NAR National Sport Launch 2005

[Initiator001]

I am heading out to the NSL shortly.

I look forward to seeing fellow TRF members there.

 

[wwattles]

Originally posted by Initiator001
Thanks.

Now, will there be any Quest D20s for sale at this launch?

I finally got to ask Andy about these, and he hadn't even heard of them. So the answer I guess is "No."

WW

 

[jflis]

Just a quick heads up that the NSL-2005 Anniversary kit, the Espresso is now available for purchase

Click here for details.

 

[wwattles]

I got my Espresso for registration at the NSL - Number 34! Now to get it and my Decaffinator built!

WW

 

[wwattles]

Very brief report from the main day of flying here:

Friday was virtually a no-fly day because of high winds. Most of the people didn't even bother to put up their awnings/tents because they would have ended up in the next county/country.

Saturday was a near-perfect day for flying until mid-afternoon, when the winds kicked up again.

Andy Woerner flew his RC Shuttle with boosters, and it was somewhat anticlimactic. It arced over away from the crowd, so all we saw was a bunch of smoke, booster separation, and then the orbiter went into a tumble recovery, as opposed to the planned glide-recovery via R/C. It may fly again, but there's some more engineering that's going to have to be done, not to mention a lot of repair.

They eventually did get enough donations to pay for the Vostok to fly again tomorrow morning. After that it is moving to its new home as a display piece.

There were quite a few TRFers there, although we didn't get a photo with just the TRF folks. Kelltym88 had the banner, and we got that included in the "group photo" for the entire event. Quite a few cert flights, including my own.

I'm sure there will be lots of pics to follow from other sources - I still need to get mine developed!

WW

 

[Initiator001]

I just returned home from the NSL.

I'll be downloading my pictures and posting some of them in the next 24 hours or so.

 

[SpartaChris]

The pics Nadine took of the shuttle came out absolutely amazing! The look almost like the real thing. I though it was a fun flight. Bummer about the tank and the orbiter. The diagnosis on the orbiter was that it's CG was wrong due to a last minute change in motors. But he did say he will be flying it again at Plaster Blaster, which is going to be an equally awesome launch! His project for that one is the Soviet N1 on a cluster of 40 different H and I motors. Ken Sparks is building an equally impressive Saturn V that will feature 3 stages and will feature clusters ranging from J-M's.

The Vostok this morning was awesome! It reached an altitude of just over 1600 ft and had perfect separation of the boosters. Only one booster didn't come in under chute, but everything else was flawless.

I flew my Black and Yellow Polecat Honest John on a K550 on Saturday. Later that day I flew my PML Bull Pup on an H123. I would have went bigger but it got windy and I didn't feel like chasing it for miles.

Today I flew my Saturn V on an F24. I later flew my Fiancee's PML Pterodactyl Jr. on a J350. That was a kick @$$ motor for that bird!!!

Despite Friday having such horrible weather, I think the launch was a success. There was an excellent turnout with over 400 flights on Saturday. Quest was there with the kids and Aerotech was there giving out their new motors.

I cannot wait until Rockstock!

-Chris

 

[PunkRocketScience]

Hey all-

Hard a great time launching on Saturday and this morning. Much better than Friday when my tent self-destructed in the wind...

But...I came home with motors! What's that all about? Ah, well, I guess I'm just gonna have to launch more come Plaster Blaster!

Congrats to WWattles for making his L1 and L2! Beautiful flights!

Congrats to Ross Iwamoto for a 1st place win in A Super-roc PD!

