The weather for our last launch of the year was was bright, sunny, and cool. The temperature made it into the 40's and the winds were from the west. Stiff gusts were omnipresent most of the day, but we did have a couple of pleasant lulls. 22 flyers made 45 flights and burned 6,925 Ns of total impulse equal to a 35% "M" motor.
First flight of the day. Ross Leshikar's Alpha starts up the rod on a Estes B4-4. Jay Calvert's egg loft entry "Tubal Ligation" waits on blue pad 5. Today we used a reduced equipment set-up. Only one rack of Estes pads was set-up and only 5 high power pads were used. On the right, Will Tentinger's "Hex" showers the waiting rockets with the smoke from a C6.
Free from the tree! The tree in the background is one of only three actually on the field. Clockwise from the top left: John Poulin's Ariel on an H180W, Rick DeFonce's Iris on a G80T, Kyle Watson's "Viper" on a Cesaroni J285, and Todd Harrison's "Wahoo" on a 2 grain H153.
On the left, Les Kurz' "America One" cranks skyward on an Aerotech H210 Redline motor. Redlines are pretty scarce these days. In the middle, Jay Calvert's "Diamond Back" burns a pair of C11s and a D12. All three motors are lit. On the right, Rick Polzello's Public Enemy "Predator" makes its 1st flight on a Cesaroni H153.
At left, a black powder motor scorches the stand-off clip and deflects the blast plate while Ross Tracey's Harpoon and Steve Tentinger's Phobos wait. There goes the Harpoon on a C6. At right the Phobos lifts off on a G64W.
Tough Customers. The Aminty High School Team pose with their Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) entry "ATA-1 Von Braun". From left to right, Colin Theys, Toby Schneider, Dany Qumsiyeh, Nicole Giannini, and Nick Santucci. They had two mostly successful flights and recorded altitudes of 1,150 and 1,615. Liftoff was provided by a G80T and the sustainer burned an F39T. Nice job!
Kyle Watson inserts an igniter into his "Viper" for a flight on a Cesaroni J285. At right, someone's orange contest entry lifts chicken fruit skyward.
Rick Polzello's Ferrari Formula 1 themed rocket "Scuderia" rides the plume of an Aerotech K700W to 5,175 feet. At right, a Missile Works RRC2 provided a perfect dual deployment recovery on the field.
CATO's newest members, Chris Mikovits and Sana Giri pose with the immaculately decorated LOC IV "Cool Colors". Chris built his 1st reload, a G64W to send it up. The flight was flawless!
Tim Hetland loads his Patriot onto the pad. Next, the blue flame of an Aerotech I357 can be seen hanging out the back of Rick DeFonce's "Star Emerald". A yellow egg lofted heads for the sky on an Estes E9. At right, Jay Calvert's "Executioner Spike" clears the rail on a G64-4W. This is a two-stage pseudo-TARC rocket with two eggs on board. The sustainer (F39-9T) failed to light, but the altimeter saved it. Both stages recovered safely under chute and on the field.
John Poulin (seated) served as contest director and is seen here inspecting Les Kurz' eggs for cracks. At right a fluorescent competitor lifts off on an E9 black powder motor.
Don Stevens and his daughter enjoyed the day.
1) John Poulin's PML Ariel on an Aerotech H180 White Lightning.
2) Les Kurz' America One on an Aerotech H210 Redline.
3) Kyle Watson's Viper on a Cesaroni Pro38 J285.
4) Jay Calvert's Executioner Spike 2-stager, on an Aerotech G64 White Lightning to F39 Blue Thunder combo.
5) Rick Polzello's PML Predator on a Cesaroni Pro38 H153.
6) Chris Mikovits' LOC IV "Cool Colors" on an Aerotech G64 White Lightning.
Photos by Jay Calvert.
Rick Polzello's Scuderia on a K700W, as seen from the back 40.
Photos by Jay Calvert.
One last contest flight. You can take down all of the equipment, but a persistent competitor will still find a way to squeeze one last flight in. Here Ulf & Eric Jonsson set up a piston launcher and used an Estes launch controller to make the last flight of the day. (1st of the night?) The egg capsule drifted into the East woods and Ulf was last seen walking in with a flashlight.................
LAUNCH HIGHLIGHTS and STATS:
Certifications: None today.
Frequent Flyers: Jay Calvert and John Poulin made 4 flights today. Five flyers managed 3.
Clusters: Jay Calvert flew "Diamond Back" in the egg loft contest on a pair of C11s and a D12.
