out in the rain tracking flights!)  About 1:30pm, we threw in the towel and packed up for the day.

Sunday was a much nicer day with good amounts of sun between scattered clouds.  A few passing clouds blessed us with a few rain drops.  Unfortunately, it was a bit breezier causing longer recovery walks to the east.  Things wound down in the early afternoon.  After a stronger shower with some gusty winds passed through, we finished packing everything up and declared this year's contest over.

A misfire-alley sport range was also open on both days with the high power waiver active on Saturday.

Congrats go out to Ken Hoyme on his successful (and picture-perfect) L1 cert flight!

Condolences go out to Dave Schaffhausen. On his L1 cert attempt, the shock cord came untied from the piston allowing the bottom half of the rocket to freefall. Luckily, no damage. Next time for sure!

Contest Results:

[for the full results, please see the bottom of this web page]

2nd Annual MASA Summer Regional Meet Champions

Place	Contestant	NAR Number	Section	Total Points
B Division
1	Boe, Caleb	83769	576	192
C Division
1	Estenson, Alan	69539	576	1038
2	Cochran, Ted	69921	IND	882
3	Cieslak, John	13628	558	750
4	McDermott, Buzz	13559	576	528
5	Schaffhausen, Dave	90950	576	372
6	Thell, Mark	27793	IND	198
7	Merdan, Lyle	87893	IND	153
8	Taylor, Jeff	87148	IND	54
9	Marple, Carol	86280	IND	48
10	Carpenter, Todd	89292	IND	27
11	Erpelding, Michael	79922	IND	21
Sections
1	MASA		576	2130
2	IND		0	1383
3	WOOSH		558	750

MASA members - please send in your thoughts about the launch! 

Alan Estenson writes:

Saturday:
The morning started out great! I got to the field around 8am. Mike, Theresa, and Neal arrived within minutes. We got the sport range laid out, the contest range set up, and everything ready by 9am. The weather was cloudy, with a high ceiling, and no wind whatsoever.

As a test shot, I had the first flight of the day - an Astron Sprint clone on a C6-7.

Even though there wouldn't be any thermal action, I wanted to get my 1/4A boost glider flights in while the wind was calm. I flew a Micro Deltie twice on 1/4A3-3t's. I was very pleased with how this little, very lightweight glider flew. (I was surprised that I managed to build  it without breaking it!)

Not having had time to build anything for D helicopter duration, I dug out an old Estes Skywinder. Shoehorning a D21 into, the first flight DQ'ed when the nose cone separated. A quick fix later, the second flight was DQ'ed when the fin can separated. Oh well...

Unfortunately, by then it was raining lightly. I flew an old spare-parts model as practice for the altitude trackers and lost it during descent.

While Mike and Caleb manned the altitude tracking stations in the rain, I did get in a successful flight in 4A cluster altitude. (Thanks guys!)

By 1:30, we were ready to throw in the towel for the day, and to go find towels to dry off. We packed up everything, leaving some things in place for tomorrow, and headed out.

Condolences to Todd C. on the demise of his Steam Boy. :-(

Sunday:
Once again, Mike and I were at the field at 8am.  We had left the stakes and flag/rope lines up overnight, but had to set up the contest range again.  We had sunshine amidst scattered clouds and a light breeze out of the west.  That breeze would slowly increase as time passed.  Some of the clouds deposited a few raindrops on us as they went by.

I decided to get the remainder of my contest flights in right away.  I prepped and flew two rockets for B streamer duration.  The first flight got a nice time, and the second flight even better.  Unfortunately, I found that the first rocket had lost its nose cone (screw eye yanked right out of the balsa, glue and all), and the second rocket was gone.  It was just the streamer and nose cone that had been timed.  So, both of those were DQ'ed.

For 1/2A parachute duration, I prepped and flew two more rockets.  I got a decent time on the first one, but a much shorter time on the second when its chute didn't fully open.

After that, I set up my own launch pad and got in some sport flights.  I flew the Astron Sprint clone on a B6-6, and a garage sale V-2 on a D12-5.  Next, I put in some first flights of several rockets.  I flew my Groove Tube clone on an A8-3, a very slight Groove Tube upscale on a B4-4, and a larger Groove Tube upscale on a D12-3.  All of those flew great!

Taking a break from flying, I manned one of the altitude tracking stations for a while.  Thanks to Mike's instruction and after tracking some practice flights, I managed to not screw it up!

Afterwards, I got in a few more sport flights.  A first flight of my Kadet Klone on a B4-4, a flight of a garage sale Nike-X on a C6-5, a second flight of the Groove Tube on a B6-4, and a max altitude flight of a Cherokee D on a D12-7.  Thanks to Neal for pointing out where the Cherokee landed after I lost sight of it!

Despite the ups and downs of the weather, it was a fun contest!  Here's hoping that we do it again next year.

Todd Carpenter writes:

Stories of Steam Boy's demise are much exaggerated. The entire crew survived, though the booster took serious structural damage (theories abound; it might have been sub-standard rivets, or the idiot who modified the delay charge might have done it too late at night and not drilled deeply enough...).

