EVENT TriCities Rocketeers announcing SodBlaster 2018 Labor Day Weekend

Thanks for adding the info, Rich [emoji4]. One last video (sorry yeah I'm kinda a sparky fiend [emoji6] ). This was Saturday's last launch from the away cell, IIRC a K990 -



Thanks again guys, a great launch!

Tony

roc_boy said:

I did get John L's YO FAT's flight - sorry it didn't go optimally -

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That was the second flight of the weekend for YO FAT, evidently, 3 motors failed to light, and one of those lit in the air. John informed me this morning that YO FAT will return.

Some more photos courtesy of John Ludwig (Puget Sound Rocketry Club).

Benno chatting with fellow fliers.



Dave K grading ? Barnes L2 exam (he successfully achieved L2 later in the day). Sorry Mr. Barnes I am drawing a blank on your first name.


David R and a large orange rocket.

Doug W posing with his Madcow Aerobee Hi The Rockeeter themed color scheme.


Gary G (? Pres of OROC) with his Wocket.

A view of the HPR pads, the black rocket with USAF markings is mcderek's Sledgehammer (formerly Brett Simpkins 5.5" Sledgehammer).

Another view of the HPR pads same rack, along with the sod farms worker discing the field. Once again the Sledgehammer is visible in the middle (can you tell I really like the design of the Sledgehammer...)


Kelly B using a dirt clod as a standoff.


Kris Hull bringing his Aerobee 150 back to his prep area after its K850DM flight (or he forgot something and had to go back to his prep area).

Dave King TriCities Rocketeers President and Tripoli Southeastern Washington Prefect, Launch Director for SodBlaster 2018.

Next rack waiting to go, we had a couple of slow downs due to equipment issues but were never more than a half a rack behind.



The TriCities Rocketeers Snakk Shakk operated by William M, Li M, and Barbara M.

Tamara K (left) Site Coordinator and Registration and Bonnie K (right) all around nice lady and our cookie dealer...try it you'll like it

Love the pics and videos coming in! I have.......456.........individual clips to go through to put together a launch compilation video. But first, a quick personal recap and thanks.

I arrived at the sod farm early Friday morning to see some campers already in place, and Tamara already up directing the parking situation. Because I've sort of taken on the role of unofficial historian at the events I attend, I cross my fingers to get parking that allows me to jump up from whatever I'm doing at my table to film the rack being launched. Fortunately, I arrived early enough that Tamara directed me to a good spot. After making the rounds saying hi to everyone, I started pulling my rockets and gear out of the car and set up camp. While getting my first rockets of the weekend ready, I happened to spot Ellis and Kim Langford walking up the pit area, and ran out to introduce myself and say hi. After pestering Ellis for a photo with my favorite Estes upscale (see previous post), I set back to work and almost immediately was introduced to Steve Shannon of Tripoli. It was great that some of the leaders of our hobby were in attendance, and I was so glad to have been able to meet and chat with them. Yes, I may have stuck a sharpie in Ellis's face and got him to sign my original Estes Solar Warrior and 2018 catalog, but I felt I did a reasonable job keeping actual drool off his Estes shirt when talking with him. Of course, it was also great to see our other vendors in attendance, and I got to camp next to Frank of Dynasoar Rocketry and blow some hobby money at Sunriver's toy box and Fusion Rocketry's booth. Of course I had to peruse John Ludwig's massive swap meet stash of rocket kits. I think I did pretty well only buying four from him this time, including a vintage Estes Sunbird from 1985.

Flying on Friday was fantastic, thanks to perfect weather conditions and flyers going big with their rockets. The flying died down a little after the waiver closed, but we were still having fun shooting off low and mid power rockets. An RC airplane buddy from back home was in the area and stopped by, and I showed him the prep process for my Nike Smoke with a G64 motor. He got a kick out of the launch and promised to come back the next day. Flying on Friday only ended because the conditions got too dark, so we pulled our chairs up to the campfire for some beverages and laughter.

