MMMSC Launch for 16 August 2014

As we had a question posted in an older thread, I'd thought I'd get a new thread going about the upcoming launch.

The farmer has asked us not to do Sunday launches for a while as that's the day they load up the trucks for Monday deliveries. It's really a good idea not to have people downrange who aren't involved in the launch and aren't paying attention in case anything comes in ballistic.

So, we'll be at the farm setting up from about 9:30 and flying to about 4 o'clock or so.

Let us know that you're coming and what you'll be flying.

Thanks, I am planning on camping an hour to the southwest in NH, any good local breakfast places on the way up 43 or 202 in NH?

I probably would fly Beater on flight #95.

This is its first flight 20 years ago:

As I mentioned in the other thread, if you need 1515 rail, let us know. We will have 1010 rail and 1/4" rod high power pads setup anyway.

The https://www.salmonfallscafe.com/ should be open for breakfast from 7-11 am according to the info on the web site. Kenn and I have
eaten there before, but not for breakfast. The meal we had was good. It is located on Rt 202 just over the NH border in Maine, and is about 5-10
minutes from the field.

Guy.

If at all possible, could we set up closer to the middle of the field? I wouldn't mind walking a bit further from parking to the flightline if it meant fewer rockets in the trees.

guywad said:

As I mentioned in the other thread, if you need 1515 rail, let us know. We will have 1010 rail and 1/4" rod high power pads setup anyway.

The https://www.salmonfallscafe.com/ should be open for breakfast from 7-11 am according to the info on the web site. Kenn and I have
eaten there before, but not for breakfast. The meal we had was good. It is located on Rt 202 just over the NH
border in Maine, and is about 5-10
minutes from the field.

Guy.

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Perfect, thanks!

Just want to throw in a heads-up to anyone coming to this launch from the south; this past Saturday, many people met with massive delays on I-495 North coming to Amesbury. I would guess that the traffic on I-95 North won't be a bargain either. Leave early or find an alternate route (Rt 125 is crowded from 495 through Plaistow but moves pretty well after that).

Remember, too, that downtown Somersworth is torn up and has detours so going a little further to Rt 202 on either 125 or the Spaulding will be a little smoother.

I'll be there. If the winds are favorable I'll do another 2-stage HPR. I'll also be bringing my Competitor 3 - it hasn't flown since URRF where I damaged a fin. Here's hoping that our 5-day forecast holds - looking like a really nice day on Saturday.

-brant

Worked with John Harland after the CMASS launch this past weekend to fix up a nice ringtail rocket he gave me a few years back.
Not the prettiest fix but I should be able to fly it this weekend. That is if I can tear myself away from the LCO duties. :wink:

Hoping to do an E, F and G motor progression with my Wildchild. I have an Aerotech G76 Green reload aching to be lit up.

KennB said:

I should be able to fly it this weekend

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Pictures or it didn't happen.

billspad said:

Pictures or it didn't happen.

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So come up and take some pictures. It will be too nice outside to work in your son's house, anyway.

KennB said:

So come up and take some pictures. It will be too nice outside to work in your son's house, anyway.

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It's too nice to work when it's snowing too but the job had to get done.

And you can't use Scott's tooth as excuse for not flying.

I can do LCO for a couple of minutes so Kenn can fly. I Promise to count down from 5!

I'll be there. I want to try a CTI Mellow for one thing. The traffic will likely be painfully slow again on 495 so I plan to head north on 3 and take 101 east to 125. It isn't much longer for time than my usual route on a quiet day and should be a lot less on a busy day.

billspad said:

Pictures or it didn't happen.

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It did happen!



Flew well and was recovered. Someone else got pics of the flight - maybe they'll make it on here.

-brant

Nice to see Kenn burning a motor! Looked like it was a fantastic morning for flying. So bummed I couldn't be there!

Another beautiful day in Berwick! I flew a barely-finished scratchbuild on a couple of Aerotech H engines (like usual). I flew the rocket with an Adept22 on board to measure altitude but used motor ejection to deploy the parachute. I plan on using the altimeter to handle deployment sometime in the next couple of months. Anyway, I flew it twice, first on an H165 and then on an H180.
H165 - 1841':
[video=youtube;Vttaw5p2vd0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vttaw5p2vd0[/video]
H180 - 1614':
[video=youtube;uV7nhD6QIPc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV7nhD6QIPc[/video]

It seems odd to me that the H165 flight was higher. Perhaps my vent hole needs to be cleaner? I looked at it after getting home and noticed a few burrs.