Multi-Stage Flights: Toby Schneider and Jay Calvert practiced for the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Toby flew "ATA-1 Von Braun" successfully twice and managed altitudes of 1,615 & 1,150. Both flights staged a G64W to F39T combo. Jay flew the same motors in his "Executioner Spike". Unfortunately, the upper stage failed to light, but the altimeter provided safe recovery.
Classic Kits: None today.
Motor CATOs: Tim Hetland had an Aerotech F50-6T single use motor pop the nozzle and eject the propellant grain on the pad.
Other Notable Flights: Rick Polzello flew his Ferrari themed "Scuderia" on a K700W to 5,175 feet.
Contests: Today's NAR-sanctioned open meet, "CATO 69", was postponed from an earlier date and held at the CATO 70 launch. Events were E-Egg Loft Duration (E-ELD) and E-Dual Egg Loft Duration (E-DELD).
CATO 69 Open Meet
| NAME / DIVISION | SCORE | PLACE | CONTEST POINTS | PRIZE |
| E-ELD | ||||
| Jay Calvert (C) | 88 sec / no 2nd flight | 1st (C+A) | 360 | Aerotech Initiator |
| Don Stevens (C) | 70 sec / no 2nd flight | 2nd (C+A) | 216 | Quest Courier |
| Brad Dibble (C) | 58 sec / 37 sec | 3rd (C+A) | 144 | - |
| John Poulin (C) | DQ (broke egg) / DQ (broke egg) | - | 0 | - |
| Les Kurz (C) | DQ (separation) / no 2nd flight | - | 0 | - |
| Eric Jonsson (A) | DQ (broke egg) / no 2nd flight | - | 0 | - |
| E-DELD | ||||
| Jay Calvert (C) | 43 sec / DQ (broke egg) | 1st (C+A) | 540 | Aerotech Wart Hog |
| Ulf Jonsson (C) | DQ (broke egg) / DQ (broke egg) | - | 0 | - |
| Les Kurz (C) | DQ (separation) / no 2nd flight | - | 0 | - |
| John Poulin (C) | DQ (separation) / no 2nd flight | - | 0 | - |
| Brad Dibble (C) | DQ (broke egg) / no 2nd flight | - | 0 | - |
| Eric Jonsson (A) | DQ (broke egg) / DQ (no return) | - | 0 | - |
| CATO69 Meet Totals | ||||
| Jay Calvert (C) | - | 1st | 900 | |
| Don Stevens (C) | - | 2nd | 216 | |
| Brad Dibble (C) | - | 3rd | 144 | |
| Ulf Jonsson (C) | - | - | 0 | |
| Eric Jonsson (A) | - | - | 0 | |
| John Poulin (C) | - | - | 0 | |
| Les Kurz (C) | - | - | 0 | |
| Year to Date Totals (2001/2002 contest season) |
||||
| Jay Calvert (C) | - | 1st | 1034 | |
| Les Kurz (C) | - | 2nd | 840 | |
| Zachary Lau (C) | - | 3rd | 684 | |
| Ulf Jonsson (C) | - | 4th | 640 | |
| Laureano Andrade (A) | - | 5th | 624 | |
| Spencer Poulin (A) | - | 6th | 220 | |
| John Poulin (C) | - | 7th (tie) | 216 | |
| Don Stevens (C) | - | 7th (tie) | 216 | |
| Alejandro Andrade (A) | - | 8th | 204 | |
| Brad Dibble (C) | - | 9th | 144 | |
| Tom Ouellette (A) | - | 10th | 120 | |
| Jose Andrade Cora (C) | - | 11th | 76 | |
| Brain DiBella (C) | - | 12th | 64 | |
| Olivier Narcisse (A) | - | 13th | 56 | |
| Rick Polzello (C) | - | 14th | 34 | |
| Spencer Martin (A) | - | 15th (tie) | 16 | |
| Larry Hardin (C) | - | 15th (tie) | 16 |
Top 10 Hot Shots:
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| Rick Polzello |
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K700W, H153 |
| Tim Hetland |
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J330, G35W |
| Kyle Watson |
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J285, F24W |
| Rick DeFonce |
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I357T, G80T, F72T |
| Toby Schneider |
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G80T (2), F39T (2) |
| John Poulin |
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H180W, E15W, E9 (2) |
| Jay Calvert |
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G64W, F39T, E30T (2), D12, C11 (2) |
| Les Kurz |
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H210R, E15W, E9 |
| Todd Harrison |
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H153 |
| Ulf & Eric Jonsson |
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E9 (5) |
Motor Summary
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Anyone wishing to contribute additional images please e-mail them to Jay Calvert
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