NSL 2010 - White Sands, NM

[jsdemar]

The web site is up....

https://www.nsl2010.com/

 

[Johnly]

I've registered and booked my flight. The special non-launch events that the NSL team has set up is impressive. Worth the trip even without the launch activities.

John

 

[artapplewhite]

I will be there as a vendor and do a little sport flying too. I'll have a reasonable selection of my kits but if anyone wants something in particular send me a Private Message or email me at [email protected] soon. All kits will be 10% off the web site price at NSL 2010.

Art Applewhite

 

[GregGleason]

Those are some very cool special events, especially the grand finale! Oh I wish I could be there.

Thanks for letting us know about this, John.

Greg

 

[JAL3]

I'd sure be interested to see what other vendors will show up.

 

[MarkII]

Let's see... 34.5 hour drive, 2154 mi. No kidding, I'm seriously considering it!

Is my budget up to it?
Is my car up to it?
Am I up to it?

When am I going to have another excuse to visit that part of the US? Something that I have always wanted to do.

Thinking about it...

Mark K.

 

[Jim9199]

I'd sure be interested to see what other vendors will show up.

We just kicked our vendor/sponsor recruitment campaign into high gear a couple of weeks ago. Scott Goebel of NSL 2009 told us that they took the "shotgun" approach to vendor recruitment, i.e. contact everybody, so we're taking a similar approach. We're hoping it pays some dividends, because it just isn't NSL if you're not getting that "kid in a candy store" feeling while strolling down vendor row!

Jim Basler
NSL 2010 Event Director

 

[Jim9199]

I've registered and booked my flight. The special non-launch events that the NSL team has set up is impressive. Worth the trip even without the launch activities.

John

With all of the space and rocketry-related stuff we have right here in our back yard, we figured, why shouldn't we share that with our guests?

Be sure to thank Dave Kovar when you get here. He put an extraordinary amount of time and effort into getting these special events organized.

Jim Basler

 

[Jim9199]

It has come to our attention that, due to an apparent administrative error by somebody at the Alamogordo Comfort Inn, the block of 50 rooms that was set aside for NSL were set aside under the name "Dave Kovar" (who is our special events/hospitality chair) instead of under "NSL" or "National Sport Launch". We are working to get this corrected, but for the time being, if you wish to reserve a room for NSL at the Comfort Inn ask for one of the "Dave Kovar" rooms. Once we get the name issue straightened out I will post another announcement here.

- Jim Basler

 

[terryg]

Are the launch site conditions going to allow the use of sparky motors? At our site we have a lot of small dry weeds due to the extra rain we got this year. I am currently trying to plan motors and flights for the launch.

 

[jsdemar]

Are the launch site conditions going to allow the use of sparky motors? At our site we have a lot of small dry weeds due to the extra rain we got this year. I am currently trying to plan motors and flights for the launch.

Sparky motors are allowed. There is very little vegetation and the weeds that are there eat fire for lunch.

 

[Jim9199]

Are the launch site conditions going to allow the use of sparky motors? At our site we have a lot of small dry weeds due to the extra rain we got this year. I am currently trying to plan motors and flights for the launch.

The desert in the vicinity of the launch site is predominantly mesquite shrubs and saltbush, which are not very flammable. They are widely spaced with mostly bare ground (save for a few sporadic weeds) between them.

We've put in a lot of work in recent months getting the launch site ready for NSL. We've cleared all the saltbush that has been trying to reclaim the launch and parking area in recent years and we went over the pad and parking area with a drag mat in March, so right now the area around the launch pads is bare dirt. After a wet winter and some recent, unseasonal spring rains, we're starting to see some patchy new growth emerging, mostly herbaceous weeds which will be mowed down right before NSL.

Within the (greater) recovery area there are isolated stands of relatively dense flammable brush (a mix of grass and weeds) in places where runoff from summer rains puddles, but the nearest of these is a half-acre patch approximately 450 to 500 feet from the pads on the back side (northeast of) the parking area -- nowhere near enough to the pads to prevent the launching of sparky motors.

