ROC April 1999 Launch

Report by Jeffrey D. Gortatowsky

The idea of April fools jokes are known to most people in United States. Well, Mother Nature played a bit of a fools joke on many who decided to stay home given the weather of the days leading up to the April 1999 ROC launch. But the joke was on them as the day turned out to be quite nice indeed with just a hint of "W" showing up now and again.

A few extra "reporters" checked in with your's truly so let's not forget them. Here's a quick report from ROC Vice President Greg Lawson:

Greg writes [with editing]:

"As with all weather [the week prior] looked bad. High winds, rain, hail, brimstone... But the Rocket Gods smiled on us and Saturday [the 10th of April] was beautiful. With the weather report we had fewer in attendance then normal. During the day we would have about 15 minute blows of about 8-10MPH "W", but no one seemed to notice it. Ron McGough had to go to a wedding, Rick O'Neil had to leave by 9:00AM but Buck Gomez, Adam Powell, and Wayne Mrazek were there.

"Wedge Oldham certified level 1 in a LOC Hi-Tech 45 with a H123. Took him 2 tries but finally made it. Paul Sheffield flew a model with 3 H70's in it to wow the crowd. It looked like only 2 engines lit on the pad. The rocket left the launch rod, did a 360 + 90 which of coarse puts it Horizontal. Then it looked like the last engine lit and a cruise missile was born. I didn't see the results but I'm sure a lot of re-building is in order.

"Troy Monroe Stacey took a turn as LCO and as he told me "This is too much like work". He did a very good job and I was happy for the help. Assuming I would be working the launch all day I had an empty truck. I got a break and then realized that I had "Long Gone" (my fiberglassed Estes Maniac) behind my seat all loaded with a AT F101. It had a streamer in it (I was going to launch it at Springfest, in the wind). A perfect flight and recovery. Rick O'Neil could only stay until 9:00am but Rick McGee was there for Tripoli certs. He brought with him some photographers from a magazine of which the name escapes me. We also had a visit from the Lucerne Valley Chamber of Commerce. The woman was very excited about what we were doing and asked if they could put our link on their web page."

And so there you have it. Looking through the flight cards however we find:

Carl Delzell, Mr. Rocket Rage himself, launched something he called an "Orangy" which is claimed to be an Estes rocket on an A10. Well I have never heard of an "Orangy" but the flight was successful! Chris Shore used the same motor for a nice flight of his "Jinx". Krista Roos gave us a nice demo of her Estes RTF "Snitch" on a C6-0, while Ron Chavez launched his C6 powered Nike-Smoke for a nice flight. Toby Foster added a new feature to the playa when his Helicat was unfortunate enough to become a "lake stake". Steven Green pulled out an oldie but goodie Alpha III with a C6-3 for a good flight.

Toby Foster flew a sky writing SR-71 on a D12-3, but that was a better fate than Nicole Rutten's Vega Starship 3 which suffered a D12 CATO. Robert Glass had a nice flight using his Commanche 3 with a D12 to a C6 to a B6. Hey Robert you find all the peices? Marcia King's Estes Maniac had a great ride on an E15-7, way to go Marcia!

It would appear Buck Gomez flew his Ugly Stick on an Apogee E6-8 which, with no recovery, turned it into an even uglier stick! The Friton family jointly put up a Mean Machine on a F101 for a nice flight! Now that is the way to crank up the volume! Speak of which, Greg Lyzenga launched his scratch built Big Bertha on a F24 for a nice flight. Brian Sutton became the newest entry in the ROC Hall Of Shame as for the second month in a row his Saturn V stuck to the rod for the entire burn of a F22! Congratulations Brian! At least deplotment was successful! Paul Sheffield also gave the crowd it's moneys worth, as his US Rockets Dream Machine became a cruise missile nightmare on 3 H70s! Heads up!

Speaking of congratulations, Wedge "what's my email address" Oldham got his level one after a few abortive attempts. He use a H123 in a LOC Hi-Tech 45. That rocket was a real crowd pleaser by the way, on a H45. I am sure Wedge, Brian, and Buck could compare notes on pad fires and chuffs! Brent and Cory flew their LOC IV on a H123 for a level one certification (for whom?).

Jim and David Reese somehow managed to put up six, count them six (!), successful flights of their LOC Vulcanite with a recording altimeter for a science project David was working on. The data was as follows:

  H242            3954 feet
  H123            3874 feet
  H242            3814 feet
  H123            3894 feet
  H242            3909 feet
  H123            3994 feet

I understand the grade was very good. Excellent results. Congratulations David! That's a consistent rocket with consistently excellent preparation!

Jon Pike put up a screamer! A LOC Aura on a G125 for a nice outta sight flight! Steve Todd did not fare quite as well as his G125 powered "Astrostretch" became yet another "lake stake". William Smith's Rocket R&D Jayhawk had nice ride on a H123, but Mike Pirie had a H45 burn and burn and burn until his Black Brant was no more. Speaking of 45, Ken Finwall flew is LOC EZI-65 for it's 45th flight on an H70.

Steve Todd had a nice flight on the PML Lunar Express with an I211. Going with the PML theme, Kurt Gugisberg used an I300 for a good flight on his Pterodactyl Jr. for a nice flight with an I161. Kurt used a AltAcc for dual deployment. Jacob Cohn made a nice flight with is scratch built V2 on an I154. More V2 excitement came from Rick Jahahn's LOC flavor on a nice I435 flight.

Mark Peifer suffered a drag separation on burnout of his Mini-Magg on an I161. Another ouch came after Michael McBride's PML AMRAAM had no chute deployment following an I284 boost. Separation plagued George Perez's Rocket R&D Skyraider on it's J415 flight. Ouch! And George had the same fate strike his Intruder on a J415.

Mike Solo's PML Endeavor had nice flight on a J460, while Joe Huber had a great flight on a J350 in his scratch built "Grey Ghost". Mr. "Hybrid", Wayne Mrazek had a great flight on a HyperTek J300 using an Adept altimeter for deployment. Barry Forrest impressed everyone with his scratch built Scud SS1C that had a nice flight using a J350. Rick Magee made everyone stand up and notice when he launched his Streched Magnum on a K550 airstarting two H97s. Rick used an Adept unit for apogee deployment. Rounding out this month's report was Gary Bitterman's Jade with a nice AltAcc deployed K550 flight.

Motor Usage for April 1999

1/4A                          1
A                             9
B                             4
C                            37
D                            11
E                            10
F                            20
G                            45
H                            31
I                            18
J                            10
K                             7
L                             0
M                             0
                        -------
Total                       203