Even now, the ship is in the yards, the steam fitters are being called in, the smelters are warming up, and crews are carefully assessing damage and removing debris.

Good luck everyone tomorrow, and congrats to Ken Hoyme on his L1!

Ken Hoyme writes:

It was a great morning. I got to the field about 8:25 or so, and pitched in to help Mike and Theresa set up the contest range. Lots of PVC pads and decorative checkered flags.

My plan for the day was to go for my L1 cert. I had thought about the contest when it was announced and did some thinking about what to build for the events. But the build cycle for my winter rockets ran long, and I would have had to set aside finishing those to focus on contest work. After Buzz's presentation on Thursday evening on streamers and parachutes, I realized that focussed contest folks are kind of nuts! To really compete one needs to spend some concerted time on all aspects of the competition rocket. My respect for the detailed work of Todd and Caleb was raised. But I decided to stick to my sport rockets for now. Maybe the Siren call of competition will hit me later. :)

I got out my LOC-IV which was nearly ready to launch two weeks ago when the low-ceiing closed in and then rain and lightning hit, closing down the range. Got it re-prepped and then prepped some other rockets while waiting for my wife, Julie, and Alissa to arrive, and let Alan (my L1 Cert dude from last time) get some rockets into the contest. Julie and Alissa got there just before 10, so it was time to get it launched.

Alan checked it over and gave the OK. I asked a few newbie questions on RMS topics (this was my first RMS flight). Out to the pad, loaded it up. and ready to launch. I ran the camera and gave Alissa the duty of "pushing the button". It shot up with a satisfying roar -- chute out at apogee, and then a long, slow, lazy return to earth. It landed a few hundred feet down-field, in the same sod section. No damage - before I was certifiable, now I am Certified.... :)

Julie and Alissa needed to head off to other activities, but wanted to see the Apogee Components "Heli-roc" that I had built (started back when the girls were young, just finished this past week). Shot it off the contest pads, and it took a bit for it to decide its recovery mode, but once it started spinning, it made a nice spinning recovery.

As we wrestled with the rain, I did send off an old MPC Martian Patrol (with 2 saucers) - it was a kit I got as a kid in the early 70's - started to build back then - and only finished a couple of weeks ago I also sent up a LOC-IV Mini, painted to match the full sized version.

As we were calibrating the A-cluster altitude measurements, I also sent up an MPC Star Hawk on a streamer - I think that is first flight for this old rocket, purchased at the same time as the Marian Patrol. Nose cone and body separated, but no damage.

There was lots of time to spend chatting with folks about rain, contests, launch pads, etc. While the day was damp, the company was great, and getting the L1 out of the way with calm winds and low corn, it was a good day.

Thanks to Alan for being my cert committee. Enjoyed watching the contest entries, and Todd & Caleb practice for the international competition.

Jeff Taylor writes:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Best of Times: Congratulations to Ken for his successful High Power Level 1 Certification Flight! Unfortunately I didn't get there in time to see it. I got to the field late as my morning was spent on an unsuccessful quest for 1/4A motors. I hope all of the contest fliers were able to post some respectable scores. I managed to get one streamer duration flight in before the continued rain ended the day. A huge thanks to Mike for putting on the contest. I hope tomorrow's weather will be a bit better.

Worst of Times: My condolences to Dave's L1 separation. On the bright side, it was a great flight right up until ejection. I will post some pictures in a photo album. Condolences also too Todd for the damage to Steam Boy. Although I am confident we will see it fly again, it still hurt to see that carnage. I will post pictures of that too. And of course, rockets were only secondary as our thoughts were focused on fellow MASA member Tim Melody, and the challenges he and his family are facing.

Mark Thell writes:

Just wanted to say a BIG thank you to Mike for putting the contest together.
Another BIG thank you to Carol for all her work yesterday, every time I saw her,she was working on the laptop putting data in from our flights, or doing flight cards.....I think she got 3 or 4 flights(IIRC)

This was my first ever contest and I found out a few things........
#1: my rockets are too HEAVY for contest flying, I cooked a couple gliders on the pad with the 1/4 A motors.....(read....More power!!!)
My 1/2A PD bird flew OK, chute deployed , landed fine. Buzz flew next..... his chute did not deploy..... he BEAT my time!!!!
My 4 A cluster Altitude entry(4 A10--3Ts)flew well, I was more concerned on lighting all motors, nose cone was a helicopter just for style points. Got it back safe and sound.
I did learn a lot yesterday by just watching everyone else.  I think I'll start fooling around with some contest designs. Thanks Caleb for loaning me a chute when I forgot my chute bag at home.
Thanks Buzz for walking me through the finer points of parachute packing.
And last but not least , thanks to all of you for the day. It was a LOT of fun!!!!!

