Freedom Launch in Orangeburg

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ben_ullman

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Anyone here going? I am hoping to go there for the first time and mainly spectate but I have some motors for people and flying with some buddies.

Ben
 
I will be there with rockets in hand, both Day and Night

One Night launcher that will have over 2,000,000 MCD of light output going up on a 54mm "J" sparky.:neener: to about 3K!
if allowed????? maybe dry that week!

Look me up!
 
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Yeah I'll be there, along with all the usual suspects, it's my home club.

But I really want to see Burl launch this beast [V2] he made from an aircraft fuel drop tank, should be an awesome sight.

I might just have to top him though by launching mine.
It's got everything in it but the kitchen sink.

There's only this itsy, bitsy, teeny problem. The landowner won't allow anyone on the property named BEN. Something about a traveling salesman named Ben and his daughter, though no one seems to know the details of the incident.

painted stood up.jpg

100_2275.jpg
 
I will be there! :D Really looking forward to that bif V2 going up on Monday! Should be a sight to see, 2N's and a small EX O motor!:y:
 
Yeah I'll be there, along with all the usual suspects, it's my home club.

But I really want to see Burl launch this beast [V2] he made from an aircraft fuel drop tank, should be an awesome sight.

I might just have to top him though by launching mine.
It's got everything in it but the kitchen sink.

There's only this itsy, bitsy, teeny problem. The landowner won't allow anyone on the property named BEN. Something about a traveling salesman named Ben and his daughter, though no one seems to know the details of the incident.

how olds his daughter? ;)

How highs the waiver there? wondering if I could talk a buddy of ours into hauling our stuff down and we take my dads small car.

So we back on for that drag race?

Ben
 
how olds his daughter? ;)

How highs the waiver there? wondering if I could talk a buddy of ours into hauling our stuff down and we take my dads small car.

So we back on for that drag race?

Ben

1: Not sure - can't think of a snarky come back..:roll:

2: I believe our standing waiver is 10k , don't know if we have provisions to allow for higher windows or not.

3: Can I join in in the fun? :) Let it be known though, that the largest case I have is a 54/1706..Oh, I do have a CTI 54mm 6-grain case, but not sure if loads will be available for it at the launch..

I do have 2 EX motors to burn..One I believe is a green, and the other a Brilliant White(54mm K420) I helped mix with Blackjack and Rocketjunkie last month. :D
 
So we back on for that drag race?

Ben

a Drag and I'm not included, that breaks the Ben rule too?:rolleyes:

But a race sound good, how about Little Dog and Wildman Jr's or equal on "I" motors?
talking CJ into a race is about as easy as eating :neener:

no waiver above 10K (sea level) so 9K and change at best.:confused2:
 
a Drag and I'm not included, that breaks the Ben rule too?:rolleyes:

But a race sound good, how about Little Dog and Wildman Jr's or equal on "I" motors?
talking CJ into a race is about as easy as eating :neener:

no waiver above 10K (sea level) so 9K and change at best.:confused2:

why no extra waiver? Who do I need to contact to see about windows?

The race was going to be on Red Sparkys. 76mm 3600 3 grain L1000 sparkys.
let me start a drag race thread. I can make a whole bunch of Red Sparkys and regular and do like LDRS. :D I have 2 3600Ns motors if anyone needs to borrow one.

I don't have a rocket that can fly on an I motor :p

Ben
 
why no extra waiver? Who do I need to contact to see about windows?
There will be no windows. There are highways and a large industrial park near the field. The last thing we need is a rocket coming in ballistic off the field. Plan for a maximum of 9000 AGL certified and 7500 AGL for research. Night waiver, if we hold a night launch, is 3000 AGL with no motor size limit.
 
There will be no windows. There are highways and a large industrial park near the field. The last thing we need is a rocket coming in ballistic off the field. Plan for a maximum of 9000 AGL certified and 7500 AGL for research. Night waiver, if we hold a night launch, is 3000 AGL with no motor size limit.
Holy cow 7500 feet max? I can get 5 at the local park!! Sorry looks like we wont be attending. Its not worth a 6 hour drive for that.

Ben
 
why no extra waiver? Who do I need to contact to see about windows?

