Back From NSL!!!

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Here's a short trip report

I know i'm going to miss a lot of details and screw up names and such, so this will be rather generic :eek:

Needless to say, it was quite an event. Doc (Drake Demerau) and NEPRA put on a first class event, no question.

Friday: up early, pack more stuff into that truck than it was meant to hold, but it's a Ford, so it did the job :D

It was about a 6 hour trip, very easy drive and easy to find the hotel. We got situated in our room then had to unload the truck into the second floor room (man, we got REAL tired of *that* this weekend! LOL)

Up bright and early Saturday to rain. Had no indication of how bad it was going to be or how long it would last, but we loaded the truck back up and went out to the field.

A beautiful field in a lovely part of PA. NEPRA had a good setup with clearly defined areas for launching, vendors, fliers and spectators. The field was already getting soupy so I locked in the hubs before encroaching on the field itself.

Having registered early, we got good seats! Our vendor booth couldn't have been more than 30 feet from the RSO table with the low power pads right in front of us! We were situated between Pratt Hobbies and PerfectFlite. Unfortunately, Doug Pratt couldn't be there as he was caring for an ill family member, but he had friends and family tending his booth. The folks from PerfectFlite were a joy to have as vendor neighbors and it made for a very pleasent stay.

There wasn't much flying as it rained most of the day. There was a clear spot mid-afternoon and the fired up the launching. We got off maybe 20 rockets. HOWEVER, while the flying was way off, the buying was way ON. Seems that if these folks couldn't fly, they figured they may as well buy.

No complaint from me! We started selling kits literally within a second of opening our booth and at times we had customers layered 3 rows deep waiting for their chance to get to the table. It was amazing the way we were greeted there.

I got my Deuce's Wild! kit in the air (my only launch of the day i beleive) and got to see a few others. there wasn't much flying on this day, but some good flights. I got soaked to the bone going to get my Deuce after the flight, but it was worth it.

We took down early (about 3pm) and headed back to the hotel where we could clean up and repack some of our kits for the next day. It was nice that we were able to leave our tent and table on site so that we were' tearing it down as well.

Sunday was the best of the 3 days. We got there early, got set up and met up with Carl and Doug, Nick and several others. It was great to meet Drake after having worked with him for months on our contribution to NSL (the anniversary kit Proconsul) along with several donated kits (Richter Recker, Grissom and Nomad). We also used this as an opportunity to announce two new FlisKits model rocket kits (going up on our site soon). The Rhino (skill level 1, 18mm kit with laser cut fins) and the Drake (a retail version of the Proconsul). Needless to day, Drake was beside himself when I presented him with a gift of a Drake model rocket. The folks from NEPRA commented that it would take weeks for him to come back to normal after that! LOL

I was able to fly several more models, but nowhere near what I had planned on doing. I was hoping to launch the entire fleet of FlisKits models, but there just wasn't enough time with most of Sat and Mon lost to the rain gods. But I did manage to get off the rack of Deuce's (6mm, 13mm, 18mm and 24mm) along with Carl's 38mm Deuce. I hadn't realized what an impact the Deuce had made till I found out someone overheard Trip Barber comment something to the effect "just how many of these things ARE there around here!?" as someone was checking in a Deuce at the RSO table! LOL

38mm Deuce's Wild!
What can I say. It was picture perfect. Without flaw. Awe inspiring. Now, I may be biased, but that launch put every other launch of the weekend to shame (imho). It was breathtaking. There is no doubt that you will see many pictures of that along with several vids. Judge for yourself.

Carl, you have quite a bird there. I am proud to be a part of it and can't thank you enough for the work that you put into that and your enthusiasm for the design and my company. kudo's big guy, kudo's :D :D

We saw all sorts of odd balls too, including a "Bender" robot rocket, a traffic cone, space-man up-scales and saucers too numerous to count!

The launch that was the most *fun* for me was the launch of the A.C.M.E. Spitfire. Everyone commented on that one (as you could well imagine) and it is clear that this will be a big hit when released. When I was going to the RSO table, there was a quiet mumbling in the crowed as folks ran off telling their friends that "that crooked rocket is going up!".

The look on the RSO;s face was priceless. I assured him that it was a known stable model and I was in line with a signed RSO slip, ready to go.

I was tickled when I hear a loud chorus behind me of "son of a b****, that thing IS stable!"

