Ray Dunakin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2003
- Messages
- 1,021
- Reaction score
- 0
Nevada Rocketry Trip, August 2005
Ray R. Dunakin III, TRA #389, NAR #53740
I recently completed my annual camping and rocketry trip, for which I had big plans and high hopes. Uncooperative weather and a nasty leg injury almost scuttled the whole thing. Regardless, it was an adventure. I saw a lot of great scenary, cool critters, awesome lightning, and managed to get a few good aerial photos too.
You can see the photos from my trip at this site:
https://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=3009006&a=31862694
Day One:
I set out from home around 1 p.m., my Isuzu Trooper laden with rockets, motors and supplies.
First stop came late in the day, near a volcanic cinder cone and lava field in the Mojave desert. I had passed through a couple of thunderstorms along the way, and more were popping up all over the place. Once I reached the site, the mostly sunny skies were quickly becoming mostly cloudy. By the time I had a rocket set up and ready to launch, I had to wait for a break in the clouds before I could fly it.
This is critical for all flights involving camera payloads. Strong, direct sunlight is required to get the best photographic results. Another important point to remember is that mid-day lighting is also bad for aerial photography, producing only flat, indistinct images. This leaves me with only two narrow launch windows per day: early morning, and late afternoon into early evening, prior to sunset.
Anyway, this first flight of the trip was on an AT I211. Between the patchy clouds overhead and the smoke from the motor, it was hard to see the rocket. I started to run a few paces to the left for a better view, and immediately felt a crippling pain in my left calf, like the Mother of All Leg Cramps. I didnt know it at the time, but I had torn a muscle! The irony is, I had been working hard over the past couple months to recover from a sprained right ankle so it would hold up for the intensive hiking I would be doing on this trip. Now at the very beginning of the trip, I could barely walk even with a cane!
Luckily the rocket and camera landed fairly close by and I managed to recover them. But what to do? I had to cancel the next launch which had been planned for that evening. Eventually I decided to stay the course and hope that the leg just needed a good nights rest.
Day 2:
Spent the night by some stone ruins near an old mine in southern Nevada. By morning the leg was feeling slightly better. Still hurt to beat the band, but with the walking stick I could at least hobble around a bit. Couldnt launch anything then anyway, since the sky was overcast. Decided to continue the trip and hope for further improvement.
Late in the morning, launched a small camera rocket on an H97 for a successful flight. The area was relatively level for an easy recovery. The lighting was not ideal but the large outcroppings of pink and red sandstone in the area made for some interesting aerial shots.
Feeling invigorated by the success of this flight, and wanting to do some flying while there was at least a little sunshine, I went ahead with two more flights in the nearby Buffington hills region. These were intended to be a dual launch, but ended up being launched separately when one igniter failed. The smaller rocket took off first on an H97, and the larger rocket went later on a Pro38 I205. Both successful flights and easily recovered. The pics were ok but suffered from the high angle of the sun.
From there I headed north and west, through towns like Alamo, Rachel and Tonopah. Along the way, I spotted a small rattlesnake in the road and chased him off so he wouldnt get squished. Shortly after midnight I finally set up camp at one of my favorite spots, the volcanic Rainbow Hills in western Nevada. That night I was treated to a meteor shower lasting about 30 minutes.
Day 3:
That morning the sky was cloudy to the east and south, sunny to the north and west. I had to wait until 9:30 for the sun to creep over the clouds -- past the prime launch window for photography. I launched a 2.6 diameter two-stage rocket on an Aerotech J180 in the booster, with a J135 in the second stage. I had planned to send up another rocket alongside this one, but decided against it due to the difficulty of tracking even a single rocket in partly cloudy conditions.
The liftoff was quick and clean. The PerfectFlite timer built into the interstage coupler fired the second stage igniter at four seconds after launch, just as the J180 was burning out. The J135 was slow coming up to pressure, and the rocket arced southeast a bit. Through the binoculars I could just barely see the chutes deploy, but soon lost track of them in the clouds. It took seven hours to find the camera pod and second stage rocket. Fortunately the hills in that area were not too steep or rugged, and my leg held up ok until the last hill.
I finally spotted camera at the top of a steep, rocky peak nearly two miles from the launch site. Climbing it with a bum leg was a slow and painful process, made urgent by the growing storm clouds and sound of distant thunder. The last place I wanted to be in a thunderstorm was on top of a peak!
