Kevin Boyd’s Photos From Tifton Turkey Launch
While we’re still waiting for a report from November’s launch in Tifton, enjoy Kevin Boyd’s 470(!) photos from both Saturday and Sunday on Flickr!
And here are some more photos from Freddy Willems.
Tifton Turkey Launch This Weekend
What to do with the upcoming long holiday weekend? Go fly rockets, of course! The GRITS field in Nashville, GA near Tifton will be the site for two days of rocket flying, from 10AM to 5PM each day. Waiver is to 19750 ft. above ground level. All motors from 1/8A to N, NAR rules. Flight fees (payable at the field) are $10 per person to help pay for the porta potty.
Conditions are very dry and reportedly dusty. The weather will be very comfortable, high of nearly 70 degrees, both days with winds between 5-10 mph. From the north on Saturday and from the east on Sunday.
So load up the picnic basket with those turkey sandwich fixin’s and we’ll see you in Tifton! The GRITS web site will be the place for the most up to date info.
Braselton Build-It/Fly-It Set For November 5th
As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the city of Braselton, SoAR will assist with a Build-it/fly-it event near the Town Green on Saturday, November 5, from 9AM to 4PM.
Up to ninety participants will be able to buy a ticket, and those with tickets will get a rocket kit and an A-impulse rocket motor. We would like to have as many SoAR members on hand to assist the participants with building and flying the models, and to talk to prospective new members. If you’d like to volunteer, contact Tom Kinard.
SoAR members are encouraged to bring any cones, spools and odd rockets that can fly on low impulse motors. We will have some tables for static displays to show off larger rockets.
October Mill Springs Launch
We managed to eek out fifty flights Saturday at Mill Springs Academy, despite all the wind from the back-side of Hurricane Matthew.
A scout troop came out early before the winds really got started, and they provided the majority of the flights for the day, flying a lot of Estes CrossFires and Estes Comet Chasers on a variety of motors from A to C, and got most of them back, by jumping the trees to the south and using that field as the recovery area.
The launch was notable in that almost all flyers were newbies (to our launches, at least), though David Sleeman and son Michael stopped by to make a couple of flights. William Bercini drove up from Macon to help Roy out with running the launch. Lee Childers was one of the first timers, though he’s obviously got some building skills as he showed off a nice Mercury Redstone with detail wrap from Accur8.com (Understandably, Lee wasn’t willing to fly that beautiful model in yesterday’s wind!), and flew a couple of rockets decorated for his daughter including a Der Pink Max decorated with a Hello Kitty skull and crossbones!
Gabriel brought out a box of odd-rocs including a Sputnik, a Dare To Be Square, and a Vortico or two, and Lee Miller flew his Applewhite Priority Stealth. Just the types of rockets to fly in higher winds for assured recovery.
Here are the motor counts:
- 1/2A – 2
- A – 14
- B – 18
- C – 13
- D – 1
- E – 2
Join us in two weeks for a launch at the Ball Ground field, where hopefully the winds will be less and we’ll be able to get some high altitudes.
September Lilly Launch Report
(from William Bercini)
Mother Nature gave us a break from the oppressive heat just in time for the September Lilly launch. The weather conditions were nearly ideal for on Saturday, even the gnats gave us a bit of a break! Some thirty-one folks, young and old, posted flights that first day. Among the young folks participating was Login Davin. This was Login’s first visit to a SoAR launch. Assisted by his adult mentor, Lee Greenway, he spent most of the day working on “Project Hijinx”. Using a simple altitude tracking device, he collected data on the same rocket using three different nose cone shapes: conical, ogive, and elliptical. We wish him well on his science project.
The rest of us were not being quite so serious. And speaking of “not-so- serious”, our own Kevin Scholberg posted what was perhaps the most unusual flight of the day. He had flight-converted a $3 “flying disk” toy. But taking it to the next level, he CHAD-staged it with two C6-0 motors. In spite of some naysayers, the whirling disk put in beautiful flight. But Kevin was not alone when it came to creative designs. Chevis White had a small fleet of beautifully crafted original designs. Among them was his scratch bird, “The Squid”. It featured tube stabilizers and a canted cluster motor configuration (a la Fliskits Deuce). Its maiden flight on two E28 motors was a sight to behold. (more…)