This is the
launch report for
September 1, 2001.
What a day. Many of you didn't show because of the weather. You missed it. Yes it was sprinkling a little at noon. But it quit. The clouds were high. No wind to speak of all day. Late in the day it was dead calm. Rockets that went straight up, came virtually straight down. We had some really neat stuff going on. It was fun. Even though I did not fly today, I had a great time watching everyone else.
Mike Verbeek put on a little show with a air launch rocket he picked up while on vacation. It uses an air pump and rupture disks. When the pressure gets high enough, the disks rupture. The massive air flow pops the rocket off the launch pad. It was great.
Some of you left early. Should have stayed. You missed the inflatable rocket. It first flew on a D. Later it went up on an E. You also missed the flying corn cobs. Yes, corn cobs can fly.
We had 19 fliers and 87 flights. It was a good day.
| Flier | Flights | Comments |
| Scott Brown | 14 | Scott came with a mission in
mind today. Run the alphabet. He did
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I. Not bad.
His Gyroc went up on an A8 and a B6. The B6 made it dance a little. His Skywinder flew on a B6. The Big Bertha went on a C6. Double Trouble boosted on a C6 and staged to a C6. Then there is Big Trouble. A cluster of 2 D12s staging to 2 B6s. We are seeing lots of clustering. It gets pretty exciting sometimes. Super Big Bertha went on an E28. Then a rocket with no name went on an F24. The always excited pyramid, RP-1, went up (sort of up) on a G38. Due to rod selection problem, it flew further horizontally than it did vertically. On its second flight all was well. Great flight. Bubba went up on an H238. Nice loud motor. Then came the flying saucer. The Flaming Lampshade. This was launched on an I357. Great boost. Scott still has some bugs to work out on his timer. No chute. It is build strong enough that it suffers no damage on landing. He then did a drag race with the Covells using his Skywinder on a C6. It was a great drag race. Scott closed out the day with his Super Big Bertha on an E30. |
| Pete and Jordan Covell | 17 | Pete likes to take small rockets with small motors, and make them go real fast real high. He put up an Estes E2X on a B6. Talk about zip. He got it back and decided it needed a little more zip. So he launched it with a C6. Jordan put up a Manta with a glider on an A8. The Manta repeated with a B4. Pete's Berth's Revenge went up on a B4. Prowler II left the pad on a C6 staging to a B4. The Bertha with a Shuttle went up three times on a C6. There was a problem on the first two launches. On the third, it was perfect. The glider took forever to come down. To test fate, Pete added a booster. C6 staging to a B4. Slight problem when it left the rod. It went horizontal. Staged. Severe impact for a nice rocket. Jordan's Skywinder flew on a C6. The Manta went on a B6. It was late and the kids had some corn cobs. What else when there is a big corn field nearby. Jordan put up Corn Dawg on a A8. It flew great. But this was just the beginning of late-in-the-day antics. corn Dawg then went up on a B4. This one got a little squirrelly. The Dawg can sky dance. With a little nose weight, two screws, and a C6, we had a great flight. Pete has this nice little rocket named Big Little Ears 2. I wonder what happened to Big Little Ears 1. this little rocket can fly. Pete decided that today he would add a booster to it. A B4 staging to an A4. Slight staging problem. Booster separated put the sustainer didn't ignite. Broke a fin on landing. Nothing a little super glue couldn't fix. Try again with the same engine combination. No go. The sustainer didn't ignite and, the booster didn't separate this time. With the booster still attached, it went ballistic... |
| Eric Fadely | 1 | Eric flew his Lil' Nuke
today. Put an F23 in it. This is
a fast black jack load. Had a great
flight.
Eric spent the day taking photos. |
| Scott Houppermans | 3 | Scott has been trying to get
down here to see us and fly. We were
very glad to see him.
He brought his TLAM Cruise Missile. His first flight was with a B6. It was a good flight. Then came the C6 two times. Very good flights. This rocket has a long curve to its flight path. Scott, we hope you can get down here more often. |
| Carl Kinney | 2 | Carl made a couple of flights
today.
He put up Go Away on a B6. It is a small rocket. It did try to go away. This was followed by a Sprint on a B6. This was also a great flight. |
| Jeff, Joe, Jacob, and John Koffel | 15 | John put up his Mean Machine
twice on a D12. Great flights.
