KCAR Launch Report: Sport Launch — March 2003

KCAR’s first launch of the Spring started out with a tad more wind than we’d hoped for, but not so bad as we had feared. The weather was pretty warm, and actually reached the low 70’s. As the day wore on, the clouds blew in from the West, along with an occasional sprinkle. Along with the heavier weather came calm winds but much cooler temperatures. We were finally driven off the field by the rain, which began in earnest before all of the equipment was stowed in the loft. We hung the wet tarps over the railing in the barn to prevent mildew, and all of the electronics were well under cover prior to the rain sweeping the field.

We had a pretty good turn out of fliers. One intrepid youngster, Darwin May, came all the way out from Topeka to join the fun. He launched a Mongoose on C6-0 staging to a C6-7 for a very nice high flight. Alas, he was unable to recover his rocket. We had a few other visitors, including the Turner boys and their father, who flew their Estes Blue Ninja several times on C11 and D12 motors.

Some of the well known fliers also turned out for the launch. Both Dave Lucas and Dave Messerschmidt were seen with some of their fascinating rockets, including Dave L’s interesting sliding wing glider. George Scheil flew his Mediocre Fred, but the winds were not kind to gliders this day. Bill and Zoron Hensley arrived and got in a few flights, as did Blaire Clark and his daughter Courtney. James and Paul Case also managed to light at least one ‘G’ class motor.

As the day grew, so did my courage, and the Interceptor G took a turn on an F52-5 for one of it’s standard spectacular flights. The Sprint Magnum also went up on two flights on the last of the E28-4 Reloads in my possession.

In the middle of it all, we stopped launching for 30 minutes to get some necessary club business out of the way. See the full report. We elected Dave Lucas as club Vice President, decided to launch over the Shawnee Mission Park field in April, and finalized the contest events we’d like to fly in June and September. And a few other things, too, all in thirty short minutes!

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that a good time was had by all. We were happy to have the visitors come and launch, and enjoy each other’s company.

We flew a total of 84 flights, burning 93 Motors, and expending 1,853.91 N-s (K range) worth of propellant (that’s as close as I can get since we made a couple of estimates). There were three staged flights (13, 52, 84), and three clusters (23, 53, 71).

