ROCstock at Lucerne

[Tarasdad]

Going to have to say no-go for me, can't justify the expense of the trip.

[edwinshap1]

But you're so close!

[gdjsky01]

Hot and calm. Got in two flts so far. Deucy 2.5 and IQSY Tomahawk

[gdjsky01]

Morning was awesome. Three flts. Dagger 38 on an I366. Osiris XL on a I212. And Javelin on a H410. Then came the wind. Blow out right now.

[KenRico]

Heard winds maybe better on Sunday than Saturday, can anyone onsite confirm ?

Anybody try any new CTI or AT or no mas CSFM ?

Kenny

[qquake2k]

Morning was awesome. Three flts. Dagger 38 on an I366. Osiris XL on a I212. And Javelin on a H410. Then came the wind. Blow out right now.

Wow, you've been busy, Jeff!

[calpoly93]

Wind was out of control! +/-20mh with gusts higher than that, according to "accuweather", gusts hit 42mph. The Range shut down right after I bought my engines from What's Up Hobbies...

The wife got hit by an airborne Easy-Up, pretty bad. She's got an egg-sized lump now.

Bummer trip. To add to it, as we were leaving, the wind managed to rip the top of the Pop Up tent trailer, shearing of the latches off. A very nice guy passing through stopped t help me and we got it strapped down so we could male it home.

- Clark Griswald

PS Still waiting for the girl in the Ferari

[Tarasdad]

Kinda makes me glad I didn't go after all. Saw the wind kicking up here but didn't realize it was so bad there. Hope everyone gets home safe!

[kelltym88]

I got there about 2:30 on Friday (what an ordeal getting there, had a blow out on the freeway......) and it was a dust storm. It never let up. I actually braved 3 launches, My Executioner on a CTI G57 (nice motor), my Deuces Wild on B6-4's and my Photon Disruptor II on a D12-5. The best part was the BBQ we had Friday night with our "camp", Fuddrucker and his family, Stickershock and his family, Roy and his family. They are all good people. But the wind, and the dust, I didn't chance going another night, my tent coming up in the middle of the night, dust in every crevice...... so I left about 3:30 yesterday. Disappointed, yes, but again, I got to see friends I hadn't seen in 2 years, so it was worth the effort. Today will probably end up being a perfect day. Since it seems that so many of the June ROCStocks are blow outs, maybe they should change their June date......

[gdjsky01]

Got to write up my report. But at 2:30pm yesterday I read it was still windy. Last night and today I think things are better.
I'll say it more than once, but don't let Mark "Stickershock" Hayes put you off by his online persona.

He's a great guy in person. Most Rocketeers are! Thanks Mark for the "Rocket Fuel"

Nice meeting you (again?) kelltym88! Quite a beautiful bevy of rockets you have!

As for the date... I suspect July would be no better, nor August. I think LDRS was once in July or August and the PM 'w' was there as well. Or maybe that was the joint LTR/ROC launch (remember those?). May is graduations and kids still in school. This is one of the first times I can recall it's blown for more than 24hrs. Certainly ROCtober and the November ROCStocks (IMO) 'tend' to be a bit better. I prefer cool or cold (tho maybe not freezing cold) to the heat. It makes recovery walks more tolerable for my 53 year old airframe.
- Jeff

[kelltym88]

[SIZE=3]

Nice meeting you (again?) kelltym88! Quite a beautiful bevy of rockets you have!


- Jeff

Thank you, nice meeting you too.

[edwinshap1]

I'll post a full breakdown of my weekend later, but I have to say, Sunday was the best flying conditions I've seen in a long time. Also, RSOing anything built by mike kramer is an experience :P

[gdjsky01]

Sounds like
A) Kevin Martin was correct. and
B) Sunday was like Thursday. No matter I could not stay today so I guess I made the right call.


I am still cleaning dust out of things a day and 1/2 later...
-Jeff

Did Bryce get his L2? At night?

[edwinshap1]

Nope, he missed passing the test by 1 point. We attempted to launch the MMM anyway, but the new uber pad out there has smaller channels than the old pad, so his screws were grinding the whole way and the bottom two snapped off, so we couldn't launch.

He did launch Size Matters on Sunday. Picture perfect flight.

So Sunday really was like Thursday actually. One guy tried launching a rocket to 8k ft, but it wasn't necessarily "stable", so after a 270 degree loop, it headed west across the range and dug a pretty nice deep channel in the playa. I think Tom has a video of the flight.

Tom did certify his L1, and I certified another person as well.

The most notable flights were definitely Lee's Thor flight and Kurt's BDR. Thor was picture perfect, straight clustered boost and recovery just as the sun hit the mountains.

Kurt launched BDR with a minor glitch or two. One airstart lit at a time, and arced the rocket pretty badly, causing it to have some issues. He said the damage wasn't too bad, but after seeing what he calls minor, I would expect to see that rocket pretty much rebuilt.

Mike Kramer brought up some odd-rocs that truly made me question my understanding of physics on earth. A "G" rocket using an "E?" to stop it mid flight, a pool noodle, and a saucer made of left over graphite from work that felt...solid?

All in all, an amazing weekend. I was fortunate enough to have a bed in Bryce's camper, so my evenings were slightly more enjoyable than if I were in the tent from last year.

A) Kevin always lays it down as he can best predict, even if his predictions aren't what we wish for.

Don't even remind me about playa dust. We had a massive dust devil blow through on Sunday. It was big enough to actually have an eye I stood could look out from.

[butalane]

Cool launch and a fun time despite the bad weather. Thanks ROC!

[stickershock23]

Got to write up my report. But at 2:30pm yesterday I read it was still windy. Last night and today I think things are better.
I'll say it more than once, but don't let Mark "Stickershock" Hayes put you off by his online persona.