Saturday was the busiest day while the waiver was open. I got a few flights in between chatting with friends, filming launches, and spending more cash at the vendors. My RC buddy showed up again, and this time was treated to the full prep work needed to fly my Drago on a 54mm motor with redundant electronic deploy and a GPS tracker. Who knows, maybe we'll see him next year with a project to get his L1. With the closure of the waiver on Saturday, it was time for the potluck barbecue dinner, and man oh man was it good! So many people brought great dishes that I felt bad that I just couldn't try all of it. The ladies of the launch did an awesome job getting the buffet table set up, and I can attest that Tamara's pulled pork and lava cake, and Kris's smoked chex mix were off the hook! There were some night launches, but not before a truly great raffle was held, with a reported $1,500+ worth of donated prizes given away.

Sunday was a little slower, as some of our flyers had to get back on the road, but the conditions were still perfect for flying and the atmosphere was a bit more relaxed than the previous day. This afforded the TCR core members Dave, Rich, and William to finally breathe a bit and get some flying in. I stayed until the waiver closed, then enjoyed some leftover barbecue and hit the road for home, exhausted, sunburned, dehydrated, and with a huge grin on my face. This launch was everything I was hoping it would be. (continued)

roc_boy said:

Thanks for adding the info, Rich [emoji4]. One last video (sorry yeah I'm kinda a sparky fiend [emoji6] ). This was Saturday's last launch from the away cell, IIRC a K990 -



Thanks again guys, a great launch!

Tony

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I believe that was David Robb's rocket with the L1040DM as it was the only launch from the 300' line (notice the third blue box in the back ground, thats the sunshield cover for the wireless pad box).

Because the conditions were so great for flying this weekend, I felt confident pushing my rockets as hard or harder than they had been before. A quick recap on some of my flights:

4" Upscale Solar Warrior on a K535W to near 4,000'.
US Rockets Supersonic on an E20-7W - 2,500' estimated, but it went a bit sideways off the rod and I never did find it. I have a feeling it drifted into the adjacent corn field. Luckily Don of Chehalis Junction Hobbies had more USR kits for sale and while he didn't have a Supersonic, I found another neat little 24MD to replace my lost bird.
Wildman Drago 4XL on a K2050ST. My last K2050ST blew the nozzle most of the way through the burn and performance suffered. This flight was picture perfect and it is such a fun motor to burn. Altitude around 3,800'.
Madcow Cardboard Mini Tomach on an H180W in the 29/240 case. I'm really starting to push this thing well past what the manual recommends, and it is still holding up great. This launch became my first mile shot when I recovered the rocket and the altimeter was reading 5,375'.
Binder Design Devastator on an I280DM. This is the original Devastator, given to me by its designer Bret Simpkins. I figured he would want it to be flown and enjoyed, and that's what I'm doing with it. It was a really cool flight on the sparky motor.
Polecat Black Brant III on a J415W. This was my first 54mm motor flown in my L2 cert bird, and I was not disappointed with the long burn time and apogee of around 4,700', over 2,000' higher than I had flown it before.
3" scratchbuilt Patriot (my L1 cert rocket) on an H165R motor rounded out the weekend. I hadn't flown it with that much thrust before and it flew perfectly.

Even with all that flying and the filming, I still managed to meet up with many friends that I've made in the hobby, including Rich, William, Dave, Jim P, Frank, David, Alex, Joey, Kelly, Kris, Larry, Larry Sr, Scott, Gary, Michael, and I know I'm missing more. This hobby wouldn't be the same without good company and the people attending this year's Sod Blaster were some of the best that you'd want to hang with.

In closing for my personal report, some of the most fun I've had in rocketry has been over this last weekend at the sod (ahem, dirt) farm. That the event ran so smoothly is a real testament to the hard work that the Tri-Cities Rocketeers/Tripoli Southeastern Washington group has done in conjunction with Oregon Rocketry. These guys and gals put on a first class event and I think we'll all think of the inaugural Sod Blaster as one to remember! I have a couple projects that I hope to get started on soon for next year's launch, and now I'm even more motivated to get to work on them.

Nice launch report Ryan! Any chance you have footage of the Nuclear Sledgehammer flight? I tried to film with my phone and watch at the same time. It didn't work.

What day did it fly?

Flyfalcons said:

What day did it fly?

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Saturday on a J350W iirc

rharshberger said:

Saturday on a J350W iirc

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Close. Yes it was on Saturday. CTI J330 Classic. Rich, thanks for your help getting it into the air. Next flight will be a AT DMS J435WS.

