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May 16, 1999
Durham
Hey! Where did all these tents come from?!? Oh well, better late than never.
It was a great day for a launch at Durham.Sunny and warm (70s).Light shifting breeze in the AM, moderate (10-15 mph) winds out of the south in the PM. We set up further to the west (toward the Black Sheep Squadron) than usual, in order to get away from the residual tent nomads.
The Sport Scale contest was cancelled, due to lack of entries (one Junior,one Senior). The prizes will be recycled in another contest. The Open Spot Landing contest was a blast!; Look for the brown monkey standing in the field behind the mid-power pads in several of the photos. He was sporting the likeness of a certain middle-eastern dictator on his chest, and he made an excellent target for the Missiles of May.
(photo #1) Jay and Alex Calvert show off an official CATO hooded sweatshirt and a couple of CATO caps. You can order these (and T-shirts!) HERE! The rockets are (from left to right): a modified Public Enemy Patriot, the SA-14 Archer XL from North Coast, an Estes Gnome, and an Estes Bailout.
(photo #2) Paul Welling's Honest John on a G64-4W. Unfortunately this one suffered a separation.
(photo #3) Ben Carbone Jr.'s "Mean Green Machine" on a D12-3. Pete Sulinski's Estes AMRAAM on the left.
(photo #4)I think this is Jeff Thomas' scratch built "Juicy Fruit" on an F62-6 Darkstar.
One of two level 1 certification flights. These were done from a special, temporary "away cell" near the BBS runway. This was necessary in order to put more than 1500 feet between the pad and the nearest house. Photo 5 is Joe Tirita's PML Explorer boosting on an Aerotech H238T reload. Welcome to High Power Joe.
(photo #6) The other level 1 attempt was not so lucky. Brendan Reig's Vaughn Brother's Extreme 38 just evaporated off the pad on an H238T, and was spotted at ejection at close to 4000 feet. Unfortunately a separation followed. Brendan will have to try again.
(photo #7)Sean Hogan's Estes Tomcat wowed the crowd with six very impressive glider flights on C6-3 engines (well, OK, four of them were impressive). In the background are Jay Calvert's Patriot, Charlie Loveday's Big Brute, and Michael Kluk's Aerotech Arcas (L to R).
(photo #8)There goes Michael's Arcas on an F50-6T!
(photo #9)Just as Jay's Patriot was ready to go, this Bozo in a Biplane comes buzzing overhead. Target acquired? Nah, we'll just wait until he's out of our airspace. I guess he didn't read the NOTAM. Anyway, he proceeds to fly over the Black Sheep Squadron's area and was promptly "escourted away" by an angry little R/C aircraft (Ever seen a blackbird attacking a big ol' crow)?
Photo's 10 & 11 show Jay's Patriot doing a "Poor-man's airstart".Three engines were simultaneously ignited on the pad (a G35-7W Econojet core and two F39-12T outboards). Because the G35 is larger in diameter and because it is White Lightning (as opposed to Blue Thunder), it took about 1 second longer to come up to pressure. The 3.1 pound Patriot jumped off the pad powered by the twin F39s. The white contrail from the G35 did not start until Pat reached an altitude of about 50-100 feet (immediately after the first photo). Apogee at about 1200 feet. Double 36" chutes carried the rocket quite a way, and it landed just short of a sheep enclosure. This flight used 95.4 grams of propellant to produce 205 N-S of thrust.
(photo #12)Jay Calvert's ill-fated 2-stage WAC Corporal with Tiny Tim booster. This is the new kit from Aerospace Specialty Products (ASP) that Jay bought using the gift certificate from last month's B egg loft duration contest. This WAC uses "Pass-Port" staging (a form of gap staging) to ignite an 18mm sustainer from a D12-0 booster engine. Everything worked fine until time for staging. The B6-6 sustainer failed to light, and the D12-0 popped out the rear of the booster (next time, even more tape)! It's a durable kit - only minimal damage even after a major lawn dart.
(photo #13)Charlie Loveday's NCR Big Brute on an F62 Darkstar. Colin Turley's Alpha 3 and Brian Stuckman's Custom Equinox can be seen to the right.