He's a great guy in person. Most Rocketeers are! Thanks Mark for the "Rocket Fuel"

Nice meeting you (again?) kelltym88! Quite a beautiful bevy of rockets you have!

As for the date... I suspect July would be no better, nor August. I think LDRS was once in July or August and the PM 'w' was there as well. Or maybe that was the joint LTR/ROC launch (remember those?). May is graduations and kids still in school. This is one of the first times I can recall it's blown for more than 24hrs. Certainly ROCtober and the November ROCStocks (IMO) 'tend' to be a bit better. I prefer cool or cold (tho maybe not freezing cold) to the heat. It makes recovery walks more tolerable for my 53 year old airframe.
- Jeff

It was great meeting you too Geoff, Had a great time! you put up some awesome rockets!!

[KenRico]

Made it up Sunday - great day for flying.

Am so glad I made it for Sunday ! Definitely want to make it back in the fall .

Was also refreshing to speak to some favorite vendors face to face like Stickershock Mark and Bay Area Rocketry Mike.

Got a lot of compliments on my Vindicator DD - thanks Mark !

Kenny

[stickershock23]

Made it up Sunday - great day for flying.

Am so glad I made it for Sunday ! Definitely want to make it back in the fall .

Was also refreshing to speak to some favorite vendors face to face like Stickershock Mark and Bay Area Rocketry Mike.

Got a lot of compliments on my Vindicator DD - thanks Mark !

Kenny

Kenny.. I saw the up part.. VERY NICE... Did you recover ok? get your cert??

It was great meeting you too. wish we had more time to BS!!

[jeffgeraci]

Tominator 2, CONGRATS! on your L1 flight!!! Hope you like my pics

[jeffgeraci]

LOL on the last one! There's something to be said for a guy retrieving his rocket on a scooter in the desert during a sandstorm!

[edwinshap1]

The flight was in 19mph wind and the ascent was perfectly vertical, quite a feat

[fyrwrxz]

My thanks and a big shout out to the crew at ROCStock for making it happen. RSO was painless and the LCO really moved the clip along nicely with some good observations thrown in. I got to meet Mark from Stickershock (nice flite on the lampshade!), Mr. (Gary aka 'fuddrucker') Kevlar (thanks for the deal!-nice family!), Mike from BAR (we'll do a vendor agreement soon), Ed from ROC and the usual host of suspects imported from our neck of the woods (playa?). I'm hooked at the site and will be back in Roctober to fly.

[edwinshap1]

RSOing that lampshade was...interesting hehe. It was a great weekend, can't wait for summer to test some low wind rockets

[Tominator 2]

LOL on the last one! There's something to be said for a guy retrieving his rocket on a scooter in the desert during a sandstorm!

Thanks Jeff for the awesome pictures!



My first level one attempt was on a I175 White 3 grain 38mm motor. It went very well but kicked the motor so it didn't count. I then flew a H123W couple hours later and was completely successful.
http://youtu.be/g4MRyTe8fbM/
On sunday morning i flew my 29mm min dia carbon rocket on an H54 White long burn. Sims say between 8-9,000 feet with the pro29 tail cone i bought. The flight was meant to test my Com Spec tracker. It worked flawlessly and I was really pleased. Found it in less than half an hour.

http://youtu.be/9s-ZSOdyP6g/


I had a great weekend watching other people's flights too. I got a video of somebody's rocket going cruise missile style across the playa. Pretty gnarly.

I think it was a K motor.
http://youtu.be/U7kYO5a42HY/

[kelltym88]

Mark, (Stickershock)

How did Roy's rockets fare? His V-2 and his Honest John?

[KenRico]

Recovery was a 'breeze' - landed fairly close, but then was landsharking across the lake bed, I almost had to 'go low' and tackle the chute. El Presidente Rick is mailing in the L2 paperwork .

Already updated my TRF signature and next Out of Area experience will be GHS.

Rocket airframe is solid no real damage, paint is now scratched up, but its so true - Stickershock Decals are tough !

Now I can do those static DD tests with deployment charges and not worry about marring the paint!

Will talk soon, grabbing some 4" Pershing parts . . .slated for Dark Matter . . . legal in AZ . . .

Kenny

Kenny.. I saw the up part.. VERY NICE... Did you recover ok? get your cert??

It was great meeting you too. wish we had more time to BS!!

[gdjsky01]

Hey did I meet some of yoooze guyz? Or did we miss each other again? I know I watched one guy drill and assemble his L1 CTI motor... I suck at remember names...

[stickershock23]

Mark, (Stickershock)

How did Roy's rockets fare? His V-2 and his Honest John?

The V2 Flew AWESOME Came in a little hard so there is some minor damage.. but less than he normally has on it LOL

The HOJO Was SWEET on that dual thrust motor. over TWICE as high as it has ever flown.. but it seperated so the booster came in ballistic.. He bought a new tube so I am sure it will be fixed!

Wish you could have stayed! I wanted to see your disruptor go!

[fyrwrxz]

Hey did I meet some of yoooze guyz? Or did we miss each other again? I know I watched one guy drill and assemble his L1 CTI motor... I suck at remember names...

Ah Jeff- we missed again. I still had the Venus transit pics on the card in my camera I coulda shown you. Bummer! Be up there in Rocktober, tho'. You should roll down to Plaster Blaster this year.

[Buckaroo]

Anyone find a Wild Child, black with orange highlights, yellow chute, 6 grain CTI case. My buddy's son flew it early Sunday. Found the tracker, which had somehow separated from the rocket. Hope it turns up, he got his Jr L1 with it.