The race was going to be on Red Sparkys. 76mm 3600 3 grain L1000 sparkys.
let me start a drag race thread. I can make a whole bunch of Red Sparkys and regular and do like LDRS. :D I have 2 3600Ns motors if anyone needs to borrow one.

I don't have a rocket that can fly on an I motor :p

Ben

thats too bad, hey I got something for all sizes and those Red Sparkys go good in my 7.5" nike or HOJO. I can hit all motor sizes from Micro-max to 150mm. Heck I might even dust off Gravity-Kill's.
 
thats too bad, hey I got something for all sizes and those Red Sparkys go good in my 7.5" nike or HOJO. I can hit all motor sizes from Micro-max to 150mm. Heck I might even dust off Gravity-Kill's.

come up to MDRA's RG7. 17k foot waiver. We'll take care of your 152mm needs ;)

Ben
 
Sorry guys,I dont monitor this forum as regularly as RP. I will be there with my whole fleet. Starleopard on a 7600 green, 6" SWAT on something, 4.15X Explorer Aquarius on a K-828. 7.5" Standard Arm on some sort of cluster and our brand new full scale Standard Arm, hopefully flying on a cluster of L's and an N. See yall there.
 
Sorry guys,I dont monitor this forum as regularly as RP. I will be there with my whole fleet. Starleopard on a 7600 green, 6" SWAT on something, 4.15X Explorer Aquarius on a K-828. 7.5" Standard Arm on some sort of cluster and our brand new full scale Standard Arm, hopefully flying on a cluster of L's and an N. See yall there.

COOL! Got any more info on the full scale SA? Whos making the motors for that?

Ben
 
Launch a few for me. I will be stuck in Egypt till February. Take a lot of video.
 
Ok I just saw this thread again while I was EATING....guess I'll have to have some drag races for the Freedom menu.

Ok If we're gonna have some Crazy Jim drag races, let's do the full 3 course[AT LEAST] menu.

appetizers.....hmmm maybe a fatboy race? Every body got one? or something all of us might have Bertha's Fatboy etc. on C's just to warm up and for $hi!s and giggles. We might get a bunch of entries here.

entree..........Me likey the little dog, wildman jr or = on I's

dessert.........4inch rockets on K's Wildmen, Thor's Horizons Cherokee's [Ben]

Research ...Ben we should hit around 7-8000 on those correct? I flew the gorilla load L-something sparky in the 3500 case and only hit 8100. We should be all right with that. M's on 6in rockets only go 7000-7500ish so we're alright there too. Don't tell me what you can't do....I wanna hear what you CAN do! It's rocket science and WE can DO anything!!!

Quit your griping and finish the Sandhawk. Your a rocket scientist now. Put that knowledge to the test and build a motor that won't break the waiver, our guys do it all the time. What's that darn thing gonna weigh? Stick a M or N in it and "Just fly it". You'll fall in love with the field when you see it.

As usual I can make thermite igniters for the larger stuff. I think I've given most fliers enough regular igniters we should be OK.

Who's in? Call or e-mail anyone in the club you know to get more of the usual suspects involved. I'll also post on the clubs site www.tripolisc.org
 
I take an entree with my Wildman jr ( Cosmic Debris ) on I600, about 6000 feet

and dessert too, a Thor-X on a K555G, about 5000 feet
will that work?
and a challenge to all, to joint in, makes for a great photo.

I never turn down a free motor :jaw: Ben

Hey Jim I personal challenge, micromax saucers at ten paces:neener:
 
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Im in. Jim,how about a rematch with my Starleopard,I have an M-2550 (75-7600). I will also have the rebuilt SWAT that you put so much time and effort into there. Plus hopefully a full scale Standard Arm. This time,we can get an independant judge to hook up ignitor leads.:gavel:
 
ok ok drag race central ;)

Ill see what I can do. The Sandhawk would fly nicely on a 114mm Sparky :D Ill see what I have in the rocket dungeon. I think I have a rocke for an I motor.

Ben
 
OHHH and O and 2 M's, I never see those at Red Glare twice a year ;)

(sarcasm off)

I might look into coming for a buddys project but well see how it goes.

Ben

I get the "Big Man on Campus" vibe from you, Ben. Even if it is sarcasm.
 
I will be there with rockets in hand, both Day and Night
Hey Don! I just made my reservations at the Days Inn.

