Two fliers certified level 1:  Rob Larson with an H180W in a 1/4 scale,Patriot, and CATO treasurer Dave Sousa with an H123W in a LOC IV (unfortunately Dave's flight became a "treebird").  Congrats gentlemen, and thanks to CATO Prefect John Brndiar for handling the Tripoli certification paperwork.  John found time to fly his LOC Caliber on an H242T, and other high power flights were flown by Larry Hardin (D-Region Tomahawk on an H123W, as well as the "I" flight mentioned above), Jeaux Robinson (AMRAAM 3 on an H242T), CATO President Paul "Lud" Ludwig (LOC EZI on an H123W) and CATO VP Paul Welling (V2 on an H128W).

Tiger den 7 (photo#1) from Cub Scout Pack 55 in Gales Ferry stopped by in their orange shirts to enjoy the action.  Some of the Tigers (Cody Calvert, Dane Mickelson, Jason Scott, and Joseph Weiss) brought their own rockets to launch.  Cody took three aerial photographs of the launch field with his Estes Astrocam.

FREQUENT FLIERS:  This was a close race, but the Daines (Richard, Aaron, and Amanda) edged out the Wellings (Paul, Aaron, Stephanie, Nicole, and Rachel) by one flight, 21 to 20.  A distant 3rd was a 3-way tie between Sandy Alonzo, and Calverts (Jay and Cody), and Pete Sulinski, with 9 flights each, and the Sousas (Dave and Eric) flew 8.

MORE POWER!  So, who burned the most ammonium perchlorate and black powder, you ask?  Well, the top 15 individuals in order (with Newton-seconds burned) were:  Larry Hardin (587), Dave Sousa (476), Robert Lee (447), Paul Ludwig (409), Jeaux Robinson (389), Rob Larson (383), Paul Welling (342), Walt Cooper (324), John Brndiar (235), Jay Calvert (234), Walter Johnson (209), Richard Daines (206), Sandy Alonzo (195), Gary Hills (175), and Aaron Welling (162).

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:
Sandy Alonzo flew 2.6" diameter tube fin rocket which flew great, and a couple of experimental Tri-F-0 "saucers", and concluded the day's activities with a 5-way Fat Boy drag race. George Boulas tried some interesting folding-wing and tri-wing boost gliders. Jay Calvert attempted to bust mach 1 with an 18mm Aerotech E25-7T in a very light, minimum diameter rocket, the "machette".The altitude predictions say mach 1.04 at 0.75 seconds into the flight. Sure enough, that's about when the thin plywood fins shredded and the rocket underwent "rapid disassembly". Jay also flew his "Spin Doctor" with an F12-5J in one side and an F24-4W in the other(photo #2).Both engines ignited, leaving a twisting helix of black and white smoke.The Spin Doctor was last seen under canopy, floating towards Rhode Island, taking two 24/40 cans with it...oh well. Walt Cooper flew a way cool Mercury Redstone on a G80. Amanda Daines gets the persistence award for flying her Fat Boy 7 times (photo #3).Her dad, Richard flew his Aerotech Warthog on E30-4T motors 3 times (photo 4). Robert Lee flew upscale Mosquitoes and a Maxi-Alpha, and a truly bizarre flying outhouse!  And finally there was the Welling family drag race (5 Alphas).

Here is an interesting photo sequence:

1. Here is my North Coast SA-14 Archer taking off under an Aerotech G35-4W Econojet. Notice Lud's LOC Norad sitting on the next pad.(photo #5)
2. Here's the Norad taking off (photo #6) with an Aerotech G75J reload a few moments later. If you look carefully below and to the right of the Norad, you can see my Archer descending under a red chute. Notice the tree line.
3. Here's where the Archer ended up!(photo #7) As (bad) luck would have it, the Norad also found (another) tree.
4. Here's Richard Daines' Estes Phoenix (photo #8)about to leave the pad under the power of an Estes D12-3.Yes, the red dot in the tree in the background is my Archer.
5. Here's the Phoenix a few seconds later.(photo #9) OUCH! What's the name of the club...?