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Welcome to Tripoli-San Diego

May Launch Report

Hi everyone,

Hard to believe we are down to just one launch left in our TRASD season. There was much fear and trepidation of the wind last week. Those that refused to be intimidated by forecasts and satellite photos showed up Saturday morning. When I arrived around 8:30 the sky was clear, wind was probably 8 - 12 mph out of the north, and the trailer was already there. Thanks to Jim D. for retrieving it on Friday evening. Due to the road construction he got the grand tour of Sunbeam Lake in the process. Jack was also there, as were half a dozen other vehicles.

We quickly set up pads and had the range open. More people started arriving, including our first Scout Troop. Thanks to DART, we had an extra low-power pad and set one up just for them. In no time at all it seemed we had a good crowd and I was collecting fees and giving Level 2 exams. We had two out of three pass (better luck next time Steve J.). Kudos to Steve C. for getting 100% and Kudos to Paul B. for earning both his Level 1 and Level 2 on Saturday. By mid morning the wind came down to about 5 mph.

Howard and other DART members hosted an official NAR competition. Todd Mullin broke the G Dual Eggloft altitude record, but also broke his eggs for a DQ. Howard's attempt at the G (Single) Eggloft altitude record did not achieve the necessary altitude, but did break the egg for a messy DQ.

Both Todd and Howard attempted the G Helicopter duration record. Both attempts achieved results which gave them the opportunity to do real-world failure mode analysis. DQs all around. Quite spectacular, actually.

Chris made two attempts at the C Cluster altitude record. This event requires a cluster of 6 C motors. Both attempts resulted in only 3 of 6 motors firing, a low, unstable trajectory. No record.

We now have 2 new NAR US Records from our club members. Now that we know we can do it, the bet is we will be having more to come.

E Payload altitude 475.2 meters - Chris Flanigan

G Payload Altitude 788.2 meters - Howard Smart

Note that Chris broke the old G PL Alt record, but Howard broke it again later in the day.

Of course there were many high power flights too. Joe fired off the biggest motor of the weekend, an L730. There were a number of K flights. Larry was there with his assortment of tube fin rockets. John B. and I had a drag race of sorts. He put up a 5.5" LOC Mini-Mag on an H against my 4" scratch built Red Eye on a G. The Mini-Mag ended up with a full second lead time due to my slow starting smoky motor. It went south and the Red Eye went north. Someone launched a high power two-stage rocket that I believe was a successful flight. That's halfway to the President's Complex Rocket challenge. Frank had a couple of test flights, working on his payload experiments and design.

About mid-afternoon the wind picked up and another Troop of Scouts showed up. It was their first time launching with us and they were armed with lots of Alphas. They quickly figured out how to drag race and promptly lost half a dozen Alphas to El Centro in the wind (now coming out of the west)

Our Saturday night pot luck was another great success. Grilled brats, herb chicken, and steak was all trimmed with salads, veggies, and a pot of beans. Desserts included several pies, cake, and John's homemade triple chocolate cookies. There was plenty of food with some left over.

The wind blew all night, but it was low enough to fly on Sunday. The second Troop of Scouts still had enough rockets to keep busy for hours. The rest of us flew some medium power rockets and planned for LDRS.

Speaking of LDRS, pre-registration at $29 will close May 15. That's less than two weeks away. Time to register if you plan to go. Jack is still offering the Mad Cow Squat for $29. (After LDRS expect the price to go up significantly). Jack also took delivery on some new kits with some examples built by Andy. There was a 10" Nike Smoke and something that reminds me of an upscale Big Bertha.

Paul

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 $5 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.

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