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April 2007 launch report (5/1/2007)

On Saturday, April 28th, MASA held its second launch of the year. This launch was held at the sod farm near Nowthen.

The weather was pleasant; the sun was out.  It was a very nice day for flying rockets!  If not for the annoying breeze out of the NW, it would have been perfect.

185 flights!  Wow!!!

(This was the biggest MASA launch day in terms of number of flights since April 26 of 2003!)

A few of the flights:

MASA members - please send in your thoughts about the launch! 

Ken Jarosch writes:

I only had time for 4 launches Saturday.

First I flew a Blue Ninja modified for E9's and F21's. I removed the 18" nylon chute and replaced it with an Estes pre-made 12" chute. One shrod line broke on ejection and the rocket twisted in with no damage.

The 2nd & 3rd flights were with an Estes EggsCaliber using a D12-3 and a E9-4. On a previous flight with a C11-3 I noticed the tendency for the 24" rubber shock cord to bunch up in the small BT50 tube. This caused the 12" body chute to rip. So with the D12 flight I replaced the 12" body and 18" pod chutes with two 9" nylon chutes. At ejection the rubber bunched up and the nylon chute shroud lines were fused together with the canopy. The body came in like a streamer but the pod drifted down nicely. Both still ended up in the next field. The E9 flight wind cock badly to the NW and at ejection I only saw the pod 9" chute. Walking to the NW corner of the field North of the launch site I found the rocket doing a core sample. Again the rubber cord bunched up and held the chute in the body tube. The pressure blew the E9 out back passed the 2 engine hooks and extra tape I used for security. No damage to the LOC type 24mm tube. I notice something sticking up out of dirt. It was the egg pod buried to the neck. The pod was OK but the egg was liquid. The 18" pod cord had ripped about 4" from the egg capsule. The chute had drifted off by itself.

If I were to build the rocket again I would use 1/4" elastic cord as this would eliminate the bunching up in the body tube. Or maybe go to a longer elastic cord (36"-42") and a home made 22" single. I'll try that on the F21-6 flight.

The last flight was with a modified Executioner that used LOC motor parts, 24" Top Flight nylon chute and screw eye shock cord attachment. I like burning AP in these larger Estes rocket. This flew Saturday on a F24-4w for a great flight and close recovery.

Andy Heren writes:

I don't get over for launches very often; usually just the meetings.  However, I was very careful to leave my Saturday open so I could make the 2 + hour trek over for the launch. I had some successful launches: m y Big Bertha, Mark II, Corkscrew, Aztec, Sidewinder, and Big Daddy. My 2TH DKR didn't fare so well. It is off to the repair shop for it and some 18mm D motors and hopefully it won't become ballistic next time.

I also enjoyed the tooth-rattling launches of those on G, H, and I motors.  Gives me something to look forward to doing.

A big thanks to Mike for making sure we could use the field and to Alan for  taking RSO duties for the whole day. You guys do that and we are able to come launch and not worry about details. Thanks guys!

Caleb Boe writes:

I arrived at the field about 9:45am and set up GSE. I then started prepping my Tethys for its flight on a Cesaroni I205.

Since I wasn't able to keep the reload myself, I had to make motor retention clips at the field. Then I loaded the rocket on the pad and was ready to go.

This was my first Cesaroni motor, and I was impressed by the easy and quick assembly and the fast ignition. The rocket lifted off at the instant I pressed the launch button, climbed high into the sky, and deployment was on perfect time. Although the rocket didn't land terribly far away, I had a long walk, because of the irrigation ditches in the way.

Next I flew my Aerotech IQSY Tomahawk twice an F22-5J's. Both flights were great, however deployment was a little bit late on the second flight. It was a great day.

Jeff Taylor writes:

Saturday’s launch was a short one for us due to a girl scout activity scheduled the same day.  McKenna brought her friend Caroline (a soon-to-be new MASA youth member), and the two of them accomplished a few drag races with their Estes Skywriter pencil rockets.  Alyssa launched her Blue Ninja and made a successful first flight with her second Fat Boy, sporting a Mounds View High School Mustangs color scheme and decals.  My only launch was a fluorescent orange Sizzler with tiger stripes on a B6-4.

It was great to get back to Nowthen and see a lot of new faces.  Unfortunately, 10:30 AM is a little too early to have to pack up and leave.

Pat Arneson writes:

Thanks for a great launch on Saturday, I had 7 successful launches of 6 different rockets before my 2 year old got bored and cranky.
Great fun!

P.S. I forgot to mention, this was my first organized launch ever, I'm a recent BAR after a 25-30 year hiatus.

The Details:

Full launch tally (in Adobe Acrobat PDF form, requires version 6 or newer of the Acrobat reader)

The totals were:  185  flights, 196 motors.  The cumulative total impulse was 3639 Ns with an average total impulse of  18.6 Ns.  The motor breakdown follows:

(Alan Estenson)