EVENT SodBlaster II 2019 Labor Day Weekend Pasco, WA

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Final TCR board meeting was last night, and WE ARE GO FOR SODBLASTER.

Some points to touch on are:

Please do not setup camp sites before noon on Thursday.
Current motor and kit vendors to be on site are: SBR/Fusion Rockets, Sun River Nature Center aka Bob Grossfeld, Don Johnson of Chehalis Junction Hobbies, we have not heard whether Bay Area Rocketry is attending yet but but we do have space set aside if ge does.
Saturday potluck is Chili-Dogs and Frito Bandito's provided by the club, side dishes and desserts are contributed by those attending, last year we had 82 attendees at the potluck so plan accordingly (we are planning for over a 100 this year).

https://www.tricitiesrocketeers.org/sod_blaster.html
 
Most current info here: https://www.tricitiesrocketeers.org/sod_blaster.html


Current known sponsors are: SBR/Fusion Rockets, SMT Designs, Top Flite Recovery, FlightSketch, Boyce AeroSpace Hobbies, Qualmann Rocketry. Last year we had some sponsors that added last minute so the number may still grow. Looking forward to breaking 400 flights this year and making this TCR's best event ever!
 
Personally I hated flying there. But FITS was always a must-do. Hopefully they can find a new, better field soon.
 
Mike Gentile from Bay Area Rocketry confirmed that he will be attending Sod Blaster this year! If you want/need anything get your orders in as he will be leaving early next week to make the drive.
 
Great progress made today on the MAC Performance 4" Black Fly! It looks like "Kate's Ride" will be ready to go for the event and looking forward to seeing the rocket and Kate perform. Now to go to work on motor choices for the weekend - time to Sim!
 
It's gonna be a hot weekend, be sure to pack lots of water, sunscreen, and shade.
 
Definitely need lots of volunteers to help with LCO, and pre-flight safety checks. One hour shifts that can be signed up for at the LCO's table.
 
Yes, the only positions requiring Tripoli membership for volunteers is RSO, Launch Director, pre-flight safety inspectors require a Tripoli L2 cert. LCO's can be anyone as they are under direction of the Launch Director, any TCR/TSW can volunteer, we may even need a dedicated pad manager depending on how busy saturday gets.
 
I got one video I can share, caught this while tinkering around with my iPad settings. Big, early-arriving (or was I just late [emoji12]) crowd, so I was parked way out by the road. I couldn't make out details for this - it was a few mins after 1:00 on Saturday. Very nice! [emoji41]



For you guys who haven't seen it, there are photos & video of Rich's Nuclear Sledgehammer flight over on his build thread in the High Power forum. Congrats Rich, that was awesome!

Tony
 
Wow what an awesome launch. Really wish I could have stayed for today, but Friday through Sunday were excellent. Many thanks to the TCR core group, event volunteers, and prize donors for putting on such a terrific event. I'll be getting to work on the launch video soon, and am looking forward to the next time I get to fly at the sod farm.
 
A big thank you to the TCR stalwarts and all who volunteered to make Sod Blaster 2 happen. I enjoyed the times I was able to be there. Had lots of fun and learned a few things as well. What did I learn?
  1. The Chute Release is awesome but not foolproof.
  2. A suitably modified Mini Der Red Max flies great on the Qjet D16-8:cool:
  3. It's possible to CHAD stage a Mega Mosquito with a F15-0 to a E12-8 and get it back:D
  4. Rocketry is LOTS of FUN!!!
 
Sod Blaster II was a fantastic launch! Many thanks to TCR for putting so much hard work into hosting and running a fine event. Thank you TCR!
 
All I can say is WOW! The total flight count for the Tricities Rocketeers/Tripoli Southeast Washingtons SodBlaster 2 is nothing less than amazing...last year we had approximately 381 to 384 flights over 4 days, this year it was 560! A more specific breakdown will be posted as soon as Dave K has the launch report done.
 
Here is the actual breakdown for SodBlaster 2!

From Dave King:


Finally had a chance to compile the Sod Blaster 2 stats. We had 121 flights on Friday, 206 flights on Saturday, 165 flights on Sunday, and 70 flights on Monday. Hard to believe 562 flights for the weekend! Apparently the temperatures that reached the mid 90’s didn’t deter many fliers, but we did go through a lot of ice water at the watering station. The totals for the four days were as follows:
A: 44
B: 46
C: 132
D: 53
E: 43
F: 49
G: 61
H: 58
I: 59
J: 34
K: 11
L: 1
M: 2

That equates to 165 high power flights for the four days. Saturday was crazy busy up until the waiver closed with the regular and contest flights, but we were able to keep things running fairly smoothly due to all who took turns at LCO duty. The two Saturday M flights were witnessed by former L3 flier Brett Simpkins, designer of the Nuclear Sledgehammer and XRAM-75C rockets. He came all the way from Los Alamos, NM to attend.
Once again the potluck seemed to be enjoyed by all, as we counted around 100 people who were there for the chili cheese dogs and sides. We had very generous sponsors this year again for our raffle prizes – many thanks to all who bought raffle tickets to help fund our club.
There are so many people to thank who made this launch possible: Brendon for bringing the WAC GSE trailer, OROC for bringing their wireless controller, all those who helped set up and tear down the range, all the sponsors and vendors who generously donated prizes, Rich and those who stepped up to take a shift at LCO and RSO duty, and the ladies who manned our registration desk. See you next time.
 
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