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Sunday June 20, 1999
Durham, CT
What could be a better way to spend Father's Day? The weather was good: mostly sunny and calm in the morning, moderate winds out of the south in the afternoon. Today's contest was Open Helicopter Duration, with prizes donated by Countdown Hobbies. The overall theme for the launch was "Twist & Shout"! We had rockets that spun on the way up, rockets that spun on the way down, and even a few that tumbled end over end (fortunately not very many...).
- (photo#1)
Dave Sousa's LOC IV on a G64-4W.
- (photo #2)Jay Calvert's modified Public Enemy Patriot launching on a cluster of a G64-7W and two F12-5Js. The Black Jacks have not yet come up to pressure in this photo. This was the first launch from the new rail system donated to CATO by Blacksky.
Very straight liftoff, and very easy to use. In the foreground is Jim Robinson's Estes Python, ready to go on a D12-7.
- (photo #3)One on the F12-5Js didn't ignite, but the flight was still vertical with a slight wobble from the asymetric thrust.
- (photo 4) Will it land in the trees?
- (photo #5) No problem...
- (photo #6)I think this is Paul Welling's Aerotech Baracuda accelerating to an estimated altitude of 3000 feet on a G35-7W. On the right is Jim Robinson's scratchbuilt "Roton ATV", which performed well in the Open Helicopter Duration contest on 18mm A, B, and C engines.
- (photo #7)Drag race!
- (photo #8) Paul Welling's Pink Crayon rocket on a 35-7W. This photo was snapped just moments before one of the three mosquito-shaped clear Lexan fins suddenly departed from the body. The remainder of the flight was somewhat...anomolous.
- (photo #9)Dave Sousa's NCR Patriot on a G64-4W.
- (photo #10)Jay Calvert holding "Twisted Sisters", twin 24mm rockets joined so that they spin on the way up. Fellow CATO officers Paul Welling and Dave Sousa look on.
- (photo #11)This is the maiden flight of Twisted Sisters, on two D12-3s. Very stable, with some weathercocking seen here.
- (photo #12)Arcing over...
- (photo #13)Bill Piedra prepping "MRD-4 Experimental", a interesting three D12-7 cluster Open Helicopter Duration entry with an internal set of rotors.
- (photo #14)MRD-4 performed OK on its first flight, but had a bit of a deployment problem on the second attempt.
- (photo #15)Family Fun for the Fosters.
- (photo #16)Whoosh!
- (photo #17)Anyone know how to work this thing?
- (photo #18)Jonathan Stevenson prepping his Estes Black Brant II for flight on a D12-7.
- (photo #19)Jonathan Rothberg prepping his Aerotech Astrobee D for flight on an F25-6W.
- (photo #20)The Hogan Family rocket farm. HIGHLIGHTS:
- The Quest Micro Maxx rockets are here! These *tiny* motors are rated at about 0.18 Newton-seconds (1/14A) with an average thrust of 0.22 Newtons and a delay of 1 second. The rockets are about 4 inches tall. They're soooo cute! Chris and Taylor Vallas flew a tiny Saturn V and a micro Space Shuttle, while Jay and Cody Calvert flew an itty bitty SR-71 Blackbird and a teeny tiny Tomahawk Cruise Missile.
- Star Wars! We saw Battle Droid Ships, Darth Maul's Sith Invader, and R2D2, thanks to Jake and Jason Foster, and Jake Howe.
- Chris Adams launched a 4 stage Comanche (D12-0->C6-0->C6-0->C6-5). Perfect staging! Not surprizingly, everyone lost sight of it on the way up. Amazingly, the rocket was suddenly seen landing a minute or so later only a couple hundred feet away.
- One of the last rockets of day was Jonathan Stevenson's modified Estes Big Dawg on an Aerotech F50-4T. It left the pad with a loud POP and was never seen again. How Wude!
- We had 32 registered flyers.
- We logged 151 flights.
- We burned 165 motors.
| Micro Maxx | 4 |
| 1/4A | 4 |
| 1/2A | 8 |
| A | 17 |
| B | 28 |
| C | 47 |
| D | 29 |
| E | 7 |
| F | 12 |
| G | 9 |
| H | 0 |
| TOTAL | 165 |
Top 10 Hot Shots:
| Michael Kluk | 560 NS | 2xG80T, F50T, F40W, F39T, E30T, 2xE11J |
| Paul/ Aaron Welling | 537 NS | 4xG35W, F39T, F24W, D12 |
| Dave Sousa | 338 NS | 2xG64W, F52T, D12, 1/2A3 |
| Jay/ Cody Calvert | 224 NS | G64W, F12J, 2xD12, C6, B6, 2xA3, 1/2A6, 2x1/2A3, 1/4A2, 2xMicroMaxx |
| John Hogan | 149 NS | E23T, E18W, 3xD12, C6, B6, 2xA3, 1/2A6, 1/2A3 |
| Keith/ Marc Smith | 144 NS | 10xC6, 7xB6, B4, 4xA8, 2x1/2A3, 2x1/4A3 |
| Bill Piedra | 138 NS | 6xD12, 4xC6 |
| Jeff Thomas | 137 NS | F62DS, 2xD12, 3xB4, 3xA8 |
| Jake/ Jason Foster | 128 NS | E15W, 2xD12, 6xC6 |
| Sean/ Jeanne/ Alysia Hogan |
124 NS | F39T, 2xD12, 3xC6, B6, 3xA8 |
Total impulse for the day = 3173 Newton-Seconds, equivalent to an "L" motor.
RESULTS OF THE OPEN HELICOPTER DURATION CONTEST:
| Seniors | Juniors | ||||||
| BEST TIME | NAME | ROCKET | ENGINE | BEST TIME | NAME | ROCKET | MOTOR |
| 53.36 sec. | Jay Calvert | Apogee Rotaroc 13 | A3-4T | 38.35 sec. | Cody Calvert | Apogee Heliroc | A3-4T |
| 44.79 sec. | Bill Piedra | "Crazycopter"
Modified Estes Turbocopter |
C6-3 | 19.22 sec. | Matt Kurz | Estes Skywinder | C5-3 |
| 21.37 sec. | Jim Robinson | "Roton ATV" | C6-5 | 18.23 sec. | Tommy Ouellette | Estes Skywinder | C6-3 |
| 11.86 sec. | Jaryd Goyette | Estes Skywinder | B6-4 |
Jay Calvert
Vice President, CATO
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