Before climbing back down, I scanned the surrounding area with binoculars and spotted the second stage rocket -- in pieces. It had come in ballistic due to a shock cord failure. To my surprise, when I reached the wreckage, the altimeter was intact and beeping out the altitude: 7733 feet. The forward airframe and altimeter bay were smashed, but the altimeter, wiring, and access panel were unscathed. The tail section was about 15 feet away, slightly crimped forward of the fins but repairable.
As the day progressed, the clouds became thicker. In the late afternoon the setting sun came through for a bit and I tried to set up a small rocket for a launch, but just as I got it ready to go, the sun sank behind the clouds.
That night I camped on a small hill in the salt marsh of Rainbow Hills. Normally I would have prepped a couple rockets for launch in the morning, but the wind was too strong and the weather too threatening.
Day 4:
Another overcast morning. I prepped a two-stage rocket with an I211 and an I 218, and had to wait until after 10 for the sun to come through a break in the clouds. A perfect flight -- but the camera jammed shortly after liftoff. Tried again with a single stage rocket on an I205 at 12:30. Good flight, no problems, but the pics suffered from the midday lighting.
Spent the next few hours exploring and searching out potential launch sites for future trips. Late in the day I attempted another small flight, got the rocket set up and was just connecting the leads when the sun again sank behind the clouds. Packed up, moved a couple miles up the road to a location were the sun was still shining, set up the rocket again, and again the sun was lost before I could launch. Argh! Gave up and headed into Tonopah to refuel.
Shortly after leaving Tonopah, witnessed an impressive thunderstorm and was able to get some very nifty lightning photos. Then I headed south, back to the Mojave desert. Chased another storm from Amargosa all the way to Baker, stopping occasionally to get some pics but never quite catching up with the storm. After refueling in Baker I headed east to my next camp and launch site.
Day 5:
Overcast again. Meanwhile, my ankle and foot were turning purple due to internal bleeding from the torn muscle!
Prepped another two-stage rocket for launch at the ruins of the Evening Star Mine, and waited for a bit of sunshine. Finally got a little sun, then had to wait for a plane -- by the time the plane was out of range, the sun was gone.
Finally launched around 10 a.m., with an I284 in the booster and an I211 in the second stage. Oops, forgot to take the ejection charge out of the I211, and it popped the chutes while the rocket was still moving fast. Broke the shock cord on the camera pod, which fell from nearly 4700 feet up. Amazingly, the damage was minimal -- I only need to replace the nosecone, power switch and 9v battery. The camera and timer were unharmed. On the downside, the photos turned out poorly due to the bad lighting.
After recovering the camera and rocket, I spent some time exploring the mines in the area. Spotted a small screech owl just inside one mine shaft. Found some old mining camps nearby, surrounded by interesting rock formations. Launched a small rocket there but again the pics suffered from lack of shadowing to bring out the shape of the terrain.
By midafternoon, storms were cropping up again. Continuing east and south, I passed through some heavy rain and stopped for a while to watch an intense display of lightning while enjoying a sandwich. By the time I reached my next intended launch site, the clouds had blocked the sun. I decided to do some more exploring, both in eastern California and western Arizona. Spotted and photographed another rattlesnake, about three feet long.
I eventually arrived at my final campsite in southeastern California and set up camp. At that time the sky was mostly clear with just a few thin, wispy clouds to the east. I lay on my sleeping bag in the hot humid night and awoke a short time later to rain. Yikes! Quickly loaded everything back into the car and rearranged a few things so I could lower the drivers seat and sleep in the car. Naturally, once I got settled in the rain stopped.
Day 6:
Overcast again. I waited a couple hours but the clouds showed no sign of significant clearing and it was getting far too late to attempt a launch. So I called it quits and headed for home.
In some ways this trip was obviously a disappointment. Id planned to do several multi-rocket launches, something that wasnt possible due to the difficulty of tracking in even partly cloudy conditions. Id also planned several more powerful flights, including a K launch and at least one more J-to-J flight. These too had to be cancelled, both because of the weather and because of the recovery limitations imposed by my leg injury. I didnt get to do any of the sunset flights Id hoped for. Most of the flights I was able to do produced photos that werent up to par.
Yet I despite the pain, frustration and disappointment, I still had a good time. It was never overly hot, the landscapes were beautiful, the storms were awesome, I saw plenty of interesting wildlife, and found some neat rocks. No cameras were destroyed, no expensive electronics damaged, no motor casings lost, and the flights were fun. It was truly an adventure!
