deangelo54
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2015
- Messages
- 271
- Reaction score
- 66
Since we no longer launch in Berwick and I am addicted to rocketry, this year I have set out to seek new launch sites and boldly go where I have never gone before. Hopefully other rockteteers wishing to venture out will find this and future reviews helpful.
From Revere the CATO launch site in Durham, CT is 127 miles. The trip out took 2 hours and three minutes. Drive time for the trip home was about 20 minutes longer. We never ran into any traffic. The commute was a pleasant drive both ways.
We arrived on the field at 8:50 AM. It is a short gravel road leading to the field. The road is in excellent condition and car friendly. The person that the club contracted to mow the field did not show up during the week. The grass itself was higher but it was not dense like it was at NY Power. It was sparse and dry which made it easier to walk through and for recovery but not a picnic mind you. Because of the grass conditions, the club setup on the right site of the field which was closer to the rocket eating trees. There was a TARC team operating from the left side of the field. I was able to setup my table and chairs in a nice dry, level area on the side of the road. I'm guessing when the field is mowed you have room to setup a canopy. It was warm out but no humidity so we really didn't need the canopy.
The club uses the typical saw horse pad setup. They have 15 low power pads and what looked like about three high power pads. The wait time between safety check and launch is short. After you select an open pad you place your launch card on the clip board.
For a small club they have top of the line equipment. Their LP pads are wood and made by a club member that is a carpenter. There are two adjustment knobs which allow you to easily point your rocket in any direction.
The people that run the club do a top notch job and are very professional and extremely friendly. They really appreciated the fact that Linda and I came all the way from Boston to fly with them. One of the club officials looks just like Ray from Flis Kits. In fact it was Ray, he is the club treasurer.
The people that launch with the club are also very congenial. I met a college student that launched for the first time. He had a lot of questions which I was very happy to answer. There were a lot of people from the Civil Air Patrol. They were out in the field helping people find their rockets in the high grass. I assisted a young lady repair her rocket. She and her family was most appreciative. That alone made the ride worth it.
I learned something that most of you probably already know. Use a very long streamer to help find your rocket in the high grass because the streamer will stay on top of the grass because it is light. This allowed me to easily find two of my rockets that landed in the grass.
One club member has a Red Eye kit fitted with a small egg shaped buzzer that starts buzzing when the nose cone pops off. Very clever setup. I was able to find his rocket for him when it landed out of site in high grass. That was the 41st flight of that rocket.
One young gentleman had a very large tubular rocket that he launched on a J250 for a beautiful and very successful Level 2 certification flight. It arced away from the trees and came down is a very accessible part of the field which made for an easy recovery by the Civil Air Patrol.
The food service was out of this world. The woman that usually cooks up a storm and offers an incredible menu was out sick so the menu was limited to dogs and burgers. For $3.00 I had the CATO combo of a great burger, drink and chips. If I wasn't a rocketeer and in the area, I would stop by just for the food.
I plan of returning for the October launch.
From Revere the CATO launch site in Durham, CT is 127 miles. The trip out took 2 hours and three minutes. Drive time for the trip home was about 20 minutes longer. We never ran into any traffic. The commute was a pleasant drive both ways.
We arrived on the field at 8:50 AM. It is a short gravel road leading to the field. The road is in excellent condition and car friendly. The person that the club contracted to mow the field did not show up during the week. The grass itself was higher but it was not dense like it was at NY Power. It was sparse and dry which made it easier to walk through and for recovery but not a picnic mind you. Because of the grass conditions, the club setup on the right site of the field which was closer to the rocket eating trees. There was a TARC team operating from the left side of the field. I was able to setup my table and chairs in a nice dry, level area on the side of the road. I'm guessing when the field is mowed you have room to setup a canopy. It was warm out but no humidity so we really didn't need the canopy.
The club uses the typical saw horse pad setup. They have 15 low power pads and what looked like about three high power pads. The wait time between safety check and launch is short. After you select an open pad you place your launch card on the clip board.
For a small club they have top of the line equipment. Their LP pads are wood and made by a club member that is a carpenter. There are two adjustment knobs which allow you to easily point your rocket in any direction.
The people that run the club do a top notch job and are very professional and extremely friendly. They really appreciated the fact that Linda and I came all the way from Boston to fly with them. One of the club officials looks just like Ray from Flis Kits. In fact it was Ray, he is the club treasurer.
The people that launch with the club are also very congenial. I met a college student that launched for the first time. He had a lot of questions which I was very happy to answer. There were a lot of people from the Civil Air Patrol. They were out in the field helping people find their rockets in the high grass. I assisted a young lady repair her rocket. She and her family was most appreciative. That alone made the ride worth it.
I learned something that most of you probably already know. Use a very long streamer to help find your rocket in the high grass because the streamer will stay on top of the grass because it is light. This allowed me to easily find two of my rockets that landed in the grass.
One club member has a Red Eye kit fitted with a small egg shaped buzzer that starts buzzing when the nose cone pops off. Very clever setup. I was able to find his rocket for him when it landed out of site in high grass. That was the 41st flight of that rocket.
One young gentleman had a very large tubular rocket that he launched on a J250 for a beautiful and very successful Level 2 certification flight. It arced away from the trees and came down is a very accessible part of the field which made for an easy recovery by the Civil Air Patrol.
The food service was out of this world. The woman that usually cooks up a storm and offers an incredible menu was out sick so the menu was limited to dogs and burgers. For $3.00 I had the CATO combo of a great burger, drink and chips. If I wasn't a rocketeer and in the area, I would stop by just for the food.
I plan of returning for the October launch.