When she launched she went up perfectly straight. One frustration was that the ejection charge sounded like a shotgun blast ripping the nosecone from the rocket and actually blowing the nose apart. I repaired in at the hotel that night but the next day she turned in a flight that was more arced than straight. I'm going to rebuild the nose and get her flying straight again!

MOnday: heavy rains and a sloppy field. But it didn't stop the die-hard amoung us. My best flight of the day was the Tres. It turned in a picture perfect flight much to the enjoyment of those who got to see it. That will be another popular kit once released.

That's all I can think of now. I realized that it is biased to much of what I was doing as opposed to NSL in general. I appologize for that, but I was very busy and (unfortunately) didn't get to see all that much more. Other trip reports will help round out the weekend better. I'm receiving a lot of pressure to attend NARAM, so that is being discussed. If we *do* attend, we will plan a special kit announcement there as we did at NSL.

and, beleive it or not, on the SAME day as we return, i have posted my photo album of the event! no, really, I did. I swear! hey, go look for yourself!

:D

https://fliskits.com/photo_album/nsl-2003/nsl_2003.htm

I will had more as it comes to me. Enjoy the photos. A warm and ready thank you to all who stopped by our booth. It was a joy! Beleive me, I am a very pleased individual today. So many new friends, so many new memories!

hugs,
jim
 
whoops! guess that wasn't so *short*, now was it... LOL

oh well, it's a good read (at least *I* think so... :p )

Doug, as we discussed, if I can get the negative, I can scan it at 2400 dpi and get a good crisp image from that. thanx!
jim
 
Hi Jim...

For your Picture Captions:
The G-Force with blue nose and fins and White body is mine, and I flew it with a Ellis Mountain G35-6 motor. Not enough umph.

The V2 is Ryan Sebastians, launched with an I357.

Get any pics of my American Spirit or Jayhawk?

How many DW's did you sell after the Super Deuce?
 
Originally posted by jflis


I realized that it is biased to much of what I was doing as opposed to NSL in general. I appologize for that,

Don't apologize!! Great report, great pix!

LOVE the 38mm Deuce! Perfect choice of propellant for that model Carl!
 
Well, I have finished unloading all my stuff from the car, have had a chance to take a breather and catch up on events. So, here is my report:

I arrived at Clark Summit Saturday evening, drove straight to the hotel and tried to give Jim Flis a call...they were at the NSL "Town Meeting" and I quickly got directions to the banquet room and found a bunch of people there. Our Cincinnati NAR Quark Section 624 was well represented as our club President, Treasurer, Secretary and Senior Advisor(me) were all there...pretty cool. The meeting went well and discussed legal fund, rule changes, Team America and other topics...very informative.

Afterwards, we headed over to the 3rd floor, where BMC, Tango Papa and one other vendor were working out of their rooms...pretty cool. It was good to finally meet Tom from Tango and the guy from BMC. Like a dummy, I forgot to get the helicopter re-kit I wanted along with a set of laser cut fins for my OT...oh well.

Sunday, we woke to clouds and fog, but the weather reports looked promising. After getting breakfast, we headed out to the field. We got there early and it was like a tractor climb...get a running start to make the climb up the mud hill...I made it but my van got filthy....all part of flying. We set up as the skies began to break and preped our models. I hit the pad with my Deuce on two C=6's. only one lit and it canted over toward the entrance road, but ejected and floated to the ground just fine. I thought this was NOT a good way to start. I began working on the Deuce, had alot of visitors and old friends come by looking and talking and having fun. I met Ken - kghollaway first, a super guy, then Nick -rocketman248, a great young guy with tons of enthusiasm! Doug and Ryan showed up...I picked them out right away! Also met several others I had conversed with before and a few that actually received copies of my decals in the past...it was just great seeing ALL the people I had met online at one time or another!!!

I took a break and flew the Flis Kits Overdrive and it did very well! I finished the HPR "Deuces Wild! 38 Special" and hauled it to the line. It weighed in at a whopping 13.5 pounds....geeeez!!!!! I guestamated 1400' with the weight known and headed to the pad. We got all set up, then Jim Flis had ALL FOUR of the other Deuces lined up on the LPR pad to complete our "Featured Event". The MMX Deuce went first, then the 13mm, 18mm and the 24mm didnt light(someine forgot to clip it ;))...goes to show even seasoned veterans can make an error. This was proved by the next HPR flight of the NAR VP Trip Barber, who had some problems himself on the pad. When it came time for the HPR Deuce, a no joy....same went for the pad oppisite me. Come to find out a fuse blew.

