60 Acres Park, Redmond, WA (Seattle area)

[BEC]

I probably won’t be up tomorrow — schedule conflict. Though if it falls through (and it might) I could make an attempt. Saturday’s forecast keeps improving, so unless the forecast deteriorates significantly in the next 18 hours or so, we’ll be GO at the Raceway on Saturday as well.

 

[bandman444]

Below is the link of my photos from the launch on Saturday. Had fun meeting lots of new folks.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DqsFbkb8AHA2v4736

 

[DirkTheDaring]

Neato. Saturday is looking pretty solid too; will probably try to get there by 11:00 or so.

Joel, what time will you be at 60 Acres on Saturday? The Boeing Club is launching that day down in Kent and I'll have to make a decision - or perhaps you could go down to Kent for that event.

 

[DirkTheDaring]

I probably won’t be up tomorrow — schedule conflict. Though if it falls through (and it might) I could make an attempt. Saturday’s forecast keeps improving, so unless the forecast deteriorates significantly in the next 18 hours or so, we’ll be GO at the Raceway on Saturday as well.

It was a great day, a little windy, but nothing compared to last week in Hawaii! I plan to see you down in Kent on Saturday (sorry Joel).
Ken

 

[Joel Shepherd]

I’ll probably try to get there between 11-11:30. Have some larger stuff to launch so the more grass the better. Wherever you wind up, have fun!

 

[Curtis Enlow]

Pre-Pandemic I went with a friend on Father's Day weekend and flew everything from his kid's little B's & C's up through MPs; I maidened my LOC IV on a 29mm G. We just went out in the middle of the North Field and it was wide open - some folks flying R/C and some other rockets in one or two locations, but it was nice (obviously no soccer going on).

I don't know if Nick is still around but if someone has launch gear I would certainly join any ad-hoc group that would like to meet up and fly.

 

[Curtis Enlow]

I’ll probably try to get there between 11-11:30. Have some larger stuff to launch so the more grass the better. Wherever you wind up, have fun!

Joel, was that your V-2 in the dirt like a homesick gopher at 60 A...? That was sad and unfortunate

 

[DirkTheDaring]

I’ll probably try to get there between 11-11:30. Have some larger stuff to launch so the more grass the better. Wherever you wind up, have fun!

Still undecided.

 

[BEC]

It was a great day, a little windy, but nothing compared to last week in Hawaii! I plan to see you down in Kent on Saturday (sorry Joel).
Ken

Sounds good. See you then. But if you decide to go to the nicer field, I won’t hold it against you.

Joel, was that your V-2 in the dirt like a homesick gopher at 60 A...? That was sad and unfortunate

That V-2 belonged to a fellow named Lane. I’m afraid I can’t recall his last name. It was sad to see such a reliable model crash like that. Upon collecting the remains, we found that the ejection charge did not fire. The clay cap was still in the D12-5. That was the second cap-retained CATO at the launch. The other was from a recently-made C6-5.

 

[Curtis Enlow]

Sounds good. See you then. But if you decide to go to the nicer field, I won’t hold it against you.


That V-2 belonged to a fellow named Lane. I’m afraid I can’t recall his last name. It was sad to see such a reliable model crash like that. Upon collecting the remains, we found that the ejection charge did not fire. The clay cap was still in the D12-5. That was the second cap-retained CATO at the launch. The other was from a recently-made C6-5.

Yes, that was a bad day for BP ejection charges!

I was there as an observer only, that day. I believe it was you that I talked to you about your micro rockets and your Super Big Bertha fins.

 

[DirkTheDaring]

Pre-Pandemic I went with a friend on Father's Day weekend and flew everything from his kid's little B's & C's up through MPs; I maidened my LOC IV on a 29mm G. We just went out in the middle of the North Field and it was wide open - some folks flying R/C and some other rockets in one or two locations, but it was nice (obviously no soccer going on).

I don't know if Nick is still around but if someone has launch gear I would certainly join any ad-hoc group that would like to meet up and fly.

