As should be expected for August, the summer heat and humidity were abundant, but so was the participant turnout, enthusiasm, and launch pad activity for the Mill Springs launch event on August 14th. By the end of the event there were forty-one participants who had accomplished 132 total launches.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon the winds remained fairly calm and this allowed some to take advantage of higher altitudes with C and D selected engines. Recoveries were mostly successful, but as usual at Mill Springs, not everything launched made it home (a few very painful). The higher than usual grass on the field also made recoveries more of a challenge for many of the smaller rockets.

A couple of standouts included Russell McCulloch’s North Coast Rocketry SA-14 Archer flown on a E30, Jorge Blanco’s PML rocket named Loser? that he sent up on a thunderous G80, Herb Howe’s Art Applewhite Saucer 29mm also got everyone’s attention with a G53 blast. Also of note were Ron Hender’s many scale model launches and Kevin Scholberg’s creative fleet that always entertains and inspires.

A very enthusiastic group from the Canterfield Villas in Cumming, that was organized by Gene Armstrong, arrived well prepared each with their beautiful rockets ready for the launch pads. These were successfully flown on A8-3s and recovered. It’s good to know that even at ninety-five the joy of watching a rocket you built leap off the pad and take to the skies can be accomplished. Some pictures from the event [here].

Motor ignition counts:
A – 26
B – 22
C – 49
D – 22
E – 9
F – 2
G – 2