CATO LXV Launch Report - 10 August 2002
Durham, CT

CATO 65 was a bright and sunny day with clear skys, wam temperatures, and a mild breeze out of the south.  The theme of the launch was "Scale Rockets". 29 flyers made 105 flights and burned 2,581 Ns of propellant.

Launch Photos



1.  Spencer Poulin with a Quest Nike Smoke on a B4-4 and Josh Beres with a Quest Gamma Ray on an A8-3.
2.  Andy Litrenta (on right) with an Aerotech Initiator on Andy's first RMS motor (E16W-4).  Todd Harrison (left) helps out.  Andy made two additional flights  later on an F40W-7 and a G38-7FJ.  All great flights.  Photos by John Poulin.



1.  Spencer holding John Poulin's Bullpup AMG12C (a kit by The Launch Pad ).
2.  The Bullpup on the pad, ready to fly on an F32W-5.  Photos by John Poulin.



1. The Bullpup at take-off.  Nice straight flight with ejection at apogee. Unfortunately the motor mount didn't withstand the charge and also ejected .
2.  Ryan Tracey making electrical connections to his Estes Bandit (C6-5).  Briana Tracey's Estes Mighty Mites Outlaw (A10-3T) in further to the right.  Jay Calvert's QCR Folding Wing Rocket Glider is ready to go on the left (C6-3).  Photos by John Poulin.



1.  John Poulin's Indigo (The Launch Pad) ready for flight on an E18W-4.  Launch crew is Spencer Poulin and Josh Beres.
2.  Mercury Redstone drag race between Ross Leshikar's brand new Estes Mercury Redstone on the left (Maiden flight on a C6-3) and Jay Calvert's classic Estes Mercury Redstone out of frame on the right (C5-3).  Photos by John Poulin.



1.  A red scratch built rocket takes off.  The two-stager is Ross Tracey's Quest Navaho.  The sustainer failed to ignite and ended up pinning Jay Calvert's cardboard rocket box to his card table by piercing both!
2.  Todd Harrison's "Kosdon Gator" climbs the rail on a NAR-certified Kosdon G reload.  Unfortunately, Todd's rocket was also doomed to a high-speed nose-first recovery.  Ouch. Photos by Don Stevens.



1.  Jay Calvert's Exocet MM.40, a scale model of  the famous ship-to-ship missile by The Launch Pad, boosting on twin D12-3 motors.  The motor mount blew out the rear of the rocket and was lost, but the rest of the rocket was recovered intact.
2.  A blue rocket launching on a black powder motor.  Photos by Don Stevens.


1.  LCO Sean Hogan watches the action.
2.  Jay Calvert's Twisted Mamas spinning off the rod on a pair of F12-5J motors.  Only one is going so far.
3.  John Poulin's TLP Indigo on an E18-4W.
4.  John hooking up his Saturn 4.
5.  There she goes!
Photos by Don Stevens.



1.  Space Shuttle
2.  Blast off!
3.  John and his Saturn IV
4.  Blast off!
Photos by Zack Lau.


1.  AMRAAM
2.  ARV Condor
3.  Astrocam
4.  Black Brant II
5.  black rocket
6.  Fat Boy
7.  Silver Hawk Glider
8.  Hercules
Photos by Zack Lau.

Anyone wishing to contribute images please e-mail them to Jay Calvert

LAUNCH HIGHLIGHTS and STATS:

Frequent Flyers: Andy Litrenta managed 9 flights while Spencer Poulin and Josh Beres each flew 8 times.

Clusters: Jay Calvert flew his Exocet on a pair of D12s and his "Twisted Mamas" on a pair of F12Js. Jeff Thomas flew his Astron Cobra on a quartet of B4 motors. Zack Lau clustered a 1/2A3 and a pair of 1/4A3s in his "Cluster".

Multi-Stage Flights: Jay Calvert flew his WAC Corpoal/Tiny Tim rocket on a D12 to a C6. Andy Litrenta flew an Estes Mongoose on a b6 to b6 combination. Ross Tracey tried to stage his Navaho on a B6 to B6 but failed to get the second stage lit. Just ask Jay Calvert.

Classic Kits:  Jay Calvert's vintage Estes Mercury Redstone (C5-3).

Motor CATOs:  Jeannine Lawall had an Aerotech F50-T single use motor blow out its nozzle.  "The Hobbit" never made it off the pad.  Jeannine and Peter, with some help from Sean and Jay, used some "inovative technology" to extract the remnants of the motors from the Hobbit's motor mount (you had to be there)!

Other Notable Flights:  Jay Calvert flew "Twisted Mamas" on two F12-5J reloads, for a truely twisted flight.

Contests:  No contest today, but the theme of the launch was "Scale Rockets".  Many scale and scale-like models were flown.
 
 

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