This is the launch report for April 14, 2001.
We had 23 fliers accomplish 108 flights. It was quite a day. The weather was super. Sunny, clear skies, slight breeze at times. Here's what we had.
| Flier | Flights | Comments |
| Robert Avery | 3 | Robert got in a few
flights. He had a bad day for
igniters. Sometimes those Aerotech
Copperheads short out along the edges.
When that happens, they aren't going to
light.
Robert flew his Oddball on a D12. Nice smooth flight. His Estes Shadow and V-2 also had good flights. The V-2 on an F-12 was a good flight. I was jinxed because I made comments on the PA system concerning his luck with igniters. I had problems later with one of my flights. Took three Copperheads. |
| Scott Brown | 13 | Scott got in a lot of flights
today. Although he slowed down a bit
from his 14 flights of last month. He
launched his "Blasto Cam" five
times. I hope to have so photos posted
in the future. He put up a couple of "H" motors (H242 and H238). They can really make a rocket move off of the pad in a hurry. His Super Big Bertha was exciting. One D12 surrounded by six C6s. After the chute came out, the ejection charges kept going off on the way down. His "Snitch," the flying saucer, which Scott double staged, had a real interesting flight. First stage got it up, but due to the arc, the second stage got it down, it a hurry. Good thing he didn't try to 3-stage it. |
| Daniel Buckalew | 7 | Daniel had a fair day.
His Mercury Redstone is nicely built and
detailed. It had a hard landing when
the parachute didn't fully open. His
Bullpup flew nicely on a C6-7. He had
a little trouble with his 3-stage Estes
Commanche 3. Staging problems let to a
"Lawn Dart" problem.
He got his Mirage up a couple of times of F40s. Nice motor. His HV Arcus had a good flight up on an F40, but with no ejection, rough landing. |
| Rich Burck | 1 | Rich got a new job and has
weekends off. He finally got to join
us. We were glad to see him and his
wife Jackie show up.
Rich got to launch his Crayon on an H238. It was suppose to be a 6 second delay. It came up a little short. We need to get Rich to fly his BIG Crayon for us. |
| Pete, Jordan, and Adam Covell | 13 | The Covell family once again
showed up and showed us some nicely detailed
rockets. They really like the Star
Wars kits.
Pete had a nice little rocket named "Little Big Ear." He did what is called a piston launch. This gives a little extra boost to the rocket. And boost it did. On a 1/4A motor it zipped off of the pad. I wonder what it would be like to piston launch an "M" motor?? Pete and Adam did a drag race with a couple of R2-D2s. They both left the pads at the same time. Adam's smaller R2-D2 with an A10 didn't go quite as high and fast as Dad's with the C5 in it. If you want to learn about "Parasite Gliders," Pete is the man to talk to. The wadding gets down faster than his gliders. Jordan had some great flights with his Skywinder, X-Wing Fighter, and Tie Fighter. Adam also got to fly a Star Wars Droid Fighter and an Alpha III. |
| Michael Deavers | 1 | Mike put up an Estes SR-71 on a C6-3. It started up straight. Then it went horizontal. Luckily, it flew out over the farmer's field. |
| Eric Sr. and Eric Jr. Fadely | 9 | Eric Jr. put up a small rocket
named Jaguar a couple of times. He
used an A10-3T. These are little
motors. But, don't underestimate what
you can do with them. his rocket
zipped of the pad and he had great flights.
Dad's Bullpup flew nicely on a B6.4. Dad's on a quest. 100 flights with a modified Alpha. He put it up 6 times with a C6-7. they were nice flights. |
| Michael Grego | 7 | Michael put up his Estes
Centaur on a C6-7. This was his first
rocket ever made and launched. He had
a slight problem with the recovery device.
He also put up a Twister on a B6-4, an AMRAAM on a C6-5, and an Astra I on a C6-7. Then he moved on to Ds. His Big Daddy went up on a D-12 and a V-2 on a D12. He had a good day. |
| Jay, Rebekah, and Ethan Kerr | 3 | Jay brought out the children.
They got their Alpha 3 up three times. They flew on A8-3s. Good flights. Jay took over launch duties for the second half of the day. |
| Jeff, John, and Jacob Koffel | 11 | Jeff came out last month to
see what we were doing. Well, he's
back. And he brought the children with
him.
