Subject: [LAUNCH REPORT] MTMA First Launch! Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 03:54:36 GMT From: blankreg@nospam.ever.net (Hilty Information Systems) Organization: APK Net Newsgroups: rec.models.rockets Hey All! After much rumination, the Mantua Township Missle Agency (MTMA) pulled together its first, organized launch on Sunday May 16th! We we're lucky enough to get permission to use a "sod farm on its way back to nature" as a launch field. We probably had close to 25 acres of sod, sorta-sod, sorta-scrub-sod, and sorta-scrub-sod-treelines to work with! It _was_ a bit windy, with winds coming in around 10-15 mph from the SE, but we worked the field _quite_ well for newbies! We had over 50 in attendance, much of which consisted of wives, children, onlookers, etc. Can't really report chronologically, but we'll go by rocketeer.... Randy Miller put up his Laser Torpedo on an A8-3 for a wind test. He followed up through the day with his Silver Comet on a D12-7, Cherokee "D" on a D12-7, Big Bertha on a C6-5, Sentinel on a C6-5, and a Dynamic Carrier on a C6-7. Randy?... you've _got_ to bring more motors next time! I _do_ have to admit, we were "wowed" by his expert use of _long_ delays! :) Randy's brother-in-law, Stan Mikush, was our medium power guy of the day. Stan started off with a LOC Hi-Tech, on an Aerotech RMS F40. This was followed by a Mini-Magg on a G64 which provided us with our first, only, and _most_ spectacular prang due to one of the longest bonus delays I'd ever seen. Stan did get the nosecone back, but Mini was pretty wasted. Stan's Viper-4 flew with a cluster of 4 D12-7's. All motors ignited, and it was a beautiful flight. He then offered a Fat-Boy up for sacrifice on an F24SU. High, arcing flight (as were they all), but ended up 15 feet up in a tree. Our landowner graciously offered the use of one of his employees who works for a tree service, so we should be able to get Fat Boy back to his rightful owner. Stan loaded up a beautiful Estes Phoenix with an F24SU (everyone else kinda went "Why's he doing that!?), for another perfect CATOless flight. His "strech" Big Bertha went up twice on a cluster of three C6-7's on each flight. Chuck Straka was the "volume" flyer winner! Chuck was moving his models out to the pad faster than I could check them and write! His Estes Snitch flew twice perfectly on C6-0's. Chuck's America flew initially on an A8-3, as a wind test, and then later on for a _real_ altitude test on a C6-7. He flew his Estes Gnome twice on 1/2A's (my wife really got a kick out of this rocket... she said it was "cute"). That little "pencil" Gnome flew perfectly both times. Chuck's Rastrocam ("rear-looking" AstroCam) initially went up on a C6-3, but later went up twice on a _way_ cool looking Astron E-Roc powered by D12-3's. I think the last E-Roc boosted flight ended up with the booster on the neighbor's pole building. Through the binocs, I could see that the chute was inflated by the wind, so we were hoping that the wind would just pull it off the roof, which it did, but into the gutter! Chuck, with his "catlike" reflexes, deftly climbed a piece of heavy equipment, and fished the booster out of the gutter with a piece of rebar or something. His AstroCam made a final flight of the day on C6-7 powered booster. Sorry Stan, Chuck beat ya by one flight! BTW - Chuck _was_ the only one who brought a canopy, which the rest of us used from time to time. Thanks Chuck! Bruce Levinson, recently transplanted from NIRA, to _beautiful_ Youngstown, Ohio was able to join us for some flying too! In addition to bringing his tripod launcher, and ablative blast deflector, he brought teflon everything! We're talking teflon 'chutes (no wadding!), teflon shroud lines, and a 4 ft. teflon streamer! Bruce started out with a Bandit, on an A8-3, as a wind check. His Firebird went up on a B6-4 sporting his "teflon" chute for a completely nominal flight. Later, his Big Bertha was up on a C6-5. Bruce's "Advanced Tubular Fin Design" (that'd be the ATFD to you and me) went up on a B6-4, for a nice "non-weathercocking" flight. Bruce also had two nicely recovered, although due-to-the-wind-maybe-horizon-shots, of his AstroCam. We're looking forward to getting together again with Bruce when he gets his additional equipment unpacked! Mark Recktenwald started things off with an Estes Mach-12 on an A8-3, again as a wind/recovery verification flight. Mark would definitely win the "most unique flyer" award for this launch, as his modified Estes Shadow was up next on a D12 central motor with two B6-2's on the outboard positions. All motors lit, and the Shadow performed perfectly. Mark put his Mini Mars Lander up next on an A3-4T. His sport scale Saturn V was up next on a D12-3, for a _heavily_ weathercocked flight. The Saturn suffered partial chute fouling, but due to the fact it landed in fairly high grass, it was recovered with no damage. Mark's last flight was his newly constructed CR4 (Camera Rocket 4). In addition to Stan's mid-powered stuff, this was one of the most watched flights. Mark mounted an autowinding, sidelooking, 35mm camera in the upper portion of the rocket. The camera began clicking off a frame/second at launch. The chute rigging on the upper portion of the rocket was arranged in a sling in order to allow the rocket to descend horizontally, camera facing down, and clicking away. Well, due to rod whip, or some other gremlin, the CR4 took off on a ballistic flight _completely_ different than 99.9% of everything else that day... due East. The upper "camera" portion ended up in a ditch (filled with water of course), and the lower booster was high up in an Elm tree. I gotta tell ya' I've _never_ seen a man sprint _so_ fast as Mark did when he was aware of the recovery location. After cutting a few branches, everything was recovered, albeit muddy! [Ed Note: As of talking with Mark this evening, the camera was dry, film was rewound, and we are awaiting prints!) The author RSO'd the entire event, and actually did get a few models up! Initially it was a scrap Nova Payloader on a C6-7 just to see the winds we'd be dealing with. My newly finished Custom Serval saw two flights on C5-3's (Man! I'm sure Bruce would agree, those tube fins are _nice_ in weathercocking winds!), Heliocopter went up on a B6-4 (wanted the nose back). Later on I was able to sneak in my Estes Yellow Jacket on a B6-4. My Custom Matra, and Bullet made their maiden flights on D12-5's for some pretty amazing walking for recovery (OK, I cheated, Bullet was, like, 1/2 mile away, and I had a neighbor kid... geez probably 10 years old... drive me back on his ATC, and one of Mark's kids brought back Matra, and I tipped him $1!). I helped put up a friend's kid's Sidewinder, and two of the _coolest_ flights were Estes Generic E2X'x on _C6-7's_! Talk about out of sight! All were recovered on streamers with no trouble. Everything culminated with burgers, and weenies (sidedishes too!) at my house afterward. One of the neatest things is that the landowner in now asking us "When we'll be back again?":). From a PR standpoint, I think we did our job! In addition, since most of his neighbors were in attendance throughout the launch, we've gained their confidence also, in demonstrating a nicely run, and well controlled range! I think we've got the field for quite a duration now! MAN! Mr. Fortune! You are definitely going to have some mugs for your website after this extravaganza! Thanks to all the wives who brought the sidedishes... Thanks to Mark for the _excellent_ homebrew... Thanks to everyone flying at the range for your help... Talk about your "Random Acts of Kindness"... They happened so frequently out on the range, I wouldn't have even _tried_ to keep count! Again, thanks, and... like, wanna do this again next weekend? [wife smacking me upside the head] tah Tod A. Hilty NAR #72099 Hilty Information Systems "I'm going to put the wheels of the bus back on... just in case" - BlankReg, Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future "I speak for myself _and_ my corporation! Deal with it!" - blankreg - remove nospam.ever, and replace with apk for reply