Keep an eye on this group. I always announce when I’ll be there. This Saturday though I may join the Boeing club in Kent.

Sounds good. See you then. But if you decide to go to the nicer field, I won’t hold it against you.


That V-2 belonged to a fellow named Lane. I’m afraid I can’t recall his last name. It was sad to see such a reliable model crash like that. Upon collecting the remains, we found that the ejection charge did not fire. The clay cap was still in the D12-5. That was the second cap-retained CATO at the launch. The other was from a recently-made C6-5.

it’s that long drive to Kent. But I enjoy being with more people and watching all the other rockets.

 

[BEC]

Yes, that was a bad day for BP ejection charges!

I was there as an observer only, that day. I believe it was you that I talked to you about your micro rockets and your Super Big Bertha fins.

Yes, we did chat about those fins (using my Mega Mosquito as a reference, since its fins are done the same way), as well as the MMX-adapted regular-sized Mosquito.

 

[Joel Shepherd]

Joel, was that your V-2 in the dirt like a homesick gopher at 60 A...? That was sad and unfortunate

No, I wasn’t there last weekend. However I did lawn-dart a Big Daddy last spring with the exact same failure mode; a D12-3 with a fizzled ejection charge. Happily the ground was so soft that it suffered essentially zero damage!

 

[DirkTheDaring]

I hope you all had a good time at 60 Acres today. I went to the Boeing club launch and you couldn't ask for a nicer day. I did lose two sustainers and had one bad launch where my Firecat seemed to bind onto the launch rod, but otherwise all good. Here's a couple of videos.

 

[Curtis Enlow]

However I did lawn-dart a Big Daddy last spring with the exact same failure mode; a D12-3

There were so many failures at 60 Acres it was getting demoralizing. I'm sure composite motors fail, too, but I am feeling a lot better about having laid down the money for reloadable 24mm cases...

 

[BEC]

I don't think we had any actual motor failures in the 50 flights we had at the Raceway today (including at least four two-stagers and two clusters, one of two, one of three motors). Ken's rod hang (the square Firecat) wasn't a motor issue... and that was the only composite flown there today.

Last Saturday at 60 Acres there were a very unusual number of failures including those two cap-retained failures to eject. Composites all have their own ways of making things "interesting" whether they are single use or reloadable.

 

[DirkTheDaring]

I don't think we had any actual motor failures in the 50 flights we had at the Raceway today (including at least four two-stagers and two clusters, one of two, one of three motors). Ken's rod hang (the square Firecat) wasn't a motor issue... and that was the only composite flown there today.

Last Saturday at 60 Acres there were a very unusual number of failures including those two cap-retained failures to eject. Composites all have their own ways of making things "interesting" whether they are single use or reloadable.

I still don’t know what went wrong on that Firecat. I’ve flown it any numher of times on that same engine.

 

[boatgeek]

I found a left-behind launch controller and battery yesterday. It was toward the east end of the field, being used by a TARC team that left around noon. If it's yours, contact me by PM to set up a return.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Here's my video from last Thursday. We have a similar soccer field on Oahu but not allowed to use it because the Navy loads their nuclear weapons nearby. I can see in the grass where the previous launches occurred. Thank you Ken for hosting.

60 Acre Park with Ken, Iver's Lognhouse, and Seattle waterfront​

We traveled to the PNW for my sister's wedding. My son, Keith traveled south on the train then we met up with Ken at the 60 Acre Park on Thursday. We had launched with Ken on the previous Sunday and Monday while he was visiting Hawaii, so this was three launches with Ken in one week on different ends of the Pacific. He was somewhat successful with his big rocket on a G-74.

We then went to the Seattle waterfront because I heard they installed a new seawall. As a former Seattle resident, it's a big deal. They're also expanding the aquarium. We then rode the Big Wheel and ate at the Iver's Longhouse. The food's not as good as I remembered but the view is the best. I replaced the audio with music because the sound was poor.

