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KCAR Launch Report: Rocktoberfest 2000 Open Meet


Launch date and time: October 14-15th, 2000
Launch location: 14900 Peterson Road, Kansas City, MO


Saturday’s crowd
Photo by James Case

Events:

With the exception of a sudden downpour Saturday afternoon around 3:30, weather both days was fairly good. The temperature was near 65-70 both days, and the winds were relatively light. Low clouds on Sunday morning limited our maximum permitted altitude a bit. A little (ok, a lot) of rain shut down the range early on Saturday, but it sure couldn’t dampen our spirits.

We were pleased to have some out of town guests attend including two from Arkansas and one from St. Louis, Missouri.

Dan Kirk worked on the silver level of the NARTREK program during this launch. He took second place in the Sport Scale event with a very nicely finished AMRAAM, so that took care of one of the NARTREK requirement. He had a 60 second flight with his Edmonds Deltie, a great kit he highly recommends. His kit-bashed Estes Fat Boy turned in a textbook perfect flight on three B6-6’s. The KCAR sport launch theme for next month is clustering, so hopefully the gang can talk him into trying more motors then. RockSim and swing tests show it's stable with up to 7 C6-7’s. Dan’s egg capsule separated and the booster was destroyed in the rain. He plans to build another egglofter before the next launch and should be able to finish the NARTREK silver packet at that time.

In other competition events Dan qualified but didn’t place in Open Spot Landing, with a distance of 33 meters. His 1/4A Parachute Duration flight was also disqualified after it made a looping, apparently unstable flight. He later discovered that it lost a launch lug at takeoff. Dan had a beautiful test flight of his ‘A’ SuperRoc at the last launch but forgot to remove the engine at that time. With the high humidity the spent casing had swelled enough that it couldn’t be removed.

George Scheil’s sport scale entry was a scratchbuilt Phoenix. George spent a lot of time working on this model and it showed, especially in the very impressive custom decals.

The grand prize winner of the contest was Stew McNabb from Arkansas. Stew decided to donate the grand prize (a Launch Pad HARM AGM-88A rocket kit) back to the club to be raffled off with the proceeds going to the NAR legal fund. Great idea, Stew!

The tables below show the contest results and scores. Congratulations to all who participated!

Results
Name 1/4A PD C ELD SpSc OSL A SRD
C Division
Diehl, Leo


37.00
Kirk, Daniel EJ DQ 940 33.00
McNabb, Stew 24 / 19 DQ 960 7.00 2650 / 2783
Morley, Mark 10 / 8 80 910 11.00 DQ / SEP
Scheil, George 9 / 14 DQ / DQ 905 24.00 2799 / 2426
Simons, Ralph NR / 28

31.00 4032 / 4608
Skelton, John


56.00
Wingate, Bob
29 865 11.00
Points, Individuals (Alphabetical)
Name 1/4A PD C ELD SpSc OSL A SRD Total
C Division
Diehl, Leo 0 0 0 8 0 8
Kirk, Daniel 0 0 240 8 0 248
McNabb, Stew 140 0 400 80 156 776
Morley, Mark 28 320 160 48 0 556
Scheil, George 56 0 80 32 104 272
Simons, Ralph 84 0 0 16 260 360
Skelton, John 0 0 0 8 0 8
Wingate, Bob 0 192 40 48 0 280
Points, Individuals (Rank)
Name 1/4A PD C ELD SpSc OSL A SRD Total
C Division
McNabb, Stew 140 0 400 80 156 776
Morley, Mark 28 192 160 48 0 556
Simons, Ralph 84 0 0 16 260 360
Wingate, Bob 0 320 40 48 0 280
Scheil, George 56 0 80 32 104 272
Kirk, Daniel 0 0 240 8 0 248
Diehl, Leo 0 0 0 8 0 8
Skelton, John 0 0 0 8 0 8
Points, Sections
Name Total
SLRA 1332
KCAR 1176

In addition to the contest there were many memorable sport flights made over the two days.

While John Skelton kept busy keeping track of the contest results using the Contest Manager software on his laptop computer, his son Barry made several flights with a Custom Rockets Razor, and an Estes Shell Shocked.

In addition to the contest and NARTREK flights, Dan Kirk got some good sport flying in, too, including his ever-popular “Spudchick” on a C6-5. His wife, Tia, attended the launch and flew a few rockets, such as a Custom Ion Pulsar on a C6-5. Now she plans to join the NAR and get into competition. Even the Kirks’ 3-year-old and 1-year-old sons had a good time.

