ROC July 2002 Launch

Lucerne Dry Lake Bed, California (RBP). After the windy (“W”) debacle of the ROCstock XVI in June, the launch of July 13th was a pleasant improvement. Initial forecasts were not optimistic. Yes, unusual “W” was not foretold. However, monsoon moisture was straying west from its familiar summer stomping grounds in Arizona and New Mexico, and was threatening to turn Lucerne Dry Lake into Lucerne Wet Lake. Temperatures in excess of 110° were also forecast.

Traveling to the site the afternoon before, I encountered active thunder storms west and south of the lake bed. Lightening to the west caused grass fires which reduced site visibility briefly, and those to the south posed the threat of flash floods. Fortunately, the smoke cleared rapidly and the storms over the mountains dissipated quickly, so other early arrivals were greeted by clearing skies and light, warm winds.

Many of the regulars were absent from the launch, having made the valiant trek via chartered jet to Texas for LDRS XXI. (Preliminary reports indicated their encounters with thunder storms were less benign than ours!) Newer faces were more apparent. Besides myself, a veteran of only a year, Jim Garrett showed up ready to go for his NAR Level 2 test, and check the visibility of some super bright LED’s for future night launch projects. They were followed in short order by several newcomers who were excited about attending their first high power launch. Adam Schwartz and friends, also veterans of only a few launches, arrived soon afterward.

Rocketeers continued to arrive late into the evening. Wayne Mrazek from NOW Hybrids staggered in about 11:30pm followed half an hour later by VP Ron McGough pulling the club trailer containing all of the equipment. Everything was now in hand for the next days launch, weather permitting.

Sunrise occurred among a band of clouds spitting lighting at the desert, but on the lake bed, the air was still and the sky overhead was clear. Setup began about 7am, and launching commenced off of a reduced compliment of only 18 pads nearly an hour later. From Joe Branco’s launch of "Fat Boy" at 8:30am until Dave Eckhart’s firing of a difficult-to-light K185 in a scratch-built rocket named “Stretch” at 3pm, winds were generally calm (an exception was a dust storm that blew through at lunch time) while the sun came and went among clouds blown off by distant and not-so-distant thunder storms. This had the effect of keeping temperatures down to a mere 100° or so, but the humidity made it uncomfortable, and rockets were difficult to track against a complex and changing pattern of gray, white and blue.

In all, a total number of 114 launches, most involving rockets, consuming 136 engines (48 BP, 82 AP, and 6 hybrid) with a combined total impulse of 58,503 N-s were fired in a 6 ½ hour period.

The pace was relaxed and lines short, despite the small number of club members available to perform Registration, RSO, LCO and Pad Manager duties. Rick O’Neil, Ron McGough, and Rick McGee ably assisted by several other helpers kept things moving as 50 Rocketeers launched a total of 100 rockets.

The prize for most appearances at the RSO table goes to Joe Branco, who sent up his "Fat Boy" on Estes BP 5 times, in addition to sending up three other rockets on AP. Randy Whiteaker gets the prize for most variety by launching 7 different rockets. Jason Knight, John Wahlquist, and John Starling all weighed in with 5 launches apiece.

It was not a day for small, fast rockets. As Steve Trammel found out when he launched his Quest "Nike Smoke" into a sky of mottled blue and gray. Said Steve, “It basically disappeared after about 1000’ and I spent an hour walking around looking for it. I gave up and came back to camp and there it was; returned by someone who picked it up somewhere. Thank you whoever you are!”

Many multiple-engine flights kept attention focused on the launch pads. Jim Garrett flew his reconfigured Estes "Phoenix" successfully using five C6-0’s staging to a single E9-7 (that’s an 80%"F" the hard way). John Wahlquist successfully used two B6-6’s and a C6-0 staging to a C6-7 in his "Skywriter" from Aardvark Rockets. My own scratch-built (from a mailing tube) bird titled “This End Up” lumbered into the sky ahead of four E9-4’s, eking out 500 feet before the chute deployed at apogee. Lower stages were tumbling from the sky as Adam Schwartz, Dave Schat, and Brian Sutton all launched 3 stage Estes "Comanches". Sustainer recovery by streamer is necessary as these birds move fast and high on the typical D12-C6-C6 combination. Two successful attempts were made to stage AP-powered rockets: Brian Barney got his "Nike Alpha" aloft on an E30 staged to an E15, and Chuck Ostgaard staged a Pro38 I285 to an Aerotech I161 in his PML Thunder and Lightning named “Quicksilver”.

The final successful multi-engine combo was contrived by Brian Sutton who air-started three H242’s strapped onto a K700-powered Pterodactyl called “Debt of Honor”. He reports that the Altacc recorded a peak altitude of 4042’ for his flying dinosaur.

