Hey y'all; here's a quick report from our visit to LDRS 36. Like many others, I've wanted to visit the MDRA gang at Higgs for several years now! I had to work in North Carolina the week leading up to LDRS, so that put me within reach of the event much to my excitement! Alas, I had to work on Thursday and had commitments on Sunday, so it made for a condensed visit to LDRS, but a great time nonetheless! I would like to thank MDRA and all those involved in LDRS 36 for letting us come to play in your territory; it was a great time, and THANK YOU so very much for your efforts!!!:clap:
Since I flew out to NC for work, my dad Tom (and rocketry partner in crime) drove all my crap out to LDRS. Thanks old man!!! He arrived mid-day Thursday (wet), and my boss and I arrived late Thursday (wet). Relaxed outside the BW+ with a few beers and some good friends, and crashed for a few hours.
Friday
Less wet, but still overcast, windy, with a little bit of cloud dribble here and there. Arrive at the field early, decide that the weather puts us in a holding pattern for a short while, so we head off to nearby
Two Chicks Cafe for some brunch. Yum; and the ultra-oldschool juke box was neat. 25 Cents for 5 plays...Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, and so on. Nice! Back to the field and unload the Traverse.
We prep some Loc Top Guns with Aerotech K1103X's. Charge up the Jolly Logic Chute releases and decide to burn some AP. Put the 30 year old rockets on the pad for the drag race.
Tom's Top Gun leapt off the pad first, getting the victory and more altitude than mine.
But mine touched down first and closer to the pads.:wink: The Jolly Logics performed great in the windy conditions (on 70" and 78" chutes nonetheless). Very thankful to have used them on uber-windy Friday!
First time recovering at MDRA. This time of year, a tracker definitely comes in handy....these big birds were mostly consumed by the grasses.
The single drag race was enough for one day, especially with the conditions. That said, we were very pleased to have launched something and recovered without incident considering the conditions. Thanks LDRS staff for keeping things running despite weather nastiness!
Saturday
Back out at the field early, my boss (Erik) had to fly out mid-day, so we wanted to be on the pad early. And we were. Shortly after the flyers meeting, we were on the first rack of LDRS36-Saturday. I believe this Loc Expediter was the first flight of the day...first HP flight of the day for sure. Nice yellow/black scheme, sun in the face of the camera washed out the colors a bit.
Two new Loc kits were being put to the test: a 5.5" IQSY Tomahawk and a 7.5" Patriot Missile. Loc 3.0 Jay (L) and Dave (R) stand with the big birds.
Tom's Tomahawk went first. A Gorilla K980 Black Lightning was the motor of choice. Spewing sparks and smoke all over the place, it flew in line with the sun presenting some funky photos:
After a nice flight to 3600'-ish, it landed up a creek!
Next up was the big Patriot. Though large, this thing is pretty light. A baby M pushed her to over 8k'. Loc 7.5" Patriot and
Sconnie 6000-M1550 White.
Recovered successfully out in the field and was dragged for some time. Eventually we caught up to it and rescued the para-sail without issue.
Back on the range, we visit the Scarpine pits. Good to see you Jim!
Just down the way, we have the Cohen Quarters.....that big Higgs square rocket is just too cool!
I believe this to be the Professor, Terry McCreary's Patriot on an AT J825R.
Pretty soon I'm going to hit the max number of photos per post...so this ends part I. Part II coming asap!