My friend Ethan also attended and flew his Madcow 4" Patriot ("el Cheser") on a few CTI reloads. He used my camera, so I will post his videos.
H170:
[video=youtube;9ZvjdDPVqoA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZvjdDPVqoA[/video]
H255:
[video=youtube;B0rsg9konfE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0rsg9konfE[/video]

Nice videos Andrew. I see that your wish to fly from the middle of the field was considered and accepted. Did that lower the number of rockets that were "out of bounds"?

I think so! I only saw 2 rockets land in the trees, both of which flew on long burn engines and were pretty close to horizontal by the last seconds of their burns.

eggplant said:

I think so! I only saw 2 rockets land in the trees, both of which flew on long burn engines and were pretty close to horizontal by the last seconds of their burns.

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Well that is good. CTI Mellows perchance?

jsargevt said:

Well that is good. CTI Mellows perchance?

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I was the second launch with a Mellow. I had a G33 in an Estes Ventris. It landed well away from the trees. I only had a long walk because I had to skirt the very large area of newly seeded turf that it landed on. I had an Altimeter Two on board. Altitude was 2011', max speed was 163 mph and max acceleration was 5.7g. Not much oomph but a looong burn. The rocket before me weathercocked and ended up in the trees. I am guessing the other rocket was bit too heavy for the Mellow.

ClusterNut said:

I was the second launch with a Mellow. I had a G33 in an Estes Ventris. It landed well away from the trees. I only had a long walk because I had to skirt the very large area of newly seeded turf that it landed on. I had an Altimeter Two on board. Altitude was 2011', max speed was 163 mph and max acceleration was 5.7g. Not much oomph but a looong burn. The rocket before me weathercocked and ended up in the trees. I am guessing the other rocket was bit too heavy for the Mellow.

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That's a fair analysis, Mike. The Mellows are good but need to be paired with the right rocket and the right wind conditions much like an E9 motor or a Quest C6. Light and not too draggy, like your rocket, will let you fly well even with the stronger than expected wind we had that day. The one before yours would have benefited from being launched with the wind; it was on the heavy side and had lots of fin area so the weather cocking would have put it closer to vertical. As it went, it just kept arcing and may have even been past horizontal by the time the thrusting finished.

I can't wait to see what some of our boost glide enthusiast do with the Mellows.

farsidius said:

It did happen!

View attachment 181444

Flew well and was recovered. Someone else got pics of the flight - maybe they'll make it on here.

-brant

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My brother was taking pics with my dad's camera all day. Once I can get a flash drive from him I can post pics from the entire day

eggplant said:

I think so! I only saw 2 rockets land in the trees, both of which flew on long burn engines and were pretty close to horizontal by the last seconds of their burns.

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I flew one of my rockets on the CTI I55. It weathercocked about halfway through the burn and was sideways for about a whole second of thrust. Luckily it landed in the field, not the trees.

I stopped by on my way from PA to Grafton Notch. A great day, great field and great bunch of folks to fly with. Here are a few pics I got.

Here is a bad picture of Beater on flight #96 with an old I161, it got 2020', perfect recovery.

5x7 said:

Here is a bad picture of Beater on flight 96 with an old I161, it got 2020', perfect recovery.
View attachment 182114 View attachment 182115 View attachment 182116

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Can't see the pics

A Loc Aura before and after its 43rd flight on an Estes E16-6. There was so little wind and it is so quiet you could clearly hear the delay burning, awesome.



Thanks again for the hospitality.

This is a little to the north of the field, does anyone eat here?:



Fixed pics-sorry!

5x7 said:

Thanks again for the hospitality.

This is a little to the north of the field, does anyone eat here?:

View attachment 182119

Fixed pics-sorry!

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Glad you enjoyed your visit with us; you had some nice flights and took some great pictures.

Most of us head south or west from the field and I haven't heard of this diner but it looks like it's made for us. There seems to be at least two, Waterboro and Scarborough, Maine, but both are quite a ways north from our launches. We'll be in Sanford, ME, for an air show in September but it's still a long haul from there. Still, we'll see what happens and maybe make a pilgrimage. Thanks for the heads-up.

I finally have pics from this day (I know I'm 2 weeks late). Point out your own rockets if you want.