February Mill Springs Launch Report

Feb 10, 2024

For a day that initially looked questionable due to a rainy weather forecast a few days out, the launch event at Mill Springs Academy on February 10^th turned out to be excellent.  There were twenty-one participants launching sixty-seven rockets into an overcast sky.  Winds were minimal at the start, built up some mid-event and then moderated again during the final hour.

Standouts included a launch of a visually incredible creation of Kevin Scholberg that left the launch pad pouring out multi-colored crepe paper streamers to about 100 feet altitude, then arching over and creating a rainbow of streamers while landing gently nearby.  Kevin drag raced four air screws that was also thrilling sight.  While conditions were calm, Terry Bliss had some amazing flights of boost gliders with his Edmond Aerospace Deltie and Holverson Designs Silver Hawk. Some other great flights were accomplished by David Cain with his Estes Interceptor and Semroc Cherokee-D.

Event pictures [here]

Motor ignition counts:
A – 20
B – 20
C – 17
D – 5
E – 2
F – 5
G – 1

Dawsonville ‘Replacement’ Launch Event Report

Feb 4, 2024

The special SoAR “replacement” launch on February 3^rd at Dawsonville had twenty-seven participants launch a total of ninety rockets under sunny skies.  Wind gusts were a bit of an aggravation but coming from the east provided adequate recovery chances for those reaching the highest altitudes (albeit some long recovery walks).

There were many outstanding and unusual launches including Davud’s Dynasoar R/C Aurora Clipper boost glider climbing to excellent altitude on an E-6 motor then gliding for over a minute circling the field and finally coming in for a soft landing very close to where he was standing.  Joshua and Hope Finn and family flew their J&H Aerospace Fliplock lite boost gliders on A3 motors for FAI Team qualifications along with their scratch-built Finn Astronaut on 1/2A3.  Jorge launched his two-stage Apogee TTV that was shown at the January Rocket Talk meeting.  The Timer Test Vehicle (TTV) uses a timer to ignite the second stage.  This appeared to have worked as designed (see below action photographs by Kevin Boyd) but the initial stage looked like a CATO caused some damage to the body tube (hopefully repairable).

For some mid-power excitement there were some excellent flights by Allen Isdell with his LOC 4” AMRAAM powered by a G67 and his PML Carbon Monster thundering up on a G61.  Ray Lecture launched his signature scratch-built 3” Goblin on a G77, Bob Taylor put a G80 in his scratch-built Magic for a dramatic flight and Glenn Harper sent up his Estes “Naked” Leviathan on an E30.

Check out the action captured by Kevin Boyd [here].  Some additional event photos [here]

Motor Ignition Count:
A – 35
B – 18
C – 14
D – 9
E – 8
F – 3
G – 4