By this time, one of the M flights was ready, so he launched on a AMW M1850GG and it was a perflight flight and recovery. Fortunately, wind was taking rockets away from the crowd...a good thing for safety. They fixed the problem with the away HPR pads and I went back out to turn the ALT back on (thank goodness I remembered). The HPR Deuces Wild was on the away "K" pads for safety and after the countdown, it lit instantly. Doug's pics and video pretty much tell the rest of the flight story.

A perfect flight with NO rotation, so the crowd SAW the seperate smoke trails all the way! Recovery was flawless for once...the rocket separated at apogee and the ejection from one of the motors, used for backup, fired...it then began the tumble. At 750', the main charge fired, the nosecone came out under it's own chute and the DW 60" chute filled...they came down exactly together...it was, as they said, a perfect flight and I was really a happy boy as this was my first HPR cluster, and a duzy at that! :)

I am calling out to anyone else that had video, I would like to have a copy if possible. The HPR Deuce will debut again at NARAM and should go over just as well. The crowd really made it for me though, the cheers during launch and the applause at apogee and main deploy made it a moment to remember. I also was told by more than one person that it was by far the most unique and one of the coolest flights of NSL2003 and a possible for a Sport Rocketry Cover...WOW! If you have pics, slides, film or whatever, let me know guys...I may need to send it in. I will pay shipping, cost of tape, etc...

That was the highlight of my day and I could have gone home after that...but there was more flying to do...the Overdrive went up again, as did my Harpoon ...thanks for the help Nick on the "Poon" and Doug/Ryan for locating the DW. In the excitement, I forgot to see where it landed, but they knew. I had so many people approach me after the main deployed that I broke the rule of thumb myself and didn't watch my rocket land. The small Deuce flew once more, on two C6's thanks to my friend and our Prez who came up with the motors out of his stash...I was out of C6-5's but had all the others. This time it went well as both motors lit.

Doug had one heck of a flight getting ALL SEVEN mtors to light on his cluster...unreal! Also, Rocketman248 got his L2 on a beautiful flight of his bird, but had a bit of a walk ahead of him. Moreover, Jim Flis was at the flightline as much as the booth, launching everything he had...you gotta love a MFGR that jumps right in. After the HRP Deuce though, I believe there was an increase in sales at the ole Fliskits booth. ;) Good for you Jim! We also got to see the new Tres-Wild, soon to be released and got to see the Rhino fly, along with the Acme, all four DW sizes, his Cheatah 660 and more...all were retrieved successfully. I picked up a new Rhino, along with several others. All the vendor booths saw good business...the busiest day though I believe was the rain day on Saturday.

I had four rockets up for Saturday, our prez had 4, Dave our secretary had 5 and our treasurer Chan had about a dozen. The lines moved well considering. I want to note the event was very well organized and after a slow start, soon had it running like a fine watch. Dave (Maverick) was LCO for most of Monday and it was a real pleasure watching him in action...I see a future NAR Prez in the works there...he even launched a V2 under a "German" countdown...great style!

Thanks go to the tons of people I got to meet and didn't mention...there wasn't a bad egg in the bunch...except for the one egg in the "Loft" rocket that didn't do too well. ;) A real good time, despite crappy weather Monday, at least one day was good and I got to attend my first NSL!

Boy am I gonna get it for this...no pics...that's right...NO PICS!!! My camera batteries were dead Sunday Morning...I didnt even bother Monday as it was raining when we got there.

Carl
 
oh yea.... the forgotten microclips on the 24mm Deuce's Wild!.... that's only the beginning... LOL

ok, so i'm casually preping the Deuce's (all 4 of mine) knowing that Carl is supposed to get the '38 Special' preped for our "Notable Launch" of Deuce's...

suddenly, I look up, and there's Carl at the RSO table with his 38mm Deuce! I'm in a panic! i really want all of them on the pad at once!!