Launch	Flier’s Name	Rocket Name(s)	Motor	Comments
1	Tyler & Trevor Turner	Blue Ninja	C11-3	Good flight
2	Paul Case	Gemini DC	B6-4	Rear ejection. One chute perfect, other OK
3	Courtney Greathouse	Courtney’s Blue & Black Mean Machine	E9-4	Beautiful flight
4	Tyler & Trevor Turner	Blue Ninja	C11-3	Another good flight
5	Paul Case	Big Bertha	B6-4	Nice flight
6	Darwin May	Trans Wing Super Glider	B4-4	Good flight
7	Andy Scheinost	Alpha Bash	A8-3	Nice quick boost
8	David Lucas	Penny Glider	A8-3	Will remove some nose weight
9	Justin Messerschmidt	Gnome 2	C6-5	Fast, high flight
10	David Lucas	Penny Glider	A8-3	Engine cato
11	Tim Burger	Sprint Magnum	E28-4	Very good flight
12	Blair Clark	SA-14 Archer	G64-4	Excellent flight
13	Darwin May	Mongoose	C6-0/C6-7
14	Courtney Greathouse	Mean Machine	E9-4	Nice long high burn
15	Andy Scheinost	Alpha Bash	B?
16	James Case	Mirage	G35-4	Nice flight
17	David Lucas	Cygnus	D12-3
18	Ian Jessee	Ambassador’s Banshee	A8-3	Good!
19	Tyler & Trevor Turner	Blue Ninja	C11-3	Nice straight flight
20	Dave Messerschmidt	Arreaux	F23-7	Very nice!
21	Justin Messerschmidt	Liberator	C6-3	Nice
22	Randall Jessee	Coin Bank with Bowl	G35-4	Ouch!
23	Taylor Jessee	Mini Viper III Replica	3xC6-5	Cluster — nice flight
24	George Scheil	Black Brant II	C11-3	Pretty
25	David Lucas	Fear This	D15-4
26	Tyler & Trevor Turner	Blue Ninja	D12-5	Nice high flight
27	Paul Case	Amraam	B6-4	Perfect
28	Ian Jessee	Estes V2	D12-3	Drag Raced 2 V2’s
29	Ian Jessee	Estes V2	D12-3	Drag Raced 2 V2’s
30	Justin Messerschmidt	Gnome 2	B4-4
31	Zoron Hensley	Banshee	A8-3
32	Bill Hensley	Lockheed X-7	C6-5	Good flight, long burn
33	George Scheil	Commanche Upper Stage	B6-4	Pretty
34	David Lucas	Red Bird	A10-3T	Fast boost, low ejection
35	Ian Jessee	Mk 109	A8-3
36	Bill Hensley	Airspike	E18-4
37	Zoron Hensley	Alpha	B6-4
38	Taylor & Hans Jessee	Sumo	G38-4
39	George Scheil	Mediocre Fred	A8-3	Nice glide transition
40	David Lucas	Red Bird	A2-3
41	Tyler & Trevor Turner	Blue Ninja	C11-3
42	Randall Jessee	Hot Tamale	C5-3	Tube fin rocket
43	George Scheil	Mediocre Fred	A6-4	“Smoke Bomb Motor”
44	Randall Jessee	Blue Ninja	C11-3
45	Tim Burger	Sprint Magnum	E28-4
46	Bill Hensley	Super Nova Payloader	D12-5
47	Zoron Hensley	Banshee	A8-3
48	Tyler Turner	Space Bus	1/4A3-3T	Good rocket for back yards & small fields
49	George Scheil	Rogue Deep Space Probe	C5-3	Nose cone separation
50	Bob Wingate	Apogee Blue Streak	A6-4	Quest Cato (spit nozzle, red flame) “Lawn Dart” No damage.
51	Tim Burger	Mongoose	B6-0/B6-6	Dropped booster next to pad
52	David Lucas	Wild Goose	D12-5	Heard the party horns
53	Taylor Jessee	4 Barrel	4xD12
54	Trevor Turner	Space Hauler	1/4A3-3t
55	Taylor Jessee	Super Big Bertha	D12-5
56	Ian Jessee	Ambassador’s Banshee	A8-3
57	David Lucas	Fear This	E9-6
58	Bill Hensley	Banshee	A8-3	Misfire
59	George Scheil	UFO	C6-0
60	Tim Burger	Maniac	D12-5	Nice flight
61	Zoron Hensley	Big Dawg	B6-4
62	Dave Messerschmidt	Phoenix	C6-5
63	Bill Hensley	Airspike	E9-6
64	Ian Jessee	Blue Ninja	C11-3
65	Taylor Jessee	Whistling Bunny	C11-3
66	David Lucas	Fear This	F21-8	Great motor
67	Zoron Hensley	Banshee	B6-4
68	Bob Wingate	Tiger Striped Deltie	1/2A3-2T	Curse you, Red Baron!
69	Dave Messerschmidt	SAM Missile	D12-5
70	Tim Burger	Silver Comet	F12-5
71	Randall Jessee	Peggy’s Valentine	2xD12-3
72	George Scheil	Stine Rock-a-chute Clone	A3-4t
73	Ian Jessee	Big Daddy	D12-3
74	George Scheil	Cosmic Cobra	B6-4
75	Dave Messerschmidt	Strong Arm	G35-7
76	Zoron Hensley	Blue Ninja	D12-5
77	Bill Hensley	Phantom 4000	G33-5	Launched from the rail, nice flight
78	Randall Jessee	Weasel	E9-6
79	Ian Jessee	Estes V2	D12-3
80	Tim Burger	Interceptor G	F52-5
81	Hans Jessee	Lance Beta	G80-7
82	David Lucas	Liberator	C6-3
83	Randall Jessee	Crayon	E11-3
84	George Scheil	Rogue Crossfire	B6-0/B6-3	Last flight of day, sprinkles turned to steady rain.

Number of Motors by Impulse

Number	Motor	Impulse
2	1/4A3	1.18
1	1/2A3	1.09
1	A2*	2.00
1	A3	2.22
2	A6*	4.00
10	A8	28.20
1	A10	2.00
2	B4	8.58
12	B6	51.96
1	B?*	4.26
8	C11	70.40
2	C5	18.20
11	C6	97.02
18	D12	303.12
1	D15	18.96
5	E9	139.35
1	E11	32.74
1	E18	36.54
2	E28	79.38
1	F12	43.20
1	F21	60.45
1	F23	52.85
1	F52	72.95
1	G33	98.39
3	G35	302.46
1	G38	87.36
1	G64	118.80
1	G80	116.25
Total:	93	1,853.91
* Guessing at exact impulse.

Duty roster for the launch.

Submitted by Tim Burger, NAR 78486.

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Page last updated on March 31, 2003