- Jim

 

[Jim9199]

Just a reminder to everyone that the block of rooms we have set aside for NSL at the Comfort Inn at a special rate is only good until April 30; after that they get released to the general public at the regular rates. With several events going on in Alamogordo the same weekend as NSL (in addition to Memorial Day being a big travel weekend in general); it would be best not to procrastinate about making hotel reservations if you plan to attend NSL. (By the way, we did get the problem fixed regarding the name under which the block of rooms was reserved, so you can now ask for one of the "National Sport Launch" rooms instead of asking for one of the "Dave Kovar" rooms.)

We also have a block of 8 rooms at The Lodge in Cloudcroft (in the Sacramento Mountains overlooking Alamogordo) reserved for NSL as well (actually, the NM Space Museum, one of our partners in getting NSL 2010 organized, made the arrangements for us!) if you want lodging in a more scenic locale and don't mind an extra 20-30 minute commute to the launch site. The Lodge is also a classier facility than the Comfort Inn, so the nightly rate is higher. For the budget-minded, camping at the launch site will be permitted as well; we've even set aside a specific area for those who wish to pitch a tent or park a camper.

The other looming deadline is the sign-up deadline for the White Sands Missile Range/Holloman AFB tour, which is May 7. Because these are active military bases, for security reasons they want us to submit the list of people signed up for the tour several weeks in advance -- just to make sure there are no terrorists or spies in our midst. ;-) Sign-up for the tours is through online pre-registration only, so that's another reason not to procrastinate.

- Jim

 

[Jim9199]

The deadline to sign up for the tour of the V2 launch site at WSMR and the High Speed Test Track at Holloman AFB (scheduled for Tuesday, June 1) has been extended to May 15. The reason for the deadline is because WSMR wants us to submit the tour sign-up list to them for security review two weeks in advance. Just a reminder: sign-up for the WSMR/Holloman AFB tour (and all of the other tours and special non-launch activities) is through online pre-registration only!

On a related note, the deadline for online pre-registration will also be May 15. This deadline is necessary not just because of the WSMR tour deadline but also because of the lead times and counts required by other parties such as the T-shirt producer and the caterer for the Friday evening Blast-Off dinner. You will still be able to register in person during all three days of the launch, but you will not be able to sign up for the Friday dinner or tours, and if you want a T-shirt you’ll have to take your chance at one of the limited number that we will have available for purchase on site.

We are pleased to announce that we are working in partnership with Fliskits to offer an official NSL 2010 commemorative kit. The kit will be a sport scale model of the Tartar missile, predecessor to the Navy’s similar-appearing medium-range Standard missile and one of the many rockets and missiles that were test launched at White Sands Missile Range. The kit will be 21.69" tall and 1.6" diameter (T60 airframe) and fly on B or higher 18mm motors. A prototype has been built and test launched, and judging by the pictures sent by Jim Flis this is going to be a cool addition to the fleet of anyone who enjoys scale and sport scale model rockets.

Also, we will be initiating the revival of Fliskits’ and The Rocketry Forum’s Tour de Deuce. Originating in Florida in 2003, the Tour de Deuce is a cooperative project among readers of The Rocketry Forum (where the idea was born) to launch a traveling pair of Fliskits’ “Deuce’s Wild” rockets in all 50 states. The tour stalled three-quarters of the way through its mission in August 2008 at LDRS 27 in Kansas, but is now looking to get back on track with a high-profile jump start.