MASA Summer Regional Points

Contestant	NAR Number	Section	B SD	1/2A PD	1/4A BG	D HD	A CA	Total
B Division
Boe, Caleb	83769	576	108	84	0	0	0	192
C Division
Carpenter, Todd	89292	IND	27	0	0	0	0	27
Cieslak, John	13628	558	162	0	108	0	480	750
Cochran, Ted	69921	IND	0	0	0	690	192	882
Erpelding, Michael	79922	IND	0	21	0	0	0	21
Estenson, Alan	69539	576	0	210	540	0	288	1038
Marple, Carol	86280	IND	27	21	0	0	0	48
McDermott, Buzz	13559	576	270	42	216	0	0	528
Merdan, Lyle	87893	IND	27	126	0	0	0	153
Schaffhausen, Dave	90950	576	27	21	324	0	0	372
Taylor, Jeff	87148	IND	54	0	0	0	0	54
Thell, Mark	27793	IND	27	21	54	0	96	198
Sections
IND		0						1383
MASA		576						2130
WOOSH		558						750

2nd Annual MASA Summer Regional Results

Contestant	NAR Number	Section	B SD	1/2A PD	1/4A BG	D HD	A CA
B Division
Boe, Caleb	83769	576	SEP / 88	31 / 20
C Division
Carpenter, Todd	89292	IND	18 / 23
Cieslak, John	13628	558	78 / 58		12		NC / 221
Cochran, Ted	69921	IND			DQ	SEP / 56	186
Erpelding, Michael	79922	IND		7
Estenson, Alan	69539	576	SEP / SEP	53 / 23	41 / 51	SEP / SEP	214
Marple, Carol	86280	IND	22 / 22	8
McDermott, Buzz	13559	576	111 / 66	20 / 17	9 / 15
Merdan, Lyle	87893	IND	38	58
Schaffhausen, Dave	90950	576	38	10	31
Taylor, Jeff	87148	IND	29 / 20	SEP
Thell, Mark	27793	IND	25	16	2		124

2nd Annual MASA Summer Regional Standings

B Streamer Duration

Place	Contestant	Number	Section	Flight 1	Flight 2	Total	Points
B Division
3	Boe, Caleb	83769	576	SEP	88	88	108
C Division
1	McDermott, Buzz	13559	576	111	66	177	270
2	Cieslak, John	13628	558	78	58	136	162
4	Taylor, Jeff	87148	IND	29	20	49	54
5	Marple, Carol	86280	IND	22	22	44	27
6	Carpenter, Todd	89292	IND	18	23	41	27
7	Merdan, Lyle	87893	IND	38		38	27
7	Schaffhausen, Dave	90950	576	38		38	27
8	Thell, Mark	27793	IND	25		25	27
--	Estenson, Alan	69539	576	SEP	SEP	0	0

1/2A Parachute Duration

Place	Contestant	Number	Section	Flight 1	Flight 2	Total	Points
B Division
3	Boe, Caleb	83769	576	31	20	51	84
C Division
1	Estenson, Alan	69539	576	53	23	76	210
2	Merdan, Lyle	87893	IND	58		58	126
4	McDermott, Buzz	13559	576	20	17	37	42
5	Thell, Mark	27793	IND	16		16	21
6	Schaffhausen, Dave	90950	576	10		10	21
7	Marple, Carol	86280	IND	8		8	21
8	Erpelding, Michael	79922	IND	7		7	21
--	Taylor, Jeff	87148	IND	SEP		0	0

1/4A Boost Glider Duration

Place	Contestant	Number	Section	Flight 1	Flight 2	Total	Points
C Division
1	Estenson, Alan	69539	576	41	51	92	540
2	Schaffhausen, Dave	90950	576	31		31	324
3	McDermott, Buzz	13559	576	9	15	24	216
4	Cieslak, John	13628	558	12		12	108
5	Thell, Mark	27793	IND	2		2	54
--	Cochran, Ted	69921	IND	DQ		0	0

D Helicopter Duration

Place	Contestant	Number	Section	Flight 1	Flight 2	Total	Points
C Division
1	Cochran, Ted	69921	IND	SEP	56	56	690
--	Estenson, Alan	69539	576	SEP	SEP	0	0

A Cluster Altitude

Place	Contestant	Number	Section	Flight 1	Flight 2	Total	Points
C Division
1	Cieslak, John	13628	558	NC	221	221	480
2	Estenson, Alan	69539	576	214		214	288
3	Cochran, Ted	69921	IND	186		186	192
4	Thell, Mark	27793	IND	124		124	96

The Details:

Full launch tally (PDF) of sport range flights.  Note - not all sport range flights appear to have been recorded on flight cards.  If you made flights that don't appear on this tally, please submit them so that we can add them in.

The sport range total for the two days was:  54 flights, 56 motors.  The cumulative total impulse was 1100 Ns with an average total impulse of 19.6 N-s.  The motor breakdown follows:

The contest range total for the two days was:  47 flights, 61 motors.  The cumulative total impulse was 235 Ns with an average total impulse of 5 N-s.  The motor breakdown follows:

(Alan Estenson)