It took a try or two, but Brian Barney got a L1120 lit that powered his scratch-built "V2" off the back pad. Brian, did you ever get it back?

One of the most anticipated events was Dok Hanson’s level 3 cert flight. Using a PML "Ultimate Endeavor" modified to accommodate an M1315, Team "Final Jeopardy" finally got Dok's bird into the air after being blown off the lake bed in June. This time only scattered clouds near the projected peak altitude of about 7800’ caused a brief moment of concern. A waiver was granted and the rocket lifted off moments later for the biggest burn of the launch. The motor functioned flawlessly, but things went awry at burnout when the mains deployed. Among other things, this caused a separation of the nosecone from the rest of the rocket. When all the pieces finally made their way down it was found that all damage is repairable. After rebuilding the rocket and his finances, Dok says “Final Jeopardy” will be ready to go again at ROCstock in November.

With Dok’s flight finally off the big pad, Bill Farr stepped up with his 7-motor powered, scratch built “Chariot”. Featuring the characteristic Farr-out fluorescent paint scheme, “Chariot” boasted a K1100 for liftoff, followed by 3 airstarts: pairs of J540’s, J135’s, and I154’s, respectively. Bill, always safety conscious, decided not to clip the outboard shunts on the airstarts. This resulted in a short, if not majestic, flight. All the recovery systems worked, with the result that Bill saved a lot of time (getting to the recovery site) and money (unburned AP) on the flight.

He gained more altitude with his old reliable “Pink Panther” using a G75J, but a partially occluded nozzle added lateral thrust, inducing a fairly convoluted trajectory. Fortunately, no one of importance was hurt.

With Wayne Mrazek (Now Hybrids) and Ron McGough (the grumpy VP without the red cap…) available to provide ground support, the launch featured a number of fine hybrid flights. Eric Pyne flew his scratch-built “L-Evation” into high altitude waiver territory on a HyperTek L625. A bird aptly called “Cloud Killer was put aloft on a HyperTek I220 by Joe and Taylor Mullins. Dave McCue flew “Pushing My Luck” for a successful level 2 cert flight powered by a RATTworks K240. This same motor was used three more times. Dave McCue used it again successfully in his scratch-built “Beyond Reason”, and Dave Griffith powered his “Dic in Along” up into high altitude waiver territory for his level 2 cert attempt. It did not linger there long. There was a separation at parachute deployment and the expensive part of the rocket became a lake stake.

The real attention getter was Doug Crawford’s launch of his scratch built rocket “Nitrous High”. After the usual moment of anticipation that follows the LCO’s punch of the launch button, there was a moment of silence followed by a faint hiss. The RATTworks K240 engine ended this period of deep introspection with a spectacular CATO. Inspection of the biggest pieces of the lower half of the rocket by Brian Barney led him to the theory that the fill tube and AP ignition grain plugged the nozzle at ignition. The flame front, with no obvious place to go, decided to head up in the direction of the nitrous tank which wasn’t expecting it. The nozzle assembly had its hands full with the fill tube and ignition grain, and wasn’t available to accommodate the overpressure by blowing out. The nitrous tank was left to handle the wayward flame front as best it could. This led to a rapid pressurization of the tank. The weakest point in this portion of the motor, and it's not very weak, is the joint between the tank and combustion chamber, and this is where the failure occurred. About half the rocket (the half farthest from the motor) was recovered. It resembled the stub of an exploded cigar. The lower half was reduced to “tiny cardboard and fiberglass chunks”, reported Brian.

After a successful early morning flight, the return engagement of my "Oatmeal Special" (scratch-built from a Quaker Oats container) ended with a CATO. Both flights used F23J’s. Inspection of the singed fuel grain from the second flight showed evidence of end burning as well as combustion within the slot. The extra burning surface area at the ends of the grain may have been what blew the nozzle off the motor. The result was a flight that achieved an apogee of about 20 feet, ending with a belly flop on the lake bed. The Oatmeal Special will be ready to fly again after some minor fin repairs.

Besides those already mentioned, there were three level 2 certification flights. Eddie Robles with his J800-powered "Ultra Baby Fat Boy" (which hopefully got him his Level 2!); Dave Wilsey, with a successful launch of a J300 in a Tomahawk named “American Pride”; and Karen Towle with a successful recovery of her J275-powered scratch-built rocket named “Taz 3”.

We are grateful to RocketMotion for not going to LDRS so we could get our group AP/BP fix. They reported a modest business in 38mm and 54mm reloads as well as standard rocketry supplies.

We look forward to next month when the regulars will be back from Texas, and more AP will be at the vendor tables.

Oh yes, Jim Garrett passed his Level 2 exam.