An additional activity has been added to the list of special launch activities: a sanctioned NAR Record Trial. Sponsored by O. Lee James III of the The Competition Consortium (TCC), the trial is open to any DURATION event in the USMRSC (Pink Book), 2010 edition. This is the third record trial that the TCC has hosted at a Southwest region National Sport Launch. Just as in 2004 and 2006, the rocketeer seeking to set a record must do most of the work (such as rounding up two timers), with the TCC supplying the paperwork. NSL officials have no connection with the operation of the record trial. Also, rocketeers seeking to set a record should expect no special treatment, such as being able to wait indefinitely for a thermal to launch into. The record attempt will be treated as just another NSL flight. For additional details see the NSL website: https://nsl2010.org.

 

[sunward]

Just too far to drive - 33 hours ( or by walking and take 25 days 1 hours :y: ). So I won't be coming.

I did send some prizes for the participants to enjoy. Thank Mike Maurer for his hard work when you see him.

 

[jsdemar]

It's not too late to attend the National Sport Launch near White Sands, New Mexico! If you live in the Southwest, the Southern Rockies, or the Great State of Texas, it's a reasonable drive for a long weekend of rocketry fun and historical sites. https://www.nsl2010.org

The NSL2010 Flyer's Information Booklet is online now at: https://www.nsl2010.org/NSL2010FlyerBooklet.pdf

The mass V2 launch should be the largest group flight of V2 scale models ever, from modroc to M motors. The L2 and L3 V2's will launch individually for safety and your viewing pleasure.

Email the event staff if you have any questions: [email protected]

-John

 

[Jim9199]

We are now less than 24 hours from the start of NSL 2010, and here are some last-minute updates:

* At 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning, Dave Kovar will do a re-enactment of the Saturn V launch that he conducted as part of the official Apollo 13 40th Anniversary Commemoration conducted at the Cosmosphere in Columbia, MO in April. This launch featured Dave’s 1/100 scale Saturn V launching from scale model of the actual Saturn V launch pad and tower, including moving service gantries on the tower and pre-launch ignition start smoke effects. The launch was conducted in sequence with the broadcast recording of the countdown of the actual Apollo 13 launch. It wowed the crowd in Missouri, and now NSL attendees will get to see it.

* For the night launch on Saturday night, Will Marchant of Marshall, Virginia will be giving away 9 Applewhite 29mm Delta Saucer kits, in recognition of Alamogordo’s proximity to Roswell and it’s infamous UFO crash. Glow necklaces will be available for decorating these saucers.

* The mass launch of V2's will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

* Fliskits has donated 15 of the NSL commemorative Tartar kits to our raffle drawing prize pool. Each of these 15 kits is customized in some way to make it unique. Jim Flis will be offering this kit for order from his website at a retail price of $20.95, with a 25% discount on the first 30 kits ordered by registered participants of NSL 2010.

The weather forecast for the weekend is looking pretty decent for launching. The highs are forecast to be around 90 degrees, the overnight lows around 60 degrees, and winds are forecast to be light. There is a 20% chance of thunderstorms on Saturday, which isn’t likely to significantly affect the morning launch session but could cause problems for the night launch. At this time of the year, thunderstorms typically form over the Sacramento Mountains beginning around mid day and then drift out over the surrounding desert lowlands during the afternoon and evening hours, and even if it doesn’t rain Saturday evening there could still be the threat of lightning. We are working to on getting Sunday evening approved as a back-up date for the night launch if the weather prevents a Saturday evening launch.

 

[WillMarchant]

For the night launch on Saturday night, Will Marchant of Marshall, Virginia will be giving away 9 Applewhite 29mm Delta Saucer kits, in recognition of Alamogordo’s proximity to Roswell and it’s infamous UFO crash. Glow necklaces will be available for decorating these saucers.

Kudos to Art for creating a "bulk price" version of his 29mm Delta Saucer. Thanks, Art! :clap:

 

[jflis]

SOunds like NSL is off to a great start!

We (FlisKits) were proud to be able to provide a commemorative kit for this event (The Tartar RIM-24A missile) as well as the range box stickers (see attached).