I did get it, unfortunately I was a little ahead of it with the camera so it's not my best work, but the liftoff and apogee event are in there.

Flyfalcons said:

I did get it, unfortunately I was a little ahead of it with the camera so it's not my best work, but the liftoff and apogee event are in there.

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Sweet! I look forward to your video which are great!

mcderek said:

Nice launch report Ryan! Any chance you have footage of the Nuclear Sledgehammer flight? I tried to film with my phone and watch at the same time. It didn't work.

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I got a great photo of the liftoff. I should have it up by tomorrow.

rharshberger said:

Kris Hull bringing his Aerobee 150 back to his prep area after its K850DM flight (or he forgot something and had to go back to his prep area).

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I'm smiling, so it must be after the flight, especially considering I didnt have to take it off the pad for any issues!

My turn. I've taken a break from rocketry for a while and am slowly getting back into it. Sod Blaster was a BLAST! As a local it was great to see the turnout and support for the TCR crew who did an amazing job. I had fun LCOing (new word). It took a bit to remember how to run the pads and figure out the OROC gear. Lot's of cool flights for sure and the weather was superb!

In no particular order. I decided to break out my old LOC Cyclotron and loaded it with a CTI I175. This is the rocket I used for my Level 1 6 years ago. Lot's of fun to fly and with the JL chute release you know it will stay on the circle.



A phone video of the flight:

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I flew the Cyclotron again on Saturday in the Egg loft Up n Down contest. Be the time I signed up and received my egg, Rich H. had posted a time of around 11 sec. (?) I'm sure he will set me straight. I didn't have a chance to win but I've never lofted an egg before so why not? I loaded the egg in the upper payload section cushioned by dog barf and shipping foam peanuts. I loaded the rocket with a AT SU G79W-4 and set the JR chute release to 100ft. Here is what happened. You have to look closely.

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Total flight time was 19 sec. and change with an intact egg. The reason the video is jumpy at the end is because I was jumping. You can hear the cheer when the chute opens. Lot's of fun. Rich won the event but a young lady whose name I don't remember really pushed him. He had to do a second flight for the win!

Other flights? BSD Diablo on a AT H100, A scratch built Searcher on a At I 200(+) RMS. Both of these rockets were built by Darrell Smith. It was fun to get them into the air again. Another fun flight was my Este Mega Mosquito CHAD staging E12-0 xE12-8. Always exciting! And the Bret Simkins designed and built 5.5" Nuclear Sledgehammer which is mentioned and in several pictures earlier in this thread.
It wa a great tim on the Sod Farm. Kudos again to all the people that made it happen!

The Searcher on the pad. Last flight of the 2018 Sod Blaster!



The last flight of Sod Blaster 2018 on the last pad. Thanks to all who made it happen and to all who attended and put on a great show! Let's do it again!

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krislhull said:

I got a great photo of the liftoff. I should have it up by tomorrow.

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Awesome!

A few more pictures. Part of the fun of a launch is being a Launch Control Officer (LCO) or Range Safety Officer (RSO). LCO is lot's of fun. You get to see all the different rockets up close when you assign a pad and the flights.

Jim P. always brings interesting rockets to the sod farm. This launch he had a brace of Mini Fatboys!



A close up:



Left to Right: 13mm A10-3t, 18mm C6-5, 24mm E9-6, 29mm F15-8!

They were launched in order. I'm not sure if he got them all back. Lot's of fun!

There were lot's of V2's at the launch:

Launch Director Dave King with his brace of V2's!



Frank B. and his big V2. It flew great!



Love the igniter necklace Frank!

I believe Jim did get them all back, as I handed him the F15 one after Gary Bade found it while chasing down his Mongoose 38 (?).

More pictures please!

mcderek said:

Awesome!

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One Sledgehammer photo, coming right up!



David Robb's Sublime on a K456DM(?)



And his Pike on the L1040DM(!!!)


And finally (for now) Scott Binder's Honest John

Woah! Dude that Pike photo is sic!, and the mach diamonds in the Sledgehammers flame, awesome!

Way Cool! Those are great pictures!