 

[kelltym88]

Hello everyone. It was a "blast" out at NSL. Yes, I failed to get a group picture, sorry, but it was pretty hectic for me in the morning. Like a dummy I put very large rail buttons on my Argosy (I had never used them before, so I had no idea about different sizes). This meant I had to use the away pad. Well, DART only had 1/2 of their launching system for out there. Fortunately someone had brought their own launching system. I asked if I could use it and they generously said yes, but there was a problem with arming switch, so that had to be fixed. By the time all the bugs were worked out, Andy was beginning to set up his Shuttle, which drew quite a large crowd. He was setting up right next to my Argosy. After all the bugs were worked out and the waiting was over, it was close to 2 hours before I finally was able to launch my rocket for my L2 cert. Not long after lift off, the 2 bigger fins on the rocket literally ripped off during flight, one of them taking out the tail fin. But, it still continued to fly straight up, and at apogee, deployed both chutes. Nose cone had absolutely no damage save a couple of scratches, but the lower section will have to be rebuilt. Theory on what happened: Wind shear caused the somewhat oversized fins to begin to wobble and the force caused them to shear off. Solution: I need to completely fiberglass the fins top and bottom, inside and out. Lesson learned. Needless to say I was a bit bummed, but I was determined to get my launches in. So I was concentrating on that and didn't really even think to get a group shot. Please forgive me. But as Wattles said, I did get the banner in the group shot.

TRF was well represented, and thanks to everyone for stopping by and saying hi. Here's a shot of the banner in the morning.

 

[kelltym88]

DART does things a little different. Instead of assigning pad numbers they just check your rocket, point you in the right direction, then after your rocket is ready to go, you right down the pad number, then go stand by the table that has the controllers for your rocket. When they get to your flight card, thay ask you if you're ready, and then after the countdown, you push the button. Well, as a result, I wasn't able to take very many pictures. Again, I apologize. But I did get a few.


Hope he doesn't mind, but here is our own Shreadvector after certing L1. Good job Shread!!!

 

[kelltym88]

Here are a couple of really far away shots of the shuttle lift off. Picture #1...

 

[kelltym88]

Picture #2 of the shuttle....

 

[kelltym88]

And here is the aftermath of the Argosy flight. I did ace the test though.

 

[kelltym88]

Big congrats to Wattles. He certed L1 and L2 in the same day. I'm jealous.

Thanx to Aerotech for providing so many motors. Not only did I get a J350 for my cert, but I also got to "DEMO" two F26-6's and two F42-8's. I used them in my 29mm Deuce. I like the F42's. They provided 20 L1 and 10 L2 motors, plus the additional Demo's.


Again, thanx to everyone for stopping by and introducing yourselves and I apologize if my head wasn't totally into it. I had alot of fun and hope to see you guys again in the future.

 

[Saks_Russel]

I originally planned to attend on Sunday only to watch the Vostok lift, but went on Saturday to punch holes in the ozone layer personally. The turnout was much less than I had imagined but all were enthusiastic. The wonderful thing about rocketry is the people. I had the chance to learn quite a bit from many different people. I spent a bunch of time hanging out with kellytym88 since we live close to each other and he and his friend Dave are good people. The Argosy scale up wasn't the only rocket of kellytym's to lose fins.......

There were two incredible L3 launches (one for cert.) that I can recall. Perfect flights. I really should have been taking notes on what motors were used on the launches and with which rockets. The assortment of rockets launched was grand.

Andy from What's Up got egg on his face for thanking Estes on the build and take (It was Quest), but managed to redeem himself after the laughter and dirty looks abated. The participants in the last build of the day (kids mainly) launched en masse about 14 Astras (?model?). All of them went up perfectly and it was a fantastic sight to see that many all go at once.

The Plaster City site is perfect for launches. The only problems are the weather which is hot, dry and subject to winds in the late afternoon. There is lots of room for recovery and NO TREES. There is some desert scrub and the land isn't perfectly flat, but much better than launching in a park with hungry connifers waiting to devour unsuspecting rockets.

I am glad and miffed at the same time for forgetting to stop off at the ATM for more cash. The vendors on site had an incredible collection of kits, motors, parts, book, pictures, etc, etc. And, more than just the usual Estes and Quest products that are common at the local hobby and crafts stores. I spent most of what was in my pockets. Big events like this are fantastic for picking up supplies and meeting the vendors that usually only do business online. All of them were friendly, helpful and I look forward to patronizing them in the future.