Good luck over the rest of the weekend!

jim

 

[Wingarcher]

Was the NAR Technology Innovation whatever award winner announced? Supposed to have been at NSL, haven't seen anything.

N

 

[Initiator001]

Was the NAR Technology Innovation whatever award winner announced? Supposed to have been at NSL, haven't seen anything.

N

I would be interested in hearing about what happened at the NSL (Any manufaturer news?).

 

[terryg]

Congratulations to the folks who ran this years National Sports Launch.
The area is overflowing with rocketry related items to draw your attention,
so we started our visit with the missile museum at White Sands Military Base. The rocket park has most of the missiles that are my favorites on display. It is impressive to be able to stand beside Nike Hercules , Pershings and many other scale favorites. The V2 on display in a special building has cutaways so you can see the internal structures.

Saturday had some of the stronger winds of the event, but did not prevent us from launching. The terrain of the launch site requires teamwork to be able to retrieve your rockets. Multiple observers worked well and we recovered all of our rockets without major issues.

It was interesting to meet some of the folks from vendors that we have seen on the web. Art Applewhite rockets was there, as well as Quickburst and Discount Rocketry. We took a break in the afternoon with a tour of aerospace museum's warehouse which had us looking and identifying all sorts of rocket parts. Parts of V1 buzz bombs were mixed with nike parts and crates of aerobee parts galore.

The night launch was postponed due to weather concerns and we passed out after the full moon rose over the mountains.

I won a J340 metalstorm reload in the raffle and put it to good use
launching my hawk. This is a great formula and looks very nice. The highlight of the day was the mass V2 launch and there were V2s in the air everywhere. Great fun. Sunday night was the night launch. There were art applewhite saucers, steaths, etc launched with sparky motors. At SARA we tend to go nuts with our night launch rockets. We flew and recovered three brightly lit high powered rockets. I flew my Glow Light Express on a I218 redline. It was calm at the pad and it flew straight up to 1500ft with a perfect deployment into the jet stream. We recovered it after quite a chase. The others landed much closer (and in the opposite direction, night winds can be capricious). Many thanks to the LCO and RCO who stayed for our flights!

The highlights Sunday were the scale launch complex and reenactment of the Apollo 13 launch (very cool) and the successful launches of the Tour De La Deuce.

Many thanks to the folks who ran this years NSL, we had a great time.

 

[jsdemar]

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the launch and the site-seeing events. It was a lot of work but very rewarding! I'm still recovering from 4 days in the sun and trying to get the dust out of everything.

The night launch was worth the one-day delay. My son and I did range duty with flashlights. Lots of memorable rockets and unique light shows. The SARA crew did a great job of team work with the highest flights of the night.

I missed most of the action on the main range during the day because I was helping run the other two ranges we had for the event: the high alt range to the East and the M/N range to the North. But, I made sure I didn't miss the mass V2 launch. I got some pictures, including Jim Parker's K CTI Skidmark in a 10" dia V2.

The only rocket I launched was at Noon on Monday. It was a memorial day flight to Paul Robinson, the owner of Animal Motor Works who pass away last October. The M2200 Skidmark load (made by Paul) was flown in my L3 cert rocket, a 6" dia IQSY Tomahawk, and I used the casing that he used for testing and certification. When I did my L3, Paul was there for the flight and the AMW guys helped me out with a deep discount on the motor and a lot of encouragement. So, I wanted to something special in his memory. The flight at NSL was successful and we recovered the rocket about 1/2 mile north with the help of the loud "warbling" beeper I had onboard.

Here are some pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/jsdemar/NSL2010#

-John

 

[MattieShoes]

Alas, my L1 cert flight didn't go as planned at NSL. The rocket flew great, but I think it was already on the way down when the delay burned through, and it never ignited the deployment charge; . Lesson learned -- Fill the rest of the well with something to keep the black powder near the delay element even if it's headed down. Not much of an issue with modroc sized rockets as black powder motors can't do it and even G motors have far smaller wells so there's not enough space for the black powder to escape.