I'll be flying American THOR on a SkyRipper K. Bring yours.
 
Maybe we could have a Thor drag race?:headbang:

I can go up to a 38/720 or a CTI 6-grain...
 
Made a day trip of Saturday at the Freedom Launch, just to see if the hobby still holds my interest.

I packed my car with rockets, hardware, and launch site gear [shade tent, camping chair, table, etc] for the first time since Freedom Launch 2007 [which I never even made it to due to a cracked tooth on the WAY to the launch]. The decision to go was kind of last minute; too late to re-up NAR membership, but I was okay with flying mid-power and watching others fly the really big stuff. How big that stuff would turn out to be was truly eye-popping.

Arrived at the launch site just prior to noon and got registered. Looked around for a motor vendor to buy HobbyLine Aerotech motors from. And looked. Not having any motors leftover from a few years ago meant I wouldn't be flying anything until I could get some motors. Caught up with some friends from the old upstate Carolina NAR club. Finally got word that motors were available.

All this time, a large trailer pulled in next to me. I recognized Burl from launches past and wondered what he had for this year. Oh wow! A V-2. A big V-2. As the afternoon wore on, my car stayed cool in the shade of this thing. Now I was wishing I made plans to stick around and see it fly.

I bought a G71 and G76; my first time using either of those motors. The G71 went into my 1.6" IQSY Tomahawk. Assembling a reload is like riding a bike; easy to pick up again. The only tricky part was my reload case was particularly filthy. The Tomahawk would also carry a RRC2X for read-only. I never could get this to work in previous flights in a 1.6" rocket; the weight of the 9 volt battery would crush the phono jack switch I installed in the bulkhead plate on liftoff [which is why I never got around to using the altimeter for deployment]. Easy solution: put a section of launch lug over the jack plug to protect it. Easier solution: Don't use a phono jack plug as a switch. Plugged the hole where the switch was with modeling clay.

On the flight card, I projected the altitude to 2500 feet, which I honestly thought was a bit low. Got it on the launch pad, aimed a bit upwind, and waited for launch. It wasn't really a long wait, but it sure seemed it. My first rocket flight in 3 years. It was a good one, too. The Redline motor pushed out a nice red flame as the rocket streaked up into the skies to become a barely discernible dot 8 seconds later. Not even the LCO could see the bright pink 14" chute when it came out at apogee. I knew if I took my eyes off of it, I'd have a hard time picking it up again. SO, I just laid down on the ground to take the strain off my neck and waited for it to descend to an elevation where I could comfortably track it from an upright position.

As I walked up to where the Tomahawk landed, I couldn't hear the beeping. My stomach sank. Even without any switch, it still didn't record. From my pocket, I already had the screwdriver out and ready to pop-open the payload section to find out why, WHY?!?, the bleeping thing didn't work THIS time. Wait--beeping. I knelt down over the rocket and counted out the beeps. 2...4...2...3. Did I ever nail THAT projected altitude.

Next flight was going to be...something on a G76-7. Along with the Tomahawk, I brought with me a LOC Hi-Tech, a 4" Der V-3 upscale, and a scratch built 1.6" by 52" rocket [and a 1.6" Bull Pup, but that wasn't built to fly on a G]. I decided on the V-3 because I wouldn't have to swap out altimeter hardware [yes, that's actually how I justified it in my mind]. Emptied out a hot reload case, and assembled a new motor. Way cool flight. Ejected right at apogee.

Hmmm...90 minutes left, and what to fly. Buy another reload, clean out the casing and assemble a new motor. Then, swap out the altimeter into another rocket, and get it all wired up. Might not be enough time for all that. Just then, I found an E9-6 in my range box. Bull Pup/E9 has always been a very reliable and very nice rocket/motor combination. Prepped in 5 minutes and on to the pad just missed the boat on what turned out to be a fully-loaded low-power rack.

That last rack of the day was an interesting one. A 4 way drag race didn't happen; each ended up launching individually. A spectacular 2-stage high power flight was the capper for the day. My Bull Pup and rocketjunkie's I59 were the last two flights of the day.

I didn't get home till midnight. My hands were covered in sooty, greasy, grime. My neck and shoulders were burnt to a crisp. And I was very dehydrated. But I couldn't wait to get back to another launch.
 
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