POTROCS Launch Reports

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Cory

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Messages
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Location
Shamrock Texas
I do not like to start a thread, making only one or two post and it die with no relevant information ever added. This is how my flight report threads of the past have gone, so I decided to try something different – This is going to be a thread dedicated to flight reports for/from POTROCS launches. Others who attend the launches are welcome to chime in with their own pictures and thoughts and hopefully this will grow large through time with data from all future launches in this neck of the woods.


6.22.2019 – Boys Ranch Launch Site

Conditions – No cloud cover, blue skies. Breezy in the morning (~8-14 MPH) calming through noon (5-8 MPH). A cool front kept temperatures mild starting in the 60’s warming into the 80’s with the wind coming in predominantly from the North.


Henry and I left first thing Saturday morning and made the ~2 hour drive to launch site. We arrived in time to help get a couple pads setup then get our base camp together and shaded by about 9:30, soon taking pictures of the first launch of the day. It has been a couple years since I have made it to fly with POTROCS and I have missed the local launches. The kids had a great time, especially Henry, hanging out and watching rockets. Each kid got to fly their own rocket and have bragged about the flights since, both claiming to have flown higher than the other. I ended up flying four total, counting the kids, with successful recovery of them all. I was a little nervous to fly the Estes kits without trackers because the weeds were waist high in some places due to the excellent Spring we have experienced this season. After watching a couple apogee deploy rockets drift fairly distant, I angled the rod deep (~12º-15º) into the wind and we let ‘em rip. Emma’s Prowler was first and I was shocked how high that little pink rocket went of an F67-6. When the parachute deployed my first thought was, ‘o crap that may be gone. It actually landed in the road, not very far down range so was very easy to recover. Henry’s Mammoth was next and flew on an F27-8 for its second time for a text book flight. I never broke eye contact through landing and walked directly to the rocket that was luckily in a freshly swathed section of a hayfield so was easy to spot. As for me, I flew my trusty MC 2.6” HV Arcas first on an AT I285-Redline and finished the day, for me and the launch, with my RW Adventurer 3 on an impressive AT K2050-Super Thunder. I didn’t manage to get a good photo of the Arcas under thrust, but was able to get a picture of the recovery. The Stratologger reported 3269’AGL apogee with a max speed @~500 ft./sec. I think it is the first time I have ever managed to get the rocket under chute and the pad it left from in the same frame. Not 100% sure, but I think it may have been the closest I have ever recovered a high-power rocket to its launch pad. I moved the Big Red Bee GPS from one NC to the other and racked the A3 for flight. An earlier flight, Bill’s “Cheap Thrill” on a EX “M” motor, that had gone over 8kft AGL had drifted further than I wanted to be, so I angled the rail for the A3 probably about 7-10º into the wind before launch. I really like fast burn motors, and the K2050 did not disappoint – very impressive roar from a 54-1706. The A3 soaked up the punch and flew on a string to an apogee of ~5804 ft. AGL (average of both altimeters) with a max velocity of ~700 ft/sec. I used a PML 30” w/spill hole parachute for a drogue and watched it drift from upwind, overhead, just past the powerlines and after clearing a big tree softly touched down less than ¼ mile downrange under the 48” Iris. Didn’t even need to enter the GPS coordinates into the handheld to find both rockets, granted neither went very high. By the time we made it back from the short recovery the guys had already broke down the launch site and I was able to clean out the motor case before packing up my own gear and calling it a day by 2 o’clock. I really enjoyed a day of rockets with the family. Whitman (the dog) had a great day and didn’t miss an opportunity to run down every smoke trail.


Amber’s Rocket




Barre’s Rocket – I really like this design, made a great whistle during coast.




Bill and Chris with “Cheap Thrill” – This rocket was initially built for Bill’s L3, and was flown on 76mm 5 Grain, Vee-Oh-Lay, “M”.






Emma with her Estes Prowler, flown of a F67-6.





Henry with his Estes Mammoth.


Arcas landing near the pad it used at takeoff!



STRATOLOGGER SCREENSHOT
upload_2019-6-24_12-32-14.png

Me, Whitman, and the A3 ready for flight. AT 54/1706 case - K2050-ST reload.



RRC3 SCREENSHOT-
upload_2019-6-24_12-32-56.png

SLCF SCREENSHOT
upload_2019-6-24_12-33-13.png



 

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Had some technical difficulties getting the first post the way I wanted it. I used this spot for a moment, but didn't need it. Just ignore this post. I would delete it if I could, but the forum rules don't allow the deletion. Carry on! :oops::rolleyes::D
 
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Great pics.
Sounds like a perfect day

Thanks, it was indeed a great day.

Can you point to any additional pictures of Barre's rocket? I can't quite tell what the design is from that launch pic.

I only got one other shot of it in flight - I talked with Barre' about it at the launch and he said it was a kit that he could no longer find. It is a really unique bird. He is here on the forum occasionally @amarillo_rocket and I will ask if he has any other information he can share.

Vee-o-ley? Is that propellant of his own making?