 

[MattieShoes]

Incidentally, every flight of mine EXCEPT the level 1 cert was picture perfect. Figures!

Oh yeah, and whoever found and returned my unpainted Phoenix rocket (on a 2-C cluster), thanks! That's my first attempt at designing something in Rocksim and then creating it, so I really wanted it back.

75 or so pictures here, from Saturday and the first half of Sunday.

Edit: Warning! I just discovered slow motion and probably used it far too much.

My Barracuda, spins like a top no matter what I do :-(
[YOUTUBE]o8ZU7CWvQRY[/YOUTUBE]


My dad's Big Daddy
[YOUTUBE]lzeSBwHOcZo[/YOUTUBE]


Drag race between my Barracuda on a G and a viper on a cluster of E's... Not exactly a fair fight. I wish it wasn't spinning so bad!
[YOUTUBE]EPAb8EG4giI[/YOUTUBE]

Art Applewhite's Level 2 cert flight on Sunday... It's a full beard!
[YOUTUBE]zORPYOj2K6Y[/YOUTUBE]

And a quickie of a next generation rocketeer
[YOUTUBE]qY7NfUqBIMI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[MarkH]

Alas, my L1 cert flight didn't go as planned at NSL. The rocket flew great, but I think it was already on the way down when the delay burned through, and it never ignited the deployment charge; . Lesson learned -- Fill the rest of the well with something to keep the black powder near the delay element even if it's headed down. Not much of an issue with modroc sized rockets as black powder motors can't do it and even G motors have far smaller wells so there's not enough space for the black powder to escape.

Sorry to hear that.

How does that happen? If you're using an AT high power case, you just put the paper cap over the BP and then tape it down firmly. There shouldn't be any empty space.

 

[Jim9199]

SOunds like NSL is off to a great start!

We (FlisKits) were proud to be able to provide a commemorative kit for this event (The Tartar RIM-24A missile) as well as the range box stickers (see attached).

Good luck over the rest of the weekend!

jim

Jim Flis donated 15 individualized Tartar kits, marked with their production number, to NSL. They were among the most coveted items in the raffle. Not surprisingly, the Tartar missile that was on display at the White Sands Missile Range missile park was among the most photographed missiles during the Tuesday tour.

 

[artapplewhite]

Incidentally, every flight of mine EXCEPT the level 1 cert was picture perfect. Figures!

Art Applewhite's Level 2 cert flight on Sunday... It's a full beard!
[YOUTUBE]zORPYOj2K6Y[/YOUTUBE]

Great video, can I get the original file? With your permission, I'd like to post it on my website.

It's too bad about your L1. I've seen that type of failure before. The little "pastie" that Aerotech provides to keep the ejection charge in on their reloads is woefully inadequate.

Art Applewhite

 

[MattieShoes]

Sorry to hear that.

How does that happen? If you're using an AT high power case, you just put the paper cap over the BP and then tape it down firmly. There shouldn't be any empty space.

The volume of space inside the well is much greater than the volume of black powder that comes with the engine. So when it flips upside down, there's plenty of space for all the black powder to fall out against the white dot on the end, with none touching the delay element. When it burns through.... nothing.

In my case, the white dot was still on the end of the engine when I recovered it, though an edge had come loose. I'm guessing the edge came loose in the ballistic landing though -- most of the black powder was still sitting, unburnt, inside the well.

 

[MattieShoes]

Great video, can I get the original file? With your permission, I'd like to post it on my website.

It's too bad about your L1. I've seen that type of failure before. The little "pastie" that Aerotech provides to keep the ejection charge in on their reloads is woefully inadequate.

Art Applewhite

You're welcome to... Do you have a place where I might upload it? The original file is just over 50 meg.

I got a picture of "the full beard" too, though I didn't realize it until I looked at the pics on the computer Great parachute by the way.