So I scramble, finish prepping them (NOTE TO SELF: "Scramble" and "Finish Prepping" should NEVER occur at the same time...:p ), out to the RSO table with 4 Deuce's under my arm and a stack of flight sheets. One by one they get checked and approved, they send me to the flight line and are aware of what is going on so they set me up on consecutive pads as Carl heads out to the HPR pads. I lay the models on the ground under their respective pads and as i'm putting the Diminutive Deuce on the pad it occured to me... I FORGOT RECOVERY WADDING!

A mad dash to my booth, grab a bag of wadding and run back out to the pads holerin', "I'm sorry, i'll get these on the pad right away!"

yea, right...

k, so I gots the wadding, pop open one of the Deuce's...

ya know, parachutes would be a nice touch here...

geeze! Someone notice my dilema and asked if he could help (THANK YOU!) Top of my range box, bag full of parachutes, and hurry! LOL

Parachutes loaded, wadding in place, rockets on the pad. Hook up one, hook up two, hook up three and back to my booth for the camera and wait for the launch...

launch one, launch two, launch three, ....hhhmmmm, that's right, I had FOUR Deuce's out there....

oh man!

But it was still great! LOL

and now you know the REST of the story... LOL
 
Time to reply to a few...Doug, I missed the Hybrid...I believe I was prepping the big Deuce. Jim, Glad I could model a good flying bird.

SwingWing, Airforce, Rstaff, Matt, Phil and everyone else that did and didn't attend...thanks for the kind words and I wish you all could have made it. Oh yea, forgot to mention...Jim Flis...he was a bit rushed because I forgot to tell him when I was close to being ready...had a few things on my mind at the time I showed up to the line... sorry Jim. ;)

Now, DOC has posted an update to the NSL page...I sent him an email pointing him to this link, but encourage you all to send him pics and movies of the events...he is asking for em. You can find his mail address at this link:

https://www.nepra.com/nsl/

Get in those pics guys, and thanks again for a good time!!!

Carl
 
Hi All,

Yet another NSL Launch Report:

Dad and I drove up Friday morning and got there about 1 o'clock. We helped NEPRA setup some pads and the lines for the launch rods and did odds and ends until late in the afternoon (we are members of NEPRA). We got to the hotel that night...the accomadations were the best I have had at a rocket launch. Doc really picked a great place to stay.

Saturday was a mostly rain event. We got the field about 8:30 and I directed traffic and parking until 10:00 or so. Then we hit the vendors, picking up a half dozen motors. When we got back to the hotel around 8:00 PM we assembled some motors hoping to fly a few on Sunday.

Sunday we got to the field around 9:00 (overslept). I did parking again until 10:00. Then I did Pad Manager until noon. Then dad took over that until 1:00. Then I went back to the lines until 3:00. 3:00-5:00 was my break to fly. I prepped my Red Devil with onboard smoke caninsters but one fell out on liftoff created a little rush out to the pads. That was the first time that happenend to me. I was also able to get up the PML patriot on an H148 for a great flight. Then it was back to pad manager until 7:00.

Monday was overcast. I did pad manager and LCO for the day from 10:00-2:00 as Carl mentioned. Then dad and I helped with cleaning up the range for a little while and left.

Saturday yielded a few flights if my memory serves me correctly. Sunday was absolutely insane...we had rockets going up non-stop. I think there were over 600 flights. Drake got his l3 certification with a superb flight in the afternoon. There was also an M1850 GG that went up earlier in the day. DeHate was unable to get his l3 rocket up because of a NO2 leak but he did fly the same rockket to a lower altitude on a K700 on Monday.

For any of you that were there, I was the kid in the hat assigning pads for most of Sunday. I would have liked to have talked to you, but time didn't present itself...sorry. I also met Carl for the first time in person...sorry we couldn't talk longer but someone had to push the button:D BTW- Deuce's Wild was awesome!

The box rocket didn't fly due to the lack of a motor.

David
 
Mach diamonds are caused when the exhaust gasses from the rocket motor exit the nozzel's expansion cone at greater than the speed of sound. There was a very detailed explanation a couple of months ago in HPR. If you can't find a copy let me know and I'll see what I can do to get you one.

As for the apparent "gap" between the nozzel and the exhaust flame it is supposedly caused again by the speed of the exhaust gasses. The gasses apparently exit the nozzel so fast that they take an appreciable distance to either cool down and become visible or to mix with the oxygen in the atmosphere and burn any excess fuel remaining in the exhaust.