Tim Burger’s Estes Big Bertha made several very nice flights using C6-5 motors. Tim also sent a “Stretch Maniac” up on a D12-5 a couple times.

Nick Stich flew his Launch Pad ASRAAM on a pair of D12-5’s for a great flight. Nick also launched his scratch-built “Oat Burner” on a G64-4W. This was the same rocket he had used the week before for his Level 1 high power certification flight at Tripoli Mo-Kan. Unfortunately this time the motor suffered a blow-through failure half way through the flight. This ejected the recovery system, and the rocket spun in mid air like a pinwheel while still under power. The recovery deployed OK, though, and it landed safely. Talk about tough! This rocket had multiple layers of fiberglass and sustained very little damage. Two people managed to catch this flight on video.

Jerome Tonneson’s upscaled (x3) Mosquito made its obligatory appearance flying on a B4-4 and landed close the pads. Next he flew his kitbashed Big Daddy. This rocket has an interchangeable motor mount system that permits it to fly using a single 18 mm motor, a single 24 mm motor, or a cluster of three 18 mm motors. This time it flew using a RMS 18/20 motor with a D13-4W reload kit, and also landed close to the pads. Jerome’s Aerotech Initiator lifted off using a F12-3J. This rocket has made many nice flights, and this one was pretty good except that the RMS 24/40 motor kicked. It turned up after a twenty minute search of the field. His Estes Maxi Alpha III flew twice this weekend. The first flight was on a D13-4W, and after being pulled out of a tree it flew again using a D9-4W. His modified Long Shot flew on a D9-7W. The delay was a bit excessive for this rocket, but otherwise the flight was great.

KCAR would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in making Rocktoberfest 2000 a success. Thirty-six people from 25 families participated in the activities (eight as competitors). Thanks to all those who attended!

Total impulse over the two days of 2239.125 Newton-seconds (not counting most contest flights), like a partial K motor.

There were four clustered flights (#7, #8, #99, and #125) and four multi-stage flights (#17, #37, #57, and #61).

Thanks again to our hosts, James and Tricia, for letting us use their field.

If you have pictures taken during this launch please let us know so that they can be posted on the web site. If you can scan them and save them as GIFs or JPGs that would be great. If not, a few of the club members have scanners and can get the pictures into digital format. Send e-mail for details.

Please let us know if any corrections need to be made to this launch report.

Contest results submitted John Skelton, KCAR Senior Advisor.
Edited by Jerome Tonneson, NAR #76200.

Portions of this report courtesy of: Dan Kirk, NAR #75066; Stew McNabb, NAR #14002; and Jerome Tonneson, NAR #76200.