And the numbers are in...Dave King posted the after action review on the TCR forum and I am reposting it here.

Sod Blaster 2018 was TCR’s biggest and arguably best launch to date. The irony was not lost on the fact that the sod was harvested two weeks before the launch, but it was a blessing in disguise as a few of the less than nominal flights had exceptionally soft landings. We had absolutely perfect flying conditions all weekend with light winds and blue skies. The event was well attended, with fliers coming from all over the northwest. Dave from OROC was kind enough to bring their GSE trailer up to the event so that we had use of their high power pads and wireless launch system, in addition to our GSE.

Friday was our first TRA research launch day conducted under TRA rules, and we were treated to our first research motor flight at the site. Ellis Langford and his wife Kiki from Estes joined us for the day, which was a very nice surprise. The sparky challenge was off and running, with 10 flown the first day. We recorded a total of 78 flights Friday: motor count was 52 A-G, 9 H, 8 I, 3 J, and 4 K’s.

Saturday was crazy busy up until the waiver closed with the regular and contest flights, but we were able to keep things running fairly smoothly despite some challenges with the intermittent tilling of the recovery field by the land owner. Steve Shannon of Tripoli showed up in the morning so we were able to meet with him for the first time and visit. So many cool sparky flights – we had 18 total, including 2 J’s, 5 K’s, and 1 L1040 DM. We recorded a total of 154 flights Saturday: motor count was 92 A-G, 18 H, 19 I, 14 J, 10 K, and 1 L. The BBQ potluck seemed to be enjoyed by all, as we counted 83 people who were there for the pulled pork sandwiches and sides. We had very generous sponsors this year for our raffle prizes – many thanks to all who bought a good share of raffle tickets to help fund our club.

Sunday had again many great flights, including our first high power two-stage J to H flight which was successful. We ended the sparky challenge at noon, but not before an H, I, and two K sparky flights were launched for a total of 7 for the day. We recorded a total of 126 flights Sunday: motor count was 81 A-G, 16 H, 10 I, 7 J, and 6 K’s (plus 1 L1000 ground test).

We wrapped things up on Monday with 23 flights: 18 A-G, 2 H, 2 I, and 1 J. Many hands made teardown go at a record pace. The total for the weekend was 381 flights, 35 of which were sparky flights, and not a single clump of freshly tilled dirt caught fire.

There are so many people to thank who made this launch possible: Dave for bringing the OROC GSE trailer, all those who helped set up and tear down the range, Steve Shannon for helping get our TRA prefecture in place, Bonnie Rosco for the awesome sod blaster wares, all the sponsors and vendors who generously donated prizes, Rich and William for their tireless efforts, those who stepped up to take a shift at LCO and RSO duty, the ladies who manned our registration desk, the list goes on and on. And everyone who showed up to fly – THANKS! If you had a good time, please let us know. I know we had a blast.

A huge thank you to Dave King, Rich Harshberger and William Moser for all their hard work!

mcderek said:

A huge thank you to Dave King, Rich Harshberger and William Moser for all their hard work!

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And you!

It was a very well run launch with a clear emphasis on safety. I wish I could have stayed longer. Thanks for a great time.

roc_boy said:

Thanks for adding the info, Rich [emoji4]. One last video (sorry yeah I'm kinda a sparky fiend [emoji6] ). This was Saturday's last launch from the away cell, IIRC a K990 -

Thanks again guys, a great launch!

Tony

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rharshberger said:

I believe that was David Robb's rocket with the L1040DM as it was the only launch from the 300' line (notice the third blue box in the back ground, thats the sunshield cover for the wireless pad box).

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This was actually my Vindicator on the K990 DM - which also flew from the 300' line. Thanks for sharing!



-brant

Thanks for catching that, cool flight.

Sublime ready again... during the launch my Sublime’s electronics failed and nose dived into the moist soft sand 5 feet deep. Anywhere else it would have been destroyed. Washed it off and will need to rebuild eBay but ready to go again.

robbdm said:

Sublime ready again... during the launch my Sublime electronics failure and nose dived in the soft sand 5 feet deep. Anywhere else it would have been destroyed. Washed it offed and will need to rebuild eBay but ready to go again.

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Very nice, thank goodness for rock free sand.