Warning! Many pics in this post!
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Folks gathering around the RSO/LCO tents - Chris Short's trailer of wondrous rocket goodies is in the background
(Click to enlarge). |
Yesterday's weather was perfect for flying rockets - mostly sunny skies, a light wind from the north, and afternoon temps in the mid-seventies. It was so nice and comfortable that I didn't even mind getting my aged carcass out of bed early to meet Allen for our 7:45 trip down to the new field. After a breakfast stop at Hardees, we arrived at the Butler Mill field near Woodville around 8:45. Chuck and Art were already in the process of setting up the range, which took till just past 10 AM. The first launch at a new location always starts out with a few issues and confusion - you have to figure out where to place the pads, work out where folks should park, etc. in addition to the normal launch set up. It'll go easier next time...
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| Looking towards the pads - I love this field! (Click to enlarge). |
Art was instrumental in locating and getting permission for us to use the new field, so it was appropriate that his was the first rocket launched. Straight up into the blue, followed by a soft landing under parachute. Art's rocket set the pattern for the day - there would be many excellent flights, with not one drifting out of the field and only one - a model rocket - coming in ballistic.The launch pace was leisurely, with plenty of high power and model rockets taking to the air. I was surprised at the lack of mid power birds - we had some G flights, but I cannot think of a single F powered rocket that flew. Flyers started leaving the field around 3 - football is king in Alabama, and the games were summoning the faithful - so we closed up shop and left the field about 4. The 45 minute drive back to Huntsville went quickly, and I was uploading pictures to my computer by 5. Much better than the 2 hour trip back from the old field in Manchester!
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| Art's rocket under chute (Pic by Patrick; Click to enlarge). |
The owner of the field is constructing an airfield on his property a little way from the corn field where we now fly. Soon after the launch began, we were started by the approach of two low flying airplanes, the second of which flew very, very low over the field just to the east of the range. So low that I was afraid it might crash when it banked away to the north east. Never before had this happened at a HARA launch, and we kept a close eye out throughout the rest of the day. I wonder if the pilots were a little wary of us, because scale models of AMRAAMs and Patriots were laid out on tables along the flight line, being quite popular with the attendees. The planes were so low they had to have seen them.
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| An airplane flies very low just east of the range (Pic by Patrick; Click to enlarge). |
My list of some of the day's flights, in no particular order:
Allen flew his scratch-built scale cruise missile "Long Tom" on a K motor, achieving his NAR Level 2 certification. Congrats Allen!
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| Elliot's Darkstar clears the rail (Click to enlarge). | Elliot's fighter rockets at the RSO table
(Click to enlarge). |
Patrick's 3D printed rockets - "Sign Here Please" and "Unclaimed Baggage" performed well, except that "Unclaimed Baggage" broke its nose cone when the main failed to deploy properly.
"Sign Here Please" and "Unclaimed Baggage" start their treks (Pics by Patrick; Click to enlarge).
As I said, there were a couple of AMRAAMs and Patriots on the field. The AMRAAMs were PML kits that flew on G and H white motors with apogee deployments - their owners got quite a bit of exercise. Jason flew his Patriot on a white, while Allen opted for an I212 smoky motor to power his model (he likes the dark plumes).
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An AMRAAM takes to the sky on a G motor
(Click to enlarge). | Jason's Patriot rides a pillar of white fire
(Pic by Patrick; Click to enlarge). |
A lightweight, minimum diameter 24 mm model made of carbon fiber that flew on an Aerotech E. This was a test flight before a mach busting attempt (using a G) to occur at Bama Blastoff in a couple of weeks.
2 flights of high impulse motors - Chris Short's "Gizmo" tore off the pad on an I599, whereas a small scratch built seemed to transport itself to 6000 feet on an H550 Super Thunder. I was surprised the latter held together, but it was obviously "built tough".