N3tjm, sorry about the Jayhawk. I thought you'd recovered it. If I'd known it was still out there Sunday I'd of made an attempt to find it. You really weren't all that far off when you walked by it, maybe 75 feet to the right is all. It came in fairly flat with the large wing area helping to slow the descent, and possibly causing it to veer to the left. OBTW my TransBeep ended up in the RSO's "lost and found" where I recovered it. Hope it helped you out.

Too bad about Bob DeHate's L-3 attempt. His HyperTek "M" motor was found to be lacking the vent tube when we disassembled it on Monday. Unfortunately no one had a replacement and Barry Lynch had to leave early anyway so Bob couldn't try again. Luckily he was able to remove the payload bay from his rocket, he designed it to be modular, and was able to put it up on a K700 for a perfect flight.

NSL was awesome this year even with the rain. But the best part was meeting everyone from TRF who made it out there. Hope to see you again at NYPower or LDRS this July.

Ken
 
David,

I had no idea you were a mamber of TRF. You did a great job all day. you kept everything perfectly coordinated and knew soo much about rocketry. Your Patriot had a great flight.

I was the kid with the checkered EZI that set up next to your Patriot and also was with Doug most of the day. When We launched the American Spirit and mirage together
 
Ryan,
Thanks for the complement. I have to admit that I don't remember the EZI-65 but I do definitely recall the American Spirit and the Mirage. Both of them had nice flights. What motor was the EZI on? I285?

David
 
Thanks, the EZI flew on a G69...I wish I could get my hands on an I285 lol
 
ok boys and girls...

Sport Rocketry have expressed an interest in using the pic of Carl's 38mm Deuce on the cover of the Sept/Oct issue (covering NSL) if they can get a high enough resolution picture of that.

The best image I have is the one posted on site and it is too low res (understandable as for the cover it needs to be crisp)

Anyone with a 3+ Megapixel cam with 7X or better zoom get a good shot of that launch? Anyone with a 35mm stop that sucker cold and up close?

Let me know and/or contact the NAR Sport Rocketry Editor with the information.

They may also be interested in a static shot of Carl and/or me holding the rocket. I know such pictures were taken, but I don't have one in my set of photo's.

*help?*

You can send me email if you wish at [email protected]

thanx!
jim
 
Would they be able to use my pic if they have a negatives or I blow up that area at the photolab? And I have plenty of photos of Carl with the Deuce.
 
A large or high res picture can easily be made of a regular 35mm 3X5 or 4X6 on a home scanner! A regular 35mm paper photo captures plenty of image quality to allow for it to be scanned in at a larger resolution. Let's just hope someone still uses film!
 
Great video, thanx for posting it. Dang I wish I'd seen it in person. Maybe at the next TRF meet?
 
You can count on it Dick!!! It WILL make the next TRF event.

Sure wish you could have made it. I plan on a NARAM launch along with at least one more in Whitakers. With a little luck, it should last as long as my Amraam 4 has and I will be sure to make the rounds with it.

I just posted a review for EMRR, but it will probably not make it in time for the 6-1 release. I also decided to hit Magnum soon and custom order some Matching Blue and Yellow Skyangle Parachutes for it as the model has earned it's keep. Hopefully, they will arrive before NARAM.

Carl
 
And Carl. Chris Taylor posted a still on ABMR. But the video is *way* cooler. Way to go, very nice flight, I love those Pro38's. I've figured out how to clone the starting mechanism and plan to use it on cluster starts with my EX stuff. Pyrodex pellets... 54 calliber, fit perfectly in a .5 core size 38mm grain. Not a whole pellet, just about 3/32 or so of it. I've lit an EX motor with an ematch and it worked perfectly.

Alan
 
OK...I give...what is ABMR???

Incorporating the pellet starter for propellant is a great idea...glad it is working for you in the EX world! :)

Carl
 
ABMR = alt.binaries.model.rockets

Newgroup for posting pix related to model rocketry.

Gotta love them acronyms LOL (my favorite 3 letter acronym (from an IBM book of acronyms) is TLA)

:p
jim
 
Originally posted by jflis

Gotta love them acronyms LOL (my favorite 3 letter acronym is TLA)
Boy, did I feel dumb when I had to look that one up!:rolleyes:
 
Back
Top