Ray R. Dunakin III, TRA #389, NAR #53740
I recently completed my annual camping and rocketry trip, for which I had big plans and high hopes. Uncooperative weather and a nasty leg injury almost scuttled the whole thing. Regardless, it was an adventure. I saw a lot of great scenary, cool critters, awesome lightning, and managed to get a few good aerial photos too.
You can see the photos from my trip at this site:
https://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=3009006&a=31862694
Day One:
I set out from home around 1 p.m., my Isuzu Trooper laden with rockets, motors and supplies.
First stop came late in the day, near a volcanic cinder cone and lava field in the Mojave desert. I had passed through a couple of thunderstorms along the way, and more were popping up all over the place. Once I reached the site, the mostly sunny skies were quickly becoming mostly cloudy. By the time I had a rocket set up and ready to launch, I had to wait for a break in the clouds before I could fly it.
This is critical for all flights involving camera payloads. Strong, direct sunlight is required to get the best photographic results. Another important point to remember is that mid-day lighting is also bad for aerial photography, producing only flat, indistinct images. This leaves me with only two narrow launch windows per day: early morning, and late afternoon into early evening, prior to sunset.
Anyway, this first flight of the trip was on an AT I211. Between the patchy clouds overhead and the smoke from the motor, it was hard to see the rocket. I started to run a few paces to the left for a better view, and immediately felt a crippling pain in my left calf, like the Mother of All Leg Cramps. I didnt know it at the time, but I had torn a muscle! The irony is, I had been working hard over the past couple months to recover from a sprained right ankle so it would hold up for the intensive hiking I would be doing on this trip. Now at the very beginning of the trip, I could barely walk even with a cane!
Luckily the rocket and camera landed fairly close by and I managed to recover them. But what to do? I had to cancel the next launch which had been planned for that evening. Eventually I decided to stay the course and hope that the leg just needed a good nights rest.
Day 2:
Spent the night by some stone ruins near an old mine in southern Nevada. By morning the leg was feeling slightly better. Still hurt to beat the band, but with the walking stick I could at least hobble around a bit. Couldnt launch anything then anyway, since the sky was overcast. Decided to continue the trip and hope for further improvement.
Late in the morning, launched a small camera rocket on an H97 for a successful flight. The area was relatively level for an easy recovery. The lighting was not ideal but the large outcroppings of pink and red sandstone in the area made for some interesting aerial shots.
Feeling invigorated by the success of this flight, and wanting to do some flying while there was at least a little sunshine, I went ahead with two more flights in the nearby Buffington hills region. These were intended to be a dual launch, but ended up being launched separately when one igniter failed. The smaller rocket took off first on an H97, and the larger rocket went later on a Pro38 I205. Both successful flights and easily recovered. The pics were ok but suffered from the high angle of the sun.
From there I headed north and west, through towns like Alamo, Rachel and Tonopah. Along the way, I spotted a small rattlesnake in the road and chased him off so he wouldnt get squished. Shortly after midnight I finally set up camp at one of my favorite spots, the volcanic Rainbow Hills in western Nevada. That night I was treated to a meteor shower lasting about 30 minutes.
Day 3:
That morning the sky was cloudy to the east and south, sunny to the north and west. I had to wait until 9:30 for the sun to creep over the clouds -- past the prime launch window for photography. I launched a 2.6 diameter two-stage rocket on an Aerotech J180 in the booster, with a J135 in the second stage. I had planned to send up another rocket alongside this one, but decided against it due to the difficulty of tracking even a single rocket in partly cloudy conditions.
The liftoff was quick and clean. The PerfectFlite timer built into the interstage coupler fired the second stage igniter at four seconds after launch, just as the J180 was burning out. The J135 was slow coming up to pressure, and the rocket arced southeast a bit. Through the binoculars I could just barely see the chutes deploy, but soon lost track of them in the clouds. It took seven hours to find the camera pod and second stage rocket. Fortunately the hills in that area were not too steep or rugged, and my leg held up ok until the last hill.
I finally spotted camera at the top of a steep, rocky peak nearly two miles from the launch site. Climbing it with a bum leg was a slow and painful process, made urgent by the growing storm clouds and sound of distant thunder. The last place I wanted to be in a thunderstorm was on top of a peak!