It is indeed a research motor.

It's a known-ish recipe.

Among Texas EX flyers it seems to be fairly popular. Usually written VOL, I tend to spell out VEE-OH-LAY as that is how it is said. If I have my facts correct and that is certainly a BIG IF - VOL originated with a couple/few mixers+flyers. I don't want to put the full names on blast without their permission, but for those familiar with Airfest launches Ray K. and Jay H. should make it clear enough as two among several who pioneered this formulation. I have used it personally in an extremely wide envelope of operating conditions and I have found it to be a pleasure to work with in every way. If you attend LDRS this year I have no doubt you will see several flyers use it in multiple configurations. I believe Jay flew a VOL "O" motor last year and I plan to mix at least one "L" and one "M" for LDRS.
 
Nice report, Cory. Glad to see POTROCS flyers out having fun. From the launch photo, I didn't realize Barre's rocket was that large. It's cool.
 
7.27.2019 – Boys Ranch Launch Site

Conditions – High altitude cloud cover @~80%. Light and steady breeze out of the West @~5-10 MPH. Temperatures started mild and warmed to about 85ºF by lunchtime.

Prepped the A3 and loaded the car Friday night so Henry and me could hit the road first thing Saturday morning which turned out to be about 8AM on the road and near 10:30AM by the time we made the launch site. I passed a newcomer, Nick, on the way in and he followed us to the launch site. Although not difficult to find or access, the site takes a few minutes to get to after signing in a HQ. Bill had “Cheap Thrills” out again and made an excellent flight shortly after we arrived on a remake of the same motor flow last month. Bill had cut some of the scrap from the previous batch and found multiple uncured pockets within the grain explaining the EXTREMELY short burn from the previous motor. This time the motor performed as expected making it about an M-1440 with VOL propellant. The motor made excellent thrust for over 4 seconds and carried the big red bird to over 8000’ AGL. As we watched the rocket drift in gently under main, we collectively held our breath as the chute momentarily draped over some power lines before unwrapping itself and falling gently to the ground. I also flew a VOL motor, but much smaller – 54mm J338 - I haven’t connected to the altimeters yet, but if I heard correctly the RRC3 was beeping out 3872 for apogee. I wanted to keep the recovery in front of us and angled the launch rod about 10º into the wind. Five would have been enough, but I was still able to recover the rocket without needing a tracker just a couple hundred yards from the pad. Nick brought a near vintage, 22 years old, LOC Mini Mag and flew it twice on Aerotech G80 Blue Thunder motors. This was his first launch to attend in many years and I think he had a good time and will hopefully become a regular – already asking questions about L1 certification makes it a good bet. Barre’ had a couple of the local kids and their rockets with one flying and recovering perfectly before I got my camera setup the second…not so much. The red rocket suffered a CATO on a CTI J motor. I could be wrong, but I believe after cooking the included ematch, a small ignitor was used creating an immediate overpressure. However it happened it was a classic “really cool” moment. Another great launch in the books! We have one more launch scheduled before LDRS and though I plan to attend not sure if I will have anything ready to fly.

Here is a link to the full album on Flikr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98606523@N08/albums/72157709963514646/with/48405482672/

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKqKtk] [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKqKvu] [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKpZ3a]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKqKzT]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKqKzs]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKqKzs][url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKpYLd] [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKpYNs] [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKpYHC] [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKqK4h] [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gKpYUz]
[/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url][/url]
 
Among Texas EX flyers it seems to be fairly popular. Usually written VOL, I tend to spell out VEE-OH-LAY as that is how it is said. If I have my facts correct and that is certainly a BIG IF - VOL originated with a couple/few mixers+flyers. I don't want to put the full names on blast without their permission, but for those familiar with Airfest launches Ray K. and Jay H. should make it clear enough as two among several who pioneered this formulation. I have used it personally in an extremely wide envelope of operating conditions and I have found it to be a pleasure to work with in every way. If you attend LDRS this year I have no doubt you will see several flyers use it in multiple configurations. I believe Jay flew a VOL "O" motor last year and I plan to mix at least one "L" and one "M" for LDRS.


Looks like a beautiful flier. Is the recipe up for sharing? (or already posted in the research section?)
 
Looks like a beautiful flier. Is the recipe up for sharing? (or already posted in the research section?)

When the formulation was shared with me it came with a specific request to abstain from posting it online. I am sure if you ask around in person, especially the Texas flyers, someone will gladly share.
 
Not sure what I was hearing, but the altimeter data is in - SLCF says 3996' and the RRC3 says 4016'.

upload_2019-7-30_9-20-16.png
upload_2019-7-30_9-20-22.png
 
8.24.2019 - POTROCS
Boys Ranch Launch Site
Conditions - Essentially perfect.

Just a quick report. I flew Henry's Estes Mammoth on an EconoJet F67-6 with great results. Also pictured is a 3" MD bird flown by Bill to over 11k on a research VOL 3 grain 76mm L motor. Overall it was a great day to fly rockets with everything flown successfully recovered.



 
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