Jeff put up an interesting rocket named "Screamer." It is a little rocket. He flew it on a D21-7. He was hoping for super sonic It left the pad in a hurry. It was very fast. He also had a badmitton birdie that he flew on an A10-3T. His maiden flight of his Huskie on an E15-4W was great. Then he flew his Initiator on an F23-4FJ, and had two flights of his G-Force on a G80 and a G38. Jacob put up his Big Daddy on a D12-3 for a good flight. John had good flights with his Fiesta on a B6-4, Mach 12 on a C6-3, Masacering on a C5-3, and the Firestreak on a C5-3. |
| Stephen Krall | 3 | Stephen put his Super Nuke up
in the air with an F50. Then he used
the same motor in his Mirage. Then he
put the Mirage up again on a G80.
I remember a couple of years back when he had to use "Duct Tape" to put the launch lugs back on. This was a Battle Park. I see that the duct tape is still holding on. You would think that with all the epoxy he used on his Level 3 rocket, he god have spared a little for the Mirage. Five years from now, he will still flying it with the same duct tape. |
| Wayne Miller | 6 | Wayne had a good day.
His Binder Design "Excel" went up on an H128. This was for his NAR Level 1 certification. He had a very good flight. This is a good rocket. Four inch diameter. It weighed 2.8 pounds on liftoff. Congratulations to Wayne on his certification. Welcome to high power (Translation: Higher prices). He didn't waste time. the Excel went up again on an H238. He did have a little bit of trouble with the recovery. But it survived. He also flew a Big Brute on a G64, a V-2 on a D-12, and his Der Red Max went up twice on a B6-4. |
| Ed Rowe | 1 | Ed brought out is PML Endeavour. He flew it on an I284. Using an altimeter the rocket separated and was drougeless at apogee. At 500 ft, the main parachutes (3), Ed likes three chutes, were ejected. The altimeter reported 2924 feet. Those "I" motors make a lot of noise. |
| Mike, Evan, and Shelby Verbeek | 23 | I think this family came ready
to fly rockets. 23 flights.
Shelby put up a Rattler 2 on a B6-6. Evan put up an AGM Phoenix, Goliath, Rattler7, Silver, Spitfire, Fireflash, and AIM120 AMRAMM all on C motors. An AIM120 also went up on a B6-6. The tall Estes Mean machine went up on a D12-3. Then came the Estes Mongoose. Two stage. C6-0 staging to a B6-6. Lawn Dart. Mike put up an AMRAAM on a C6-3. Then a Bullpup on a D12-5. The Mean Machine went up a couple of time on D12s. I wonder, how will the Mean Machine fly on an "E," maybe an "F?" The Maniac went up on a D12 and came down without a chute. Then the Initiator on a F40-10 and a G64-10. |
| Kelly Wilcox | 4 | A Sizzler on a C6-5 turned
into a lawn dart. Kelly then had some
good flights with C6-5s. His Serval
flew nicely.
He put up his repaired Long Shot. Two stage. D12 staging to a B6-6. Multi-stage rockets are sure impressive to watch. |
| Don Wittenauer | 3 | Don opened the show with his
EZI-65. He flew it on an H97J.
The altimeter reports 665 feet.
After doing launch duties for the first half of the day, he then attempted to fly a Vaughn Brother's Extreme 29 on an E18-10W. It was pay-back time for making fun of Robert Avery's igniter problems. It finally went up on the third igniter. An up it went. Landed next to the pitcher in the baseball field. The second flight of the EZI-65 was with an I-200W. Big flame. The altimeter opened the main chute at 800 feet. The altitude was 1,832 feet. |
We had a very good turn out. Good thing we
had built more launch pads. I think we'll
make some more. It is going to be a busy
summer at the launch field. I hope everyone
had a much fun as I did. Rocket fliers are a
great bunch of people.
I want to encourage everyone to join the NAR. Yes, it costs a lot of money. But if gives you insurance. They also have a very good magazine. The NAR also does a lot in getting laws changed. In the past there were states that had banned rockets. Massachusetts had banned rockets right after Robert Goddards first liquid fueled rocket flight. That's why he went to Roswell NM. The NAR was instrumental in getting that law changed. They are now working with TRA in fighting the BATF concerning high power motors.
You have to be a member of NAR to join SEVRA. You cannot fly high power (H motors and above) unless you join NAR.
Don:)~