Jeff has, had, this really great looking three stage rocket. Super paint job. It wasn't very tall, maybe 18 inches. Three stages. A C6 to a C6 to a C6. If only it had gone straight up. Off the pad it angled a little. At second stage ignition, it angled a little more. Of course when the third stage ignited, a little more angle. It really hauled the mail. It don't remember the search party coming back with it. Joe put up a Silver Comet on a D12. Really good flight. Joe needs to ask Dad for an E15. John flew his Missile Loader three times on A10s. Had great flights. This rocket has fins that sweep forward. Most of the time, this means trouble. But these fins are on straight. The rocket flies nice and smooth. John flew Masacering on a C6. Jeff put up his Mark II on a C6. His G-Force flew on a G64. Jeff then brought out his Sr-71. Nice looking rocket. Radio controlled. He had an E15 in it. It was a low altitude flight. I'm not sure, but I think he wrote his name. He had a long loop that was exciting. He pulled it up just in time. Then it stalled on him. He suffered minor nose damage... to the rocket. Jeff put up his Red, White, and Blue on an H123. Great motor and very good flight. Jacob flew Big Daddy on a B12. Those rockets are always exciting. Jeff's Huskie II flew on an F12. Blobbo went on a C6. |
| Stephen Krall | 7 | Stephen got this really good
deal on motors. He bought a bunch on
G80s.
Well, today he decided to burn them up. Using a Mirage, he made seven flights. This motor puts the Mirage up there. Very good flights. He had to walk once in awhile. One time it came back very close to the pad. |
| John Martin | 3 | It seems as though John has
given in to everyone. Nessie's Revenge
has been officially renamed John Deere.
This is a great looking rocket. Yellow and green. Five big, long sweeping fins. Five 24mm motor mounts. Five D12s. John had three great flights. All motors ignited. Straight up. It was really great. On the third flight, the ejection charge didn't push the parachute out. Minor fin damage. It shall return. |
| Tracy Phelps | 5 | Tracy put up his Supper Nova
on a D12. Had a great flight.
He flew his Mercury Redstone two times using a D12. This is a nicely detailed rocket. The second flight did some skywriting. No damage. Can't tell what went wrong. Have you ever seen a bag of air fly. Tracy found this Estes get that is an inflatable rocket. It has a 24mm mount. Seven feet tall. Almost six inches in diameter. He put a D12 in it. Slow and low. It has a parachute. We talked him into an E15. Why not, it fits. He did have a slight hole in the mylar. The rocket went limp on the pad. It couldn't perform. After blowing it up, I hope someone has a picture of this, he found the hole and patched it. Back to the pad. Now that it was rigid, it was time. It was great. It is hard to explain its performance. "The Dude" performed. |
| Sean Sousa | 2 |
Sean likes his level 1 certification. He flew his Loc EZI-65 two times. He put it up on an H210. Those new redline motors are great. They have a brilliant red flame. He had a great flight. For the second flight, he used and H180. Another great flight. It won't be long and he'll modify it for an altimeter. |
| Jessica and Josh Tschirhart | 8 | Jessica put up here Quark on a
1/2A3. It went into the corn.
She decided that for the cost, it wasn't
worth the trip into the muddy, nasty corn
field.
She has this brilliantly colored rocket. It is a deep blue and florescent orange. She named it "Blorange." It flew on a B6 three times. It had shock cord separation once. Josh flew his Astrocam three times on a C6. It always angled away from the crowd. I hope he got some interesting pictures. Josh has this very good looking Saturn V. For you young people, this is a rocket and not his car. He put it up on an E15. It was a great flight. It went up very straight. It was impressive. |
| Evan, Shelby, and Mike Verbeek | 10 | Shelby put up Rattler 7 on a
C6. Had a great flight.
Evan has this rocket named 007. It takes seven motors. This is an awesome looking rocket. 1 D12, 2 D11, 4 C6s. That's a bundle of motors. Seven motors. Mike had a snake ball of wires to hook up for this one. Everything ignited. Shortly after clearing the rod, a fin broke loose. Skywriting. Easy fix. Mike's AIM 120 went up on 2 D12s. Very good flight. He flew his Gold and Silver on a C6. Evan's Spitfire flew nicely on a C6. Mike's Onyx went up on an E10. Great flight. He also flew a new rocket with no paint job. The name is A New One?? This flew on a D12. His Bullpup flew on a D12. Later it went up on an E28. Mike's Initiator flew on an E23. great flight. |
I also encourage everyone to join the NAR. This provides you with a great magazine and that all so important liability insurance. You must be a member of the NAR to be a member of SEVRA. You do not have to be a member of SEVRA to fly. We do encourage you to join SEVRA. We use the money to pay for NAR section dues and to buy launch equipment which isn't cheap.
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:)~