September 10th Mill Springs Launch Report
At the September 10th Mill Springs launch event we had twenty-one participants launch ninety-one rockets at a steady pace into the warm sunny sky. Moderate breezes were mostly favorable and did not complicate most recoveries although unfortunately, a few models remained at high perch. Some very talented craftsmen brought their sleek creations for first flight and we also saw some rockets that had been stored for many decades back out on the pads. A 1974 vintage Estes Vega was launched by Dave on a B6-4 and Roy Green brought an Estes Juno-1 / Jupiter-C (late 1980s vintage) and installed a C6-3 for flight. Jose Morales Jr. came with his beautiful scale models that were viewed at the last club meeting on Thursday and all flown on C and D engines. We also saw David Tripp fly his Century Hustler on a F27-4R and Kevin Boyd launched his Estes Leviathan with a E20-4. Also of profound interest was Kevin Scholberg’s “The Dude” (7.5′ tall and uses a balloon for the body) launched twice with D12-3s, and his steampunk styled “Pot Metal” also flown on a D12-3. For more action, I was wowed by Kevin Boyd’s drag race of two Baby Bertha’s streaking skyward on C6-5s and Keith Frazier’s Alphas on B6-6s. It was a fun day!
Motor ignition counts were as follows:
1/2A – 4
A – 7
B – 27
C – 34
D – 14
E – 6
F – 1
Event photos provided by Kevin Boyd: https://www.flickr.com/photos/boyd2000/albums/72157672615061451
Although the threat of rain and the rumble of thunder cut the event a few hours short, those who came out early enjoyed some great launches at the July 23rd Dawsonville Launch Event. There were twenty-two participants who blasted-off a total of sixty-five rockets. Spectators enjoyed a great variety of mid-powered rockets, cluster configurations, some well performing boost gliders, and unique helicopter recovery creations. Remarkable mid-power flights included Kevin Boyd’s LOC IV on a G125-5 with a parachute deployment delay set for 400’ and his drag race of a Mega Red Max versus Mega Blue Max both powered by G53-5s. Bob Nowak brought out his impressive Sirius Interrogator G and flew it on a G40-7W and Steve Bellio flew his Heavy Duty Beauty on a five cluster of one E30-7T, two D12-7s, and two C11-7s. Kevin Scholberg launched scratch-built Whirl-A-While, Roto Crock, and Roto Moto for some very unique spinning recovery dynamics and performed two launches of his Edmunds Geminee Thunder twin boost gliders with very impressive long flights. I also enjoyed John Chatham’s scratch-built Raven boost glider and the flight of Darrell Ritchie’s Shuttle.
Forty-one participants accomplished 118 total launches during the July 9th Mill Springs launch event. Moderate winds and a high cloud deck shielding the sun for most of the morning and early afternoon kept temperatures just below the 90s and made for an enjoyable day. Keith Frazier was back to provide cold beverages, doughnuts, and rocket supplies. The club setup on the field early to get some cub scouts prepped, loaded, and launched. The remainder of the day saw a steady volley of rockets by club members who brought out their favorites, beautiful scale models, and some very intriguing scratch-built creations. I especially enjoyed watching Jose Morales’ Estes Mercury Redstone on multiple flights, Kevin Scholberg’s scratch built NLR launched with a E30-4T, and Kevin Boyd’s Mega Mosquito on a D12-3, then his Estes Leviathan on a E20-4. Also fun to see on the pads were Jeff Eshbaugh’s Pemberton Little Bucky Jones and Kevin Scholberg’s scratch-built Pot Metal. The motor selected most often was the B6-4. A special thanks to David Cain for providing RSO support throughout the event.