Before climbing back down, I scanned the surrounding area with binoculars and spotted the second stage rocket -- in pieces. It had come in ballistic due to a shock cord failure. To my surprise, when I reached the wreckage, the altimeter was intact and beeping out the altitude: 7733 feet. The forward airframe and altimeter bay were smashed, but the altimeter, wiring, and access panel were unscathed. The tail section was about 15 feet away, slightly crimped forward of the fins but repairable.
As the day progressed, the clouds became thicker. In the late afternoon the setting sun came through for a bit and I tried to set up a small rocket for a launch, but just as I got it ready to go, the sun sank behind the clouds.
That night I camped on a small hill in the salt marsh of Rainbow Hills. Normally I would have prepped a couple rockets for launch in the morning, but the wind was too strong and the weather too threatening.
Day 4:
Another overcast morning. I prepped a two-stage rocket with an I211 and an I 218, and had to wait until after 10 for the sun to come through a break in the clouds. A perfect flight -- but the camera jammed shortly after liftoff. Tried again with a single stage rocket on an I205 at 12:30. Good flight, no problems, but the pics suffered from the midday lighting.
Spent the next few hours exploring and searching out potential launch sites for future trips. Late in the day I attempted another small flight, got the rocket set up and was just connecting the leads when the sun again sank behind the clouds. Packed up, moved a couple miles up the road to a location were the sun was still shining, set up the rocket again, and again the sun was lost before I could launch. Argh! Gave up and headed into Tonopah to refuel.
Shortly after leaving Tonopah, witnessed an impressive thunderstorm and was able to get some very nifty lightning photos. Then I headed south, back to the Mojave desert. Chased another storm from Amargosa all the way to Baker, stopping occasionally to get some pics but never quite catching up with the storm. After refueling in Baker I headed east to my next camp and launch site.
Day 5:
Overcast again. Meanwhile, my ankle and foot were turning purple due to internal bleeding from the torn muscle!
Prepped another two-stage rocket for launch at the ruins of the Evening Star Mine, and waited for a bit of sunshine. Finally got a little sun, then had to wait for a plane -- by the time the plane was out of range, the sun was gone.
Finally launched around 10 a.m., with an I284 in the booster and an I211 in the second stage. Oops, forgot to take the ejection charge out of the I211, and it popped the chutes while the rocket was still moving fast. Broke the shock cord on the camera pod, which fell from nearly 4700 feet up. Amazingly, the damage was minimal -- I only need to replace the nosecone, power switch and 9v battery. The camera and timer were unharmed. On the downside, the photos turned out poorly due to the bad lighting.
After recovering the camera and rocket, I spent some time exploring the mines in the area. Spotted a small screech owl just inside one mine shaft. Found some old mining camps nearby, surrounded by interesting rock formations. Launched a small rocket there but again the pics suffered from lack of shadowing to bring out the shape of the terrain.
By midafternoon, storms were cropping up again. Continuing east and south, I passed through some heavy rain and stopped for a while to watch an intense display of lightning while enjoying a sandwich. By the time I reached my next intended launch site, the clouds had blocked the sun. I decided to do some more exploring, both in eastern California and western Arizona. Spotted and photographed another rattlesnake, about three feet long.
I eventually arrived at my final campsite in southeastern California and set up camp. At that time the sky was mostly clear with just a few thin, wispy clouds to the east. I lay on my sleeping bag in the hot humid night and awoke a short time later to rain. Yikes! Quickly loaded everything back into the car and rearranged a few things so I could lower the drivers seat and sleep in the car. Naturally, once I got settled in the rain stopped.
Day 6:
Overcast again. I waited a couple hours but the clouds showed no sign of significant clearing and it was getting far too late to attempt a launch. So I called it quits and headed for home.
In some ways this trip was obviously a disappointment. Id planned to do several multi-rocket launches, something that wasnt possible due to the difficulty of tracking in even partly cloudy conditions. Id also planned several more powerful flights, including a K launch and at least one more J-to-J flight. These too had to be cancelled, both because of the weather and because of the recovery limitations imposed by my leg injury. I didnt get to do any of the sunset flights Id hoped for. Most of the flights I was able to do produced photos that werent up to par.
Yet I despite the pain, frustration and disappointment, I still had a good time. It was never overly hot, the landscapes were beautiful, the storms were awesome, I saw plenty of interesting wildlife, and found some neat rocks. No cameras were destroyed, no expensive electronics damaged, no motor casings lost, and the flights were fun. It was truly an adventure!