The only thing missing that might be a good idea in the future is having a food and drinks vendor on site (lunch truck, etc). The ice cream truck did good business and even donated funds to put motors in the Vostok.

The picture attached is (I believe) Kellytym88's dual 29mm Duece.

Saks

 

[Saks_Russel]

Part 2:

I managed one launch each:
Estes Bullpup-C6-5 nice and straight lift, striped chute, recovered in perfect condition
Estes Guardian - D12-5 great flight, striped chute, broken fins on landing (24mm mod)
Estes Alpha - C6-5 fast, straight and thank goodness for the Recovery Technologies red nylon chute.

The wind started to pick up and I really didn't want to tromp around in the scrub again looking for my rockets.

I took 2 hunts to find the Alpha way down range. I bought a 10" chute for next time. The 12" Estes and the 12" Recovery technologies chutes give the Alpha way too much hang time, especially with a C motor. The plastic chutes included with most commercial kits should probably be ditched in favor of something better.

The picture is the business end of the Vostok. On the right in the background is Kellytym88 fussing with a rocket while Dave enjoys watching the flights. On the left, almost totally obscured, is ShreadVector (and his belt buckle) off to detonate a naked rocket. I'm pretty sure the one in his hand got blowed up. The picture is 108kB.

 

[shreadvector]

Thanks for the loan of the casing.

And thanks to aerotech for the free loads for the cert flights (I used one of the H128 loads).

It was a very good launch with very good weather on Saturday and Sunday (at least until I left around 9:30am).

Originally posted by kelltym88
DART does things a little different. Instead of assigning pad numbers they just check your rocket, point you in the right direction, then after your rocket is ready to go, you right down the pad number, then go stand by the table that has the controllers for your rocket. When they get to your flight card, thay ask you if you're ready, and then after the countdown, you push the button. Well, as a result, I wasn't able to take very many pictures. Again, I apologize. But I did get a few.


Hope he doesn't mind, but here is our own Shreadvector after certing L1. Good job Shread!!!

 

[Fuddrucker]

I also had a great time at NSL 2005.

I now feel like an idiot though and I must apologize for not saying hello to Shreadvector, Kelltym88, and Dave. I was even talking with Keltym88 and Dave regarding my upscale Blue Bird Zero. I was so wrapped up with other things (my kids mainly) and had thoughts going through my head regarding getting some good pics of my launch of the BBZ (thought it might be the last launch) that I did not even think to say hi.

As I think about it, I remember seeing the banner, AND I don't know how many times I walked right by Ray Dunakin's car with all the brightly painted rockets on top of it. So even though it is a bit late, a big HELLO to you all, and CONGRATULATIONS Shreadvector on your certification!

Other than the wind that came up Sat. I thought the launch went pretty well. No long lines at the RSO table and no long wait times to hit the "go" button. For me, my Blue Bird Zero flight went pretty well. I had flown this before on an I284 and the med. delay seemed to be timed about right. This time the med delay was early but no damage to the rocket. It did kick the casing though so I will have to come up with a new retainment system.

Now on to the good stuff. The raffle for me went VERY well. I was telling my wife that out of all the raffles that I have ever entered, I have NEVER won anything until 1-1/2 years ago when I became a BAR and went to my first launch at ROCstock. Since then everytime I buy tickets, I win something. This time though I cleaned up. I bought $20 in tickets like I always do and came away with the following...

Fliskits Paylord. Thanks JIM! This one is also going to be a great "night flyer".
PML Io kit.
Art Applewhite 12" dia. 38mm Flying Saucer.
3 Quest kits. Sport, Payloader One, Astra III.
Quest field kit.
Aeropack 38mm Motor Retainer.
and one of those "pump" rockets that Andy was selling. Kids had a ball with that so I bought three more.

I would like to throw a big THANK YOU to all the vendors who donated all of the items to the raffle.

