The weather was pretty good: overcast but dry and nearly calm in the morning, with moderate winds in the afternoon. It was also warmer than last time, with highs in the low 60s. Best of all, the Porta Potty showed up this time!

Radio CATO did another live broadcast of the launch from Lud's low power FM transmitter.MC Ribsy kept us entertained by playing jazz music and reading news items from the New London Day between racks of rockets.


To the left is an interesting series of 3 photos showing a CATO:first: a successful DOUBLE airstart.


This is Jay Calvert's "Shadow Technology", the same rocket that he certified level 2 with 13 days ago. In the first shot, the I300-10T core motor kicks Shadow Tech off the pad with lots of blue flame and very little smoke. [in the front right is Robert Lee's "Sh*t House", a flying outhouse, ready to go on an E28-4T reload].

After 1.5 seconds of Blue Thunder and a half second delay, a pair of H128W motors fire up and leave a white contrail behind two yellow/white flame jets. The rocket is now at over 600 feet and climbing fast.

In Photo 3, the White Lightning motors have burned for about 1.5 seconds and Shadow Tech has coasted for about another second. Then, twin F12J Blackjack engines fire up (one slightly before the other) and will burn for about 3.5 seconds leaving dense black smoke. The rocket is now at over 1200 feet and is not easy to make out in the photo. Shadow Tech is actually decelerating (slowly) during the final burn, since the thrust of two F12Js is not enough to counteract the weight of the 12 pound rocket. The P5 altimeter deployed the 36" drogue chute at apogee (1520 feet), then blew open the main chute compartment at 800 feet. The 94" main never opened up, but there was no damage from the harder than normal landing.

Jay's tip for airstarters:
My recent switch from alkaline batteries (8 AA) to NiCads (10 AA) made a BIG difference in amperage, and therefore a big difference in the ignition speed and reliability of airstarted engines.
Tip #2: Buy electronics from John Fleischer at Transolve and Fire in the Hole igniters from Jim Turner at Trailing Edge Technologies.
Special thanks to Chris Natale for lending me a second 29/180 case.


Some flight stats and highlights:

• We had 57 registered flyers, up from 53 last launch. (+8%)
• We logged 196 flights, up from 162 at CATO XII. (+21%)
• We burned 220 motors, up from 167. (+32%)

LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATION:
Jim Stuckman flying a J350W in his LOC Bruiser - CONGRATS!

Thanks to Tripoli Prefect Paul Welling for certification duties.

• Well, Lud's little Estes BullPup is still sleeping in it's watery grave, but Dave Sousa broke out his PML Bull Puppy and stuffed an I357-10T up it's boattail.  The simulations say 350 mph and over half a mile (2650 feet).  Dave also flew an H123W in his Patriot, while Lud burned a trio of H123s: one in his 1/4 scale Iris, one in his 1/4 scale Wac Corporal, and one in his CDC-X.
• Some great clusters were flown, highlighted by seven (7!) F50T engines in the "Ultimate", courtesy of Robert Lee and friends.  Sandy Alonzo flew a twain of E30Ts in his LOC Starburst.  On the black powder side, Jim Stuckman put three D12-7s  in his Estes Pro Series MaxiForce and Joe Roberts burned three B6-4s in his clone of the classic Estes Cobra kit.
• Joe flew his usual assortment of vintage estes kits, including an original Estes Spaceman (from 1972) on a 1/2A6-2.  It glides! (sorta...)
• Joe Roberts also had the worse clash of the day.  His Ultimate98, the rocket he certified level 1 with at an earlier CATO launch, did a ballistic nose dive after a great H180W boost.  The ejection charge did fire, but failed to separate the rocket.  OUCH.
• Electronics and Cameras.  In addition to Jay Calvert's P5 altimeter and T2 timer in Shadow Technology, Arnold Roquerre flew a C.P. Technologies altimeter in his LOC Graduator (F50T), the TV camera in his Pennsylvania Crude (G80T), and the TVcamera and an Adept ALTS in his LOC V2 while launching it from his magnetic launcher on a J570W!  Kevin Devine had a beeper in his Yellow Jacket (G33-7J) and James White flew his Estes Astrocam a couple of times on Cs.
• Multi-stage black power rockets were also popular this time.  Ryan Andrews and Phillip Brown each flew 2 stage Estes Mongooses (Mongeese?  Mongi?).  Wayne Magro flew a 2-stage Navaho, while Dave Whiting launched his Estes Comanche in both a 2-stage and 3-stage configuration.
• Paul Welling's Red Crayon rocket drew a long white line in the sky, flying on an I161-10W.

Hot Shots:

Sandy Alonzo	2171 NS	J350W, I284W, I211W, H123W, G35W, 2xE30T
Arnold Roquerre	1248 NS	J570W, G80T, F50T, B6
Robert Lee	1132 NS	3XG35W, 7xF50T, 2xF20W, 3xE28T, C6
John DeLuca	927 NS	H220T, H238T, H180W, G80T, G35W, F39T, D12
Jay / Cody Calvert	906 NS	I300T, 2xH128W, 2xF12J, 2xB6, 2xB4
Paul / Aaron / Nicole / Rachel Welling	904 NS	I161W, H180W, 2xG35W, 2xF39T, C6, 2xB6, A10
Jim / Brian Stuckman	837 NS	J350W, F50T, 3xD12, C6
Paul Ludwig	740 NS	3xH123W
Dave Sousa	607 NS	I357T, H123W
Joe Roberts	543 NS	H180W, 2xG64W, D12, 2xC6, 4xB6, B4, A8, A3, 1/2A6
Paul Schoen	483 NS	H242T, G125T, G80T
Graydon Pihlaja	419 NS	H123W, F52T, F22J
Robert Larson	367 NS	H128W, G33J, F40W, C6
Les / Matt Kurz	340 NS	G33J, F22J, F20W, F39T
Chris / Rebecca / Zachary Adams	332 NS	H128W, F40W, F20W, 2xB6
Bob / Ryan Andrews	331 NS	G80T, 2xF20W, E25!, 6xC6, 3xA3

 Holy Smoke! Sandy's on fire!

Total impulse for the day = 14,372 Newton-Seconds, equivalent to a mid "N" motor.