CATO LXVI Launch Report - 7 September 2002
Durham, CT

CATO 66 had near perfect weather. The sky was cloudless, the winds were very light until late in the afternoon, and the temperatures were warm.32 flyers made 95 flights and burned 1,670 Ns of propellant. This is the 3rd lowest impulse total in CATO history. The two other low impulse totals were both bad weather launches. (Drizzle, Snow) The three (3) NAR 1/2A contests influenced the very low total. 1/2A parachute duration, helicopter duration and boost glider duration were flown. The 36 contest flights only contributed 45 Ns!

Launch Photos


Busy day at the launch! A couple of rocket dads help the kids while Jay Calvert begins the arduous task of the NAR paperwork.



Someone's Estes rocket boosts off the red pads while a Deltie and others wait their turn. At right Len Haze's upscale Mosquito begins yet another flight skyward on an Estes E9.



LOC IV Drag Race. Todd Harrison's and Eric Spain's LOC IV's chase each other into the sky. Both rockets flew on F50T motors. Unfortunately, Todd Harrison's ejected while still boosting resulting in a crash.



Return of the Jedi. Brian DiBella's Estes Death Star lifts off from blue pad 2. This neat rocket's classic multi-part recovery can be seen at right.



A tribute to Piet Mondrian. Art aficionado Ulf Jonsson shows off his beautifully painted rocket. The art of Piet Mondrian provided the inspiration. The rocket is a 3 x 24mm cluster and flew twice on a trio of C11's and D12's. Here it boosts on the D12's. Ulf had a stuffed parachutist on board for a little ride.

Rick DeFonce flew his very nice F104 Starfighter on a G80T. The rocket flew perfectly and the nice dual chute recovery is seen on the right.

On the left is Don Steven's "Superchicken" burning an F20W. In the middle is Rick Polzello's Amraam 2. This rocket can just be seen heading for the 60 foot tall tree on the hill. It comfortably nestled in the branches right at the top. Hey! there goes that Estes rocket again.


Left: John Poulin RSO's one of the Andrade family's gliders.
Right: White Lightning lift off.
Photos by Don Stevens.


Blastoff Assortment:
1)  A two stage Custom Aztec.
2)  Blue model rocket on black powder motor.
3)  Rick Polzello's ASRAAM scale missile (The Launch Pad) flying on twin D12 motors.
4)  Rick's PML AMRAAM 2 on its Farewell Flight.
5)  Not -so-Black Brant (?)
6)  Aerotech Initiator on a White Lightning motor.
Photos by Zack Lau.

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

LAUNCH HIGHLIGHTS and STATS:

Frequent Flyers: Ulf Jonsson led all flyers with 8 flights. Zack Lau, Les Kurz, and Rick DeFonce all managed 7 flights.

Clusters: Ulf Jonsson flew his three motor "Piet Mondrian" twice today. Once on a trio of C11's for a less than desirable flight when only two motors lit. He tried again and had a nice flight when all three D12's lit. The rocket also had a stuffed parachute toy along for the ride. The rocket is tribute to the famous artist. Rick Polzello flew his ASRAAM on a pair of D12-5's.

Multi-Stage Flights: Les Kurz flew his "Aztec" on a B6 staging to an A8. Briana Tracey flew her Quest Navaho on a B6-0/B6-4 combination.

Classic Kits:

Motor CATOs:  Fortunately none. However Rick DeFonce had an F39 fail to eject in his X-181.

Other Notable Flights:

Contests: Today's contest was an NAR-sanctioned Open Meet with three events: 1/2A Boost Glider, 1/2A Parachute Duration, and 1/2A Helicopter Duration.

CATO 66 Open Meet

NAME / DIVISION SCORE
(* = returned)		 PLACE CONTEST POINTS PRIZE
1/2A BG
Laureano Andrade (A) 33s* + no 2nd flight = 33s 1st (A) 340 Estes Naboo Fighter
Alejandro Andrade (A) 26s* + no 2nd flight = 26s 2nd (A) 204 -
Olivier Narcisse (A) DQ(Red Baron) + no 2nd flight = 0s - 0 -
Les Kurz (C) 45s* + 247s = 292s 1st (C) 340 LDRS 20 video
Ulf Jonsson (C) 68s* + 61s* = 129s 2nd (C) 204 -
Zachary Lau (C) 63s* + DQ(shred) = 63s 3rd (C) 136 -
Jay Calvert (C) 28s* + 30s* = 58s 4th (C) 68 -
Rick Polzello (C) 34s* + no 2nd flight = 34s 5th (C) 34 (flight points) -
1/2A PD
Spencer Poulin (A) DQ(lost NC) + 32s* = 32s 1st (A) 140 Edmonds Tinee
Laureano Andrade (A) 16s* + 15s = 31s 2nd (A) 84 -
Olivier Narcisse (A) 14s* + 10s = 24s 3rd (A) 56 -
Alejandro Andrade (A) DQ (kicked motor) + no 2nd flight - 0 -
Zack Lau (C) 84s* + 245s* = 329s 1st (C) 140 Estes Electron Beam Launch System
Les Kurz (C) 109s* + 50s  = 159s 2nd (C) 84 -
Ulf Jonsson (C) 121s* + no 2nd flight = 121s 3rd (C) 56 -
Jay Calvert (C) 65s + 39s = 104s (no return) 4th (C) 14 (flight points) -
Jose Andrade Cora (C) DQ(sep) + DQ(kicked motor) = 0s - 0 -
1/2A HD
Ulf Jonsson (C) 50s* + 96s* = 146s 1st (C) 380 Cannon Binoculars
Zachary Lau (C) 16s* + 44s* = 60s 2nd (C) 228 -
Les Kurz (C) 28s* + 11s* = 39s 3rd (C) 152 -
Jose Andrade Cora (C) 14s* + no 2nd flight = 14s 4th (C) 76 -
Jay Calvert (C) DQ(no deploy) + DQ(kicked motor) = 0s - 0 -
CATO66 Meet Totals
Ulf Jonsson (C) - 1st 640
Les Kurz (C) - 2nd 576
Zachary Lau (C) - 3rd 504
Laureano Andrade (A) - 4th 424
Alejandro Andrade (A) - 5th 204
Spencer Poulin (A) - 6th 140
Jay Calvert (C) - 7th 82
Jose Andrade Cora (C) - 8th 76
Olivier Narcisse (A) - 9th 56
Rick Polzello (C) - 10th 34
Year to Date Totals
(2001/2002 contest season)
Les Kurz (C) - 1st 840
Zachary Lau (C) - 2nd 684
Ulf Jonsson (C) - 3rd 640
Laureano Andrade (A) - 4th 624
Spencer Poulin (A) - 5th 220
John Poulin (C) - 6th 216
Alejandro Andrade (A) - 7th 204
Jay Calvert (C) - 8th 134
Tom Ouellette (A) - 9th 120
Jose Andrade Cora (C) - 10th 76
Brain DiBella (C) - 11th 64
Olivier Narcisse (A) - 12th 56
Rick Polzello (C) - 13th 34
Spencer Martin (A) - 14th (tie) 16
Larry Hardin (C) - 14th (tie) 16

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