Can't wait for ROCstock to fly my newest creation "Gone Batty" which I will be posting pics of in the "Scratch built" section.

...FUDD

 

[shreadvector]

The answer is "Nametags".

I wore one on Saturday and gave one to our favorite aerial cimematographer.

 

[SmkSignals]

Had a great time here... Arrived Friday afternoon. Wind was blowing pretty good. Not much flying on Friday. Meet WWattles in Andy's tent. Good to meet ya... Flew a hand full of low-mid power stuff Sat with my kids.

Sunday was a great day. Meet Steve Mickelson, joined NAR, aquired one of the donated Aerotech H128W's, loaded it into my PML Callisto, and cert'ed L1. That bugger flew man. Must of got to 2500-3000 ft.

A big thanks to all the vendor's that were there. The was a TON of stuff to buy. Very Cool. And a special thanks to the DART crew. You all did a great job !!!!!

Later, Kurt T.

 

[Initiator001]

Originally posted by kelltym88
Thanx to Aerotech for providing so many motors. Not only did I get a J350 for my cert, but I also got to "DEMO" two F26-6's and two F42-8's. I used them in my 29mm Deuce. .

Here's two pictures of your Deuce launching.

The first one is motor ignition. If you look carefully, you will see that only one motor has ignited.

 

[Initiator001]

Here's the Deuce with both motors firing away.

 

[kelltym88]

Great pictures Bob and Saks_Russel. Looks like you guys got the same launch at the same time from 2 different angles. Probably couldn't have coordinated that any better if I tried.


Fudd,
I so totally know how you feel. I was at work yesterday when I thought to myself, that was Fuddrucker. I knew I recognized you. I apologize too for not saying hi. But I understand what you mean about being preoccupied.


You know, there was quite a few of us from the forum here scattered all over at NSL, almost enough to merit our own launch........

 

[SpartaChris]

I saw the banner but same as you guys, was really busy with trying to prepare my own birds plus teaching HPR 101 to a lot of new comers.. Perhaps I will be able to catch some of you at RocStock and Plaster Blaster.

 

[valkrider15]

I think we should make it a point to set aside some time at ROCSTOCK to do just that.

Maybe we could do a BBQ on Saturday night. Get an area set-up and a few BBQs going, do kind of a pot-luck thing, and have a chance to get to know each other a bit more.

I know that I was just as swamped at NSL as the rest, but now with my certs out of the way I already sense a greater calmness. I'd be happy to coordinate the BBQ activities if other are up for it.

Let me know your thoughts and we'll go from there. Drop me a PM or e-mail though here.

-Greg

 

[wwattles]

Hey, does anybody here know how to contact Nadine about getting copies of the pics she was taking? I'd like to get one of each of my cert flights to put up on my wall at my office. She left almost as soon as I got my L2 off the rod, so I wasn't able to track her down afterwards.

Thanks,

WW

 

[valkrider15]

Check Here:

https://www.photosbynadine.com

 

[marvSRG]

Sounds like it was a great launch. Anyone have any more pictures? I'd especially like to see some close-up shuttle and Vostok pics. I doubt Nadine'll ever get them up on her site. It may be a year or two on that haha.

 

[Saks_Russel]

I've got some more picutres that I need to get organized. I'll post a link when I have a slide show ready. I didn't manage to take as many pictures as I wanted to. Didn't launch as much as I wanted to, but still had a great time.

Yes! on the BBQ.

Saks

 

[wwattles]

Originally posted by marvSRG
Sounds like it was a great launch. Anyone have any more pictures? I'd especially like to see some close-up shuttle and Vostok pics. I doubt Nadine'll ever get them up on her site. It may be a year or two on that haha.

She's already responded to my e-mail asking about the pics. She said she'd try to get me copies of the proofs of my launches.

If you use the e-mail address provided on her website, and let her know what pics you are interested in, she can try to track them down for you.

WW