CATO 32 Launch Report - 15 July 2000
Durham
CATO 32 was marked by intermittent rain, clouds, and winds later in the day. The turnout was small (as expected), however we collectively managed 42 flights. Several rockets were lost in the swamp to the west of the launch site.... at least three CATO members became quite familiar with the high grass, stream and muck (see photos below). We set up a scaled back launch system... despite the weather, we did have a very good time!
Sean Hogan leads off the launch with another successful flight of his Green Thing.
Jay Calvert makes final preparations for the flight of the 2-stage Long Shot (the rocket belongs to son Alex).
Alex Calvert launches the Long Shot while Jay looks on.
Jay Calvert's THOY Jaeger (sp?) lifts off on an F62 Dark Star motor. Unfortunately, upper level winds landed this rocket somewhere in the 6 foot high grass of the "Great Swamp". The rocket was not located despite a rather extensive search.
This monkey was dressed appropriately for today's weather... it also served as the target for the "closest to" contest.
A group shot of some of today's attendees. eHobbies generously provided the prizes for today's contest.
Matt Murdock, one of the winners of the "closest to" contest displays his chosen prize (a Quest Flat Cat) and the rocket that won it (Big Red).
Sean and Jay head off into the direction where two rockets were lost (Sean's upscale Mosquito and Jay's THOY Jaeger (sp?) are out there somewhere...
With no other choice, the search required crossing the stream. Despite the murk, the water actually felt quite nice!.
Where is that *@%$*) rocket! It must be here!!! Despite two trips into the swamp, fighting 6 foot high grass, mud, climbing trees and wading through a myriad of streams, no rockets were found. We did find a tennis ball, several toy pails, spray paint cans, a 55 gallon drum, and a bicycle helmet (no body attached to it however). We also ticked off some blue herrings that were nesting in the depths of the swamp. This swamp is treacherous... if you want an idea of what a military maneuver is like, take a trek into this mess!
Today's launch had 9 registered flyers and a total of 42 flights. Matt Murdock had the most flights by an individual (10 flights). Paul Welling burned the most propellant (322.5 Newton seconds), the vast majority of that number in three launches of his Spudnik. Today's theme was "Multi Stage rockets"; unfortunatley due to the rain and relatively low cloud cover, there was only one two stage rocket in the air (Alex Calvert's Long Shot). Today's contest was a spot landing contest; the person who landed closest to the monkey was the prize winner. Due to the less than perfect weather, we set up a few pads and used Paul's Aerotech launch controller (makes for a very quick set up and take down). Collectively we burned a total of 842.4 Newton seconds, equal to a mid "J" motor. Clusters: No cluster rockets flew today.
Classic Kits: Dave Sousa flew his Estes Alpha III several times, apparently with an altimeter on board for a few flights (45 and 41 feet were recorded as maximum altitude with 1/2A3 motors). Sean Hogan flew his 4.8x Mosquito (unfortunately this bird [or should I say "bug"] ended up in the swamp and did not come out).
Multi-Stage Flights: Alex Calvert flew the only two stage flight today, his Estes Long Shot. Luckilly, this rocket was launched when the winds were still fairly calm, and the rocket was recovered in the field.
Notable Flights: Paul Wellng flew his Spudnik three times using G35 motors; this rocket takes off amazingly fast for such a fat profile (I was not able to get a decent photo of it taking off due to its speed!). Jay Calvert flew his THOY Jaeger on an F62 Dark Star motor; Jay says this was his first mid-powered rocket, and unfortunatly it was lost in the swamp. There were quite a number of flights that took place while I was searching the swamp with Sean... if anyone has any other notes please let me know and I'll add them in! Motor CATOs: None (at least none while I was present... I was away for about an hour in the swamp...). Top 5 Hot Shots: Total Impulse (NS) 322.5 154 115 82 47
Anyone wishing to contribute images please
e-mail them to Joe Roberts
LAUNCH HIGHLIGHTS and STATS:
Name
Breakdown
Paul Welling
3xG35, 3xA10
Todd Harrison
G80, D21, C6, 2xA8
Sean Hogan
F12, F23
Jay Calvert
F62, 1/2A6, 1/4A2
Matt Murdock
A whole slew of Estes motors ranging from A8 to D12!
Anyone wishing to contribute additional images please
e-mail them to Joe Roberts
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