Launch Pad Flyer's Name Rocket Name Motor(s) Notes
1 1 Tia Kirk Custom Ion Pulsar C6-5 Nice Flight!
2 5 Jerome Tonneson Modified Estes Longshot D9-7W Beautiful flight; Delay a bit long for this rocket.
3 3 Marc Schroeder Wildfire A8-3
4 1 Marc Schroeder Estes Banshee B6-2 Leapt off the pad - great flight!
5 4 Will Schroeder Condor B6-2
6 4 Alan Hughes Big Rage C6
7 5 Blair Clark "Cluster's Last Stand" B4-4 x3 Heads Up!
8 5 Blair Clark "Cluster's Last Stand" C6-7 x3 Beautiful cluster flight!
9 5 Mike Barzee North Coast Lance Beta F62-4
10 4 Barry Skelton Estes Shell Shocked C6-3
11 2 Alicia Hughes ? B6-4
12 3 Alicia Hughes ? B6-4
13 4 Taylor Jessee Estes Prowler C6-5 Nice
14 2 Taylor Jessee Estes Prowler C6-5
15 1 Larry Zeilmann Estes SR-71 C6-3
16 5 Jerome Tonneson Estes Maxi Alpha III D13-4W Landed in a tree but easily recovered.
17 4 Mike Barzee "Blue Lightning" D12-0,D12-5 Great staging.
18 6 Nick Stich Aerotech Initiator F52-5 Blacksky altimiter fired the recovery system right at apogee.
19 3 Chris Hughes Estes Skywinder C6-5 Very nice flight
20 3 Chris Hughes Estes Skywinder C6-5 Another great flight
21 2 Chris Hughes Estes Skywinder C6-5 Yet another great flight
22 2 Chris Hughes Estes Skywinder C6-7 Prang.
23 4 Taylor Jessee Estes Corkscrew B6-4 Partial deployment
24 4 Taylor Jessee Estes Corkscrew B6-2
25 2 Jonathan Diehl Estes Firebird C6-5
26 1 Leo Diehl "JR 1" 1/4A3-3T
27 1 Curtis Walters Quest Tomahawk C6-5
28 3 Mike Barzee Sizzler C6-5
29 3 Daniel Kneedler Custom Luck #13 A8-3 Nice Flight
30 3 Daniel Kneedler Custom Luck #13 C6-7
31 1 Bill Hensley Lockheed X-7 replica C6-3 Partial Deployment
32 4 Mark Hawkins Estes Sizzler B6-4 Good flight
33 4 Taylor Jessee Estes Prowler C6-3 A-OK flight
34 6 Bill Hensley Navy SM-3 Seahawk D12-5 Great flight
35 6 Mike Boldizs V-2 D12-3 Nice flight after two misfires.
36 6 Bill Hensley Estes Big Daddy D12-5
37 2 Taylor Jessee custom C6-0,A8-3 A-OK
38 4 Curtis Walters Estes Star Wars B6-4 A-OK
39 5 Blair Clark Fatboy E18-7W Great flame and roar; Blasted off the pad.
40 6 Bill Hensley Maxi Alpha III D12-5 Great flight
41 4 Mark Hawkins Estes Big Daddy D12-3 Beautiful flight.
42 4 Mark Hawkins Estes Big Daddy D12-3
43 6 Bill Hensley North Coast Phantom 4000 F62-4 Good smoke
44 2 Stew McNabb "Straight Up I" A8-3 NARTREK Bronze level baseline flight; 9.93 seconds.
45 5 Jerome Tonneson Estes Big Daddy kitbash D13-4W OK flight, delay a bit long.
46 2 Randall Jessee RocketVision Solar Venture D12-5 Unstable!
47 2 Jordan Boldizs Quest DCY Clipper C5-3 Marginal stability
48 3 Dan Kirk "Edmund 1B" A3-4T Unstable
49 5 Mike Boldizs Cox Saturn 1B D12-3 Unstable
50 5 Jordan Boldizs Estes Mk-109 B6-4 Good flight
51 2 Jerome Tonneson Upscaled (x3) Mosquito B4-4
52 5 Mike Boldizs Estes Titan III D12-3 Pretty flight.
53 2 Larry Zeilmann Estes Venus Probe C6-3 First flight; Cool!
54 4 Randall Jessee Scratch built 6-tuber D12-3 Seperation
55 5 Ryan Kneedler Estes Python D12-3 Dual 'chutes, good flight.
56 5 Ryan Kneedler Estes Python D12-3 Nice flight.
57 2 Larry Zeilmann Custom Rocket SAM-X B6-0,B6-6 No ejection charge - lawn dart.
58 5 Mike Barzee Estes Honest John C6-5 Good flight.
59 5 Mike Barzee LOC Onyx F20-7W Blasted off the pad; Very nice!
60 1 Jordan Boldizs Estes 1/100th scale Little Joe II A10-3 Not too good.
61 2 Rick Thompson Estes Mongoose C6-0,C6-7 Good flight.
62 4 Fred Copson Andromena C6-3 Good flight after one misfire.
63 2 Mike Boldizs Estes Mercury Redstone B6-4
64 3 Blair Clark "Scratched" C6-7
65 2 Blair Clark "Scratched" D10-7 Great flight - beautiful delay selection.
66 3 Blair Clark "Scratched" C6-7 Seperation - flew all over the sky.
67 3 Marc Schroeder Estes Yankee A8-3 Seperation