0:00 60 Acre Park
10:27 Seattle waterfront
11:16 Iver's Longhouse
11:58 Seattle Big Wheel

 

[DirkTheDaring]

Here's my video from last Thursday. We have a similar soccer field on Oahu but not allowed to use it because the Navy loads their nuclear weapons nearby. I can see in the grass where the previous launches occurred. Thank you Ken for hosting.

60 Acre Park with Ken, Iver's Lognhouse, and Seattle waterfront​

We traveled to the PNW for my sister's wedding. My son, Keith traveled south on the train then we met up with Ken at the 60 Acre Park on Thursday. We had launched with Ken on the previous Sunday and Monday while he was visiting Hawaii, so this was three launches with Ken in one week on different ends of the Pacific. He was somewhat successful with his big rocket on a G-74.

We then went to the Seattle waterfront because I heard they installed a new seawall. As a former Seattle resident, it's a big deal. They're also expanding the aquarium. We then rode the Big Wheel and ate at the Iver's Longhouse. The food's not as good as I remembered but the view is the best. I replaced the audio with music because the sound was poor.

0:00 60 Acre Park
10:27 Seattle waterfront
11:16 Iver's Longhouse
11:58 Seattle Big Wheel

At about 7 minutes it gets pretty painful to watch…

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

At about 7 minutes it gets pretty painful to watch…

It's a G74 in a park so what's not to like???

 

[DirkTheDaring]

It's a G74 in a park so what's not to like???

Parachutes that didn’t open

 

[DirkTheDaring]

At about 7 minutes it gets pretty painful to watch…

Oh, I’ve been rude, congrats on your sisters wedding!!!

 

[DirkTheDaring]

Edit: as noted by others the WAC launch was rescheduled to April 8.

Hi 60 Acrers! I'm looking at Wednesday afternoon, the 29th. Probably get there about 1:30. Winds should be lowish, but with some gusts. Not 100% sure I can make it, but it's the plan as of this moment. Think of it as practice for Saturday's WAC club launch. Perhaps I'll see some of you Wednesday or Saturday.

 

[BEC]

I woulnd't count on a WAC launch this weekend. The weather forecast (both places I usually look) is terrible for both Saturday and Sunday. Jim sounded pretty disappointed about the forecast when my wife and I saw him up there yesterday. And if anything it looks worse just now than it did yesterday.

Wednesday should be pretty good, though.

 

[RokitFlyr]

I woulnd't count on a WAC launch this weekend. The weather forecast (both places I usually look) is terrible for both Saturday and Sunday. Jim sounded pretty disappointed about the forecast when my wife and I saw him up there yesterday. And if anything it looks worse just now than it did yesterday.

Wednesday should be pretty good, though.

According to the WAC website, the launch is on the 8th. Did I miss something?
Wouldn't be the 1st time.

 

[BEC]

According to the WAC website, the launch is on the 8th. Did I miss something?
Wouldn't be the 1st time.

Ah, right. Ken mentioned Saturday (implying this coming Saturday in my mind, anyway) above and that’s what I was going off of. At one time the April WAC launch was on the 1st, I think, but Jim moved it. So too early to be looking at forecasts….

 

[RokitFlyr]

Ah, right. Ken mentioned Saturday (implying this coming Saturday in my mind, anyway) above and that’s what I was going off of. At one time the April WAC launch was on the 1st, I think, but Jim moved it. So too early to be looking at forecasts….

Thanks, Bernard. TCR has a launch scheduled on the 1st. Wx not looking too great tho.

 

[DerRedMax]

Wednesday will be the best day.....60+ temps.

 

[BEC]

Thanks, Bernard. TCR has a launch scheduled on the 1st. Wx not looking too great tho.

Yeah, I think that’s why Jim moved the WAC one to the 8th.

I know weather over there can be significantly different than weather on this side of the Cascades, but as lousy as the forecast for the coming weekend is here, I can imagine that Pasco isn’t looking great either….and when I look, I see winds at 20 gusting to 29 at noon. Not too great for flying, that.