(photo #14)Jay Calvert's NCR SA-14 Archer on an Aerotech G80-7T.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Chris Adam's Aerotech Initiator did a wonderful imitation of a meteorite, when a G64-7W blew its forward closure in mid-boost. It suffered 3rd degree burns over 90% of its airframe and will never be the same again.
- Due to launch rod angle, weathercocking, and a longer than normal delay on a C6-7, Cody Calvert's Astrocam very nearly did the lawn dart thing. Ejection at the last possible second saved the rocket. Once the film is developed we should be able to count the number of ants in the grass.
- Jay Calvert launched his minimum diameter streamer duration model for Apogee Micromotors "Hang 11" on an A2-5. The rocket left the pad and was never seen nor heard again - by anyone... Spontaneous evaporation?
- Steve Kossluk's LOC Starburst became a Groundburst when flown with two E15-7Ws (did they both light?).
- Jeff Thomas's "Mars Madness" went mad, but he had great luck with the black powder clusters. Three C6-5s in a Cobra, and four C6-3s in his "Maxi Astro Cluster".
- Paul Welling flew his modified Estes AMRAAM to nearly 4000 feet on a G35-7W! The rocket was painted bright orange and carried a lot of red chalk.
| 1/4A | 2 |
| 1/2A | 1 |
| A | 34 |
| B | 26 |
| C | 61 |
| D | 23 |
| E | 7 |
| F | 16 |
| G | 11 |
| H | 2 |
| TOTAL | 183 |
LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION ATTEMPTS:
Joe Tirita - H238T in a PML Explorer - CONGRATS!
Brendan Reig - H238T in a VB Extreme 38 - Better luck next time.
Thanks to Tripoli Prefect Paul Welling for certification duties.
NOTE: The Durham field does not normally support high power flights,
since the primary launch area is less than 1500 feet from the nearest house.
We can make exceptions for level 1 certification flights ONLY. These
are launched from a remote away cell within the Black Sheep Squadron's
area (which is over 1500 feet from any occupied buildings). This
requires that the BSS temporarily suspend their activities, so we don't
want to ask too often.
If you want to certify level 1 at a Durham
launch, please contact Paul Welling
(Tripoli) or Jay Calvert (NAR) BEFORE
the launch. Also remember that there's no FAA waiver, so your
rocket must contain less than 125 grams of propellant and weigh less than
1500 grams (3.3 pounds) at takeoff.
- Top 10 Hot Shots:
| Charlie Loveday | 708 NS | 2xG80T, 3xF62DS, F50T, E30T, D12, 7xC6, 4xB6, 3xA8 |
| Jay/ Cody/ Alex Calvert | 384 NS | G80T, G35W, 2xF39T, D12, 3xC6, 2xB4, A3, A2 |
| Paul/ Aaron Welling | 379 NS | G64W, 2xG35W, D12, C6, B6, 7xA10 |
| Bill Piedra | 371 NS | 2xG64W, F40W, 3xD12 |
| Sean/ Jeanne/ Alysia/ John Hogan | 288 NS | F40W, E23T, E16W, D12, 9xC6, 2xB6, 5xA10, 3xA8, 1/2A6, 2x1/4A3 |
| Les/ Matt Kurz | 277 NS | F52T, F40W, F12J, 3xD12, 2xB6, 4xA8, A3 |
| Michael/ Heather/ Greg/ Ryan/ Paul Kluk | 256 NS | F50T, F39T, 12xC6, 3xB6, A8 |
| Jim/ Brian Stuckman | 229 NS | G35W, F20W, 3xD12, C6 |
| Chris/ Zachary/ Rebecca Adams | 221 NS | G64W, 4xD12, 2xC6, 3xB6 |
| Jeff Thomas | 208 NS | F62DS, E30T, D12, 7xC6, B4, A10 |
Total impulse for the day = 4178 Newton-Seconds, equivalent to an "L" motor.
There were lots of great shots, with names like "Gorilla or Bust", "Gorilla Squisher", "Down with the Monkey", "Gorilla Killa", "Bomb the Monkey", and "Gorilla Seeker". The two winners of $20 Gift Certificates from Magnum Rockets, Hobbies & More were:
Paul Welling (Senior) 7'6" using an Estes Mini Marz Lander with an A10-3T engine.
Matt Kurz (Junior) 9' using an Estes Manta with an A8-3 engine.
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