68 5 Larry Zeilmann Scratchbuild Bomarc D12-5 First flight.
69 6 Jerome Tonneson Aerotech Initiator F12-3J Nice flight. Motor kicked but was recovered.
70 5 Taylor Jessee Estes AMRAAM D12-3 Good flight.
71 4 Alan Hughes Estes Fire Flash B6-4
72 5 Fred Copson Estes Shadow D12-5
73 5 Mike Barzee Aerotech Barracuda F23-7J
74 4 Alan Hughes Estes Alpha B6-4 Good flight.
75 1 Will Schroeder Estes Code Red C6-3
76 5 Fred Copson North Coast Lance Beta F62-6
77 4 Randall Jessee Scratchbuilt AMRAAM D12-3 Pretty flight.
78 ? Will Schroeder Estes Blackbird C6-3 Good flight.
79 2 Wesley Waldon Estes Big Bertha C6-5 Nice flight.
80 3 Chris Hughes Estes Big Bertha C6-5
81 1 Chris Hughes Estes Big Bertha C6-3 Nice flight; saw a few sparks at ejection.
82 6 Randall Jessee North Coast Phantom 4000 F22-5J Pranged; Seemed underpowered.
83 2 Chris Hughes Quest Saturn V B6-4
84 1 Chris Hughes Quest Saturn V B6-4 Nice dual-chute recovery.
85 3 Mike Barzee Black Brant III D12-5 Great Flight!
86 2 Josh Zeilmann Estes Marte Mk II C6-5 Seperation
87 4 Josh Zeilmann Estes Marte Mk II A8-3 Nice second flight.
88 ? Matt Zeilmann Estes US Army A8-3 Nice flight.
89 4 Gage Waldon Estes Prowler D12-5 Good flight & recovery
90 3 Gage Waldon Estes Prowler C6-5
91 3 Gage Waldon Estes Prowler C6-5
92 1 Alicia Hughes Quest Big Rage C6-5 Two 'chute recovery.
93 4 Alicia Hughes Quest Big Rage B6-4
94 1 Alan Hughes Estes Tornado A8-3 Seperation
95 ? Dan Kirk Deltie A3-4T Beautiful flight with a one minute duration.
96 2 Tia Kirk Firebird C6-5
97 2 Andrew Ticknor Estes SerNo 20227 C6-7
98 2 Andrew Ticknor Estes SerNo 20227 B6-4
99 5 Nick Stich Launch Pad ASRAAM D12-5 x2 Great clustered flight.
100 2 Andrew Ticknor Estes M136A2 B6-4
101 2 Andrew Ticknor Estes M136A2 C6-7
102 ? Tia Kirk AMRAAM C6-5
103 ? Dan Kirk Trans Wing C6-3
104 2 Barry Skelton Custom Razor B6-6 Returned nicely.
105 4 Barry Skelton Manta B6-6
106 3 Barry Skelton Estes Shell Shocked C6-3 Had a little hang time.
107 2 George Scheil QCR Easter Egg Lofter C6-5 C ELD attempt; DQ due to broken egg.
108 4 Dan Kirk AMRAAM C6-3 SpSc flight; Seperation.
109 2 Stew McNabb C ELD C10-4 C ELD attempt; DQ due to seperation.
110 5 George Scheil Scratchbuilt Phoenix D12-3 SpSc launch; Landed in a tree but was recovered (after using a saw!)
111 2 Mark Morley D Region Tomahawk B6-4 SpSc launch; Great!
112 4 Dan Kirk AMRAAM C6-3 SpSc launch; Good flight, simulated smoke visible.
113 5 Tim Burger Estes Big Bertha C6-5
114 3 Barry Skelton Custom Razor B4-2 Nice flight.
115 5 Jerome Tonneson Estes Maxi Alpha III D9-4W
116 5 Tim Burger Stretch Maniac D12-5 Landed near the trees; Nice flight.
117 6 James Case Aerotech Mirage G80-7 Nice flight.
118 5 Tim Burger Estes Big Bertha C6-5
119 4 Andrew Ticknor Estes M136A2 C6-7 Stable this time, nice flight.
120 2 Tia Kirk AMRAAM C6-5 Great flight.
121 5 Tim Burger Stretch Maniac D12-5 Another great flight.
122 6 Nick Stich "Oat Burner" G64-4W Motor failure (blow-through). Landed safely, very little damage to the rocket. Forward closure of the RMS 29/40-120 was damaged.
123 6 James Case "Trusty Lawn Dart" G35-7W Nice flight.
124 5 Tim Burger Estes Big Bertha C6-5
125 1 Dan Kirk Kitbashed Fat Boy B6-6 x3 NARTREK cluster flight. All motors lit. Very nice!
126 4 Barry Skelton Estes Shell Shocked C6-3
127 2 Dan Kirk "Spudchick" C6-5
128 6 James Case "Trusty Lawn Dart" G35-7W
129 2 Dan Kirk "Nerf Rocket" A8-3
Total engines by class:
TypeQty.Notes
MM 0
1/4A1
1/2A0
A 12
B 30Three in each of two clusters. One booster.
C 54Three in one cluster. One booster.
D 30Two in one cluster. Two boosters.
E 1
F 8
G 4

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Page last updated on March 23, 2006
Photos removed (to save space on the site) February 28, 2008.