Hard Landings was the theme for the day... the hard, frozen ground caused a number of rockets to sustain minor (to major) damage upon landing. Aside from that, it was a great day for a rocket launch. Wind was minimal and it was clear and sunny all day. The cold kept the crowd down somewhat compared to the last launch, however we still logged a substantial number of flights! The pictures below tell part of the story...

Paul Welling's LOC Bruiser. This is one of the largest rockets ever launched at a CATO event. Paul displays the 54mm K550 motor which will soon power this 14 pound brute to around 3000 ft altitude. Note the nozzle on this motor. Paul's flight was a total success, although recovery of the rocket required a drive in Sean Hogan's van (the rocket drifted quite some distance)!

Blast Off Sampler Number Two. Steve DeStefano's Super Vega on a CATOing Estes "D" motor (note the debris in the air!). Unknown, Kevin Cuomo's NCR Lance Beta and Paul Welling's Bullpup on an I161, headed for 3200 foot altitude!.

Anyone wishing to contribute images please e-mail them to astroman@cshore.com (Joe Roberts). PLEASE limit messages e-mailed to me to no more than 3MB at a time!

LAUNCH HIGHLIGHTS and STATS:

Today's launch had 18 registered flyers and a total of 74 flights. We burned a total of 6864 Newton Seconds of AP, equal to a mid M motor (23% of which went into the flight of Paul Welling's LOC Bruiser). There were several less than gentle landings, and damage to rockets was exacerbated by the frozen ground. Powdered Estes Chutes were mandatory for proper deployment!

Clusters: There were two cluster rockets flown today. Joe Roberts flew his clone of the classic Estes Cobra on 3xC6-5 power. The rocket had an excellent boost phase, and recovery was fine until the rocket landed in the tree. Now for some odds: The Cobra can easily do 1000 feet on 3xC6 power, so let's say that the rocket could come down in a circle 1000 feet across (reasonable for a low wind day). That's an area of 785,000 square feet. The tree has an estimated diameter of 60 feet, giving it an area of about 2800 square feet. Some quick calculations then show that the rocket has a 0.356% chance of landing in the tree (or about 1 chance in 280)! The TV keeps telling me that the odds of winning the lottery are 1 in 7, but I never win the lottery. But I can beat 1 in 280 odds and lose my rocket in the tree! The only other cluster of the day was Jay Calvert's 4-29 Pumpkin (part LOC 4-29SS and part PML Ariel). This rocket was to be lofted on a cluster of 4 motors, however a partial ignition resulted in a disastrous flight (see photos and notes above).

Classic Kits: Steve DeStefano flew his Estes Super Vega several times on D motors. Two of the flights were marred by motor CATOs, the second CATO resulted in substantial damage to the rocket (fins broke off and the motor mount blew out of the main body tube but the rocket appears to be repairable). John Atkinson flew a 4" version of the old Estes "Red Max" kit (John's version is called Blue Max. Matt Cuomo and Manny Dias had the perennial favorite Big Bertha in the air several times. Steve Tentinger flew an Estes Maxi Alpha for a good flight.

Multi-Stage Flights:A number of multi stage rockets were flown today. Tom Ouellette flew his Custom Aztec twice as part of his NARTREK Bronze certification (the first flight was rough, the booster came off with an abnormally loud "pop" so the flight had to be repeated after minor repairs). Steve Tentinger had a Mongoose in the air as did Alia Bradley. Finally, John Atkinson flew a Quest Navaho on a C6-0 to C6-7 motor combo.

Certifications: No certification flights today (although it was perfect weather for such an event)!

Notable Flights: There were a number of notable flights. Paul Welling's LOC Bruiser was one of the major crowd pleasers (see photo panel above). Les Kurz had a great dual deployment recovery of his PML Sudden Rush rocket as did Steve DeStefano with his Purple haze. John Poulin also had a great dual deployment recovery with his Project ADS. Jay Calvert had a rough day (in terms of damage sustained to rockets)... his Archer suffered significant damage after a partially deployed chute resulting in a hard landing. Worse by far was the damage to the 4-29 Pumpkin (the photos above tell the story).

Motor CATOs: Two Estes "D" motors CATO'd rather violently in Steve DeStefano's Super Vega. The rocket was repaired after the first CATO, but the second CATO flight left the bird in pieces. Also: Chris Adams had a very low thrust flight of his Amraam on an I357 motor (the rocket was totally destroyed when it crashed). It is not known why this occurred.