Welcome to Tripoli-San Diego
March 2012 Launch Report
What a perfect weekend. There is just no other way to describe it. Calm
wind both days, clear sky, moderate temp, great flying and a wonderful
potluck.
Thanks much to Robert Bredernitz and Jim Deveau for taking on trailer
duty, without which we wouldn't have a launch.
First, some rocket statistics -
We had 36 fliers registering flight cards, plus a whole buncha scouts
flying off the low-power pads.
A total of 81 flights were logged on the flight cards, including
2 M's
3 L's
7 K's
6 J's
and two night flights
Most flights logged for the weekend was VAL D. who had six launches,
including a well-used and modified Bruiser with a cool bass-boat sparkle
glitter cone made by Joanna Woerner, flown on a J500. Val also flew a huge
scratch upscale Andromeda on an I366Red, a vintage Vaughn Bros B.O.B. on
H97, a scratch "Photon Torpedo" on an H112J and a Cosmodrome Nike Smoke on
G64.
Three fliers made 5 flights each, including
DORI G., with 4 flights on her pink-finned, floral-themed Estes Giant
Mosquito [D12 and E9 power] and a 3" Goblin on an F25 - beautiful job on
that very 1st rocket!;
TODD M with flights on a stable of PML, BSD and LOC kits that went up on
H-I-J power; and
LARRY B., who made three H and I flights on his almost all-nosecone
"SmokeTube" tubefin and two more of the endless test flights on his 7.5"
white-and-aqua tubefin Level Three prototype "M-POD" - after flying it
successfully on three K-motors up to K820, Larry pushed a little too far
with a K1200 [which the SIM said would be "probably OK"] and shredded it,
raining parts down all over the west range. One of his Perfectflites is
still out there somewhere.
Three fliers made four flights each, including
JIM DEVEAU, with a great flight on his staged LOC Bruiser, K-to-J, with a
bit of a scare ehen the sustainer took its time coming up to pressure
after a perfect separation. Jim also made a night flight on an H Blue
Streak.
MIKE KLETT made two flights each on his scratch extended Madcow Suat with
video and electronic deployment and on his minuature version Suat on F and
G power.
LARRY HERMANSON's four flights included two on "gunshot motors", an F120
with a 400 millisecond burn and an H400 with a 597 millisecond burn.
Some other interesting flight statistics [I think] -
Of the 81 logged flights, more than a third [29] were made by only 7 of
the three dozen fliers.
Twelve fliers - a third of the total - made just a single flight each
[often a large project] - 15% of the total launches.
Half the fliers made two or three flights each for the weekend, which also
made up about half the 81 flights.
Also - more than forty percent of the launches involved all-scratch or
partially scratch/modified rockets, vs. sticking to the kit design.
Notable flights -
Most extraordinary flight of the weekend has to go to new member Jason
Andrews, who certified Level Two with a flight on a Madcow Viking to
19,195 feet. GAWD!!! Just missed Presidents Challenge! It was on a
K-something. More incredible was talking to Jason after he got it back
[thanks to a tracker], and he mentioned that "this was only the second
high-powered rocket I launched". I asked "how is that even possible, you
had to have flown Level One before this?" He said - "yeah, my L1 was my
first rocket, I flew it this morning". HOLY CRAP!!!
Other cool flights this weekend -
Joe Conway's scratch thirty five-pound rocket on a L1720 Red, with cameras
and dual deploy
Jason Silverman's scratch twenty-four pound "Falcon" on an M1230
Tom Miller's eighty pound BLACK MAGIC on M2500 power with canard
stabilization - cool boost with a sine wobble as the control system tried
to keep it on course [I think this means the "tau" response factor value
needs tweeking]
President Paul flew his scratch "Four-Diamonds" on a long-burn Aerotech "L"
James Eadie flew a scratch rocket on what has to be the last of the OOP
Ellis Mountain long-burn J11O's still in existence, sometimes they blew up
even when brand new - seems to have gone OK
So many great flights last weekend, sorry if I missed yours.
And now the POTLUCK - What A Potluck!!!
We had tri-tip, pork loin roast, chicken off the grill, meat balls, chile
verde, 5 kinds of pasta and noodle salads, two kinds of baked beans,
potato salad, a veggie tray, a wonderful platter of salami and garlic
appetizers, stuffed olives, homemade American Porter - excellent! And for
desert - cherry pie, peach pie, chocolate cake, Dori's rum balls, apple
cobbler and even a box of Russell Stover [rapidly cleaned out!]. Finished
off with a great campfire.
What an excellent weekend of fine weather, fine rocketry, fine food, fine
friends, fine desert camping [so I'm told, I camped in the cozy El Centro
Comfort Inn, bad back, y'know!].
Thanks to Mike Klett, Mike Caplinger and several others who shot photos
and video of the launch and have shared their images with us.
Next launch is April 7-8 weekend, which coincides with Good Friday, Easter
and Passover. Pray for good weather!
Did I forget anything?
Best to all, and see you next month.
Larry B.
About Our Club
Tripoli-San Diego is a Prefecture of the Tripoli
Rocketry Association(TRA). Tripoli-San Diego was formed in the late 1980's.
Tripoli-San Diego works closely with DART promoting rocketry in the San Diego area. Both clubs are non-profit organizations
comprised of individuals and their families from all walks of life. Club members
are committed to conducting rocketry related activities and instructing groups
in the sport of Rocketry.
Tripoli-San Diego conducts monthly launches from September through
June at the Plaster CIty launch site in the desert near El Centro CA. The club,
in cooperation with DART, conducts an annual regional launch, Plaster
Blaster
Monthly launches are open to spectators. Rocketeers wishing to
launch must be certified by either NAR or Tripoli for high power launches. Certification
is not required for sport rocket launches. A launch fee of $10 is charged for
each family that is launching rockets .We operate in compliance with BATF, FAA, CPSC, Tripoli Rocketry Association, and California State Fire Marshall regulations. This means the maximum motor size you may fly is an “M” (10,240 N-sec), and the maximum total power of all motors is an “N” (20,480 N-sec), as long as the altitude waiver is not exceeded.
If you would like to become a member of Tripoli-SanDiego you can download a membership application
in .pdf.
Tripoli-San Diego Mailing List
Club members can communicate with other members through the clubs
mailing list(listserv). If you are a club member you can subscribe to the mailing
list or send messages to the club by clicking here.
You can also view past messages and manage your subscription at this site.
Member Rocketry Related Web Sites
View January 2012 launch report.
View February 2012 launch report.
