Fdog
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- Oct 8, 2010
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This year, I flew less, and shot more photos. For those that haven't been to XPRS and the Black Rock, I thought I'd share to help others see how magnificent this venue and event is.
I wasn't even scheduled to attend this year because of work pressures, it took some creative shift trading to make it happen.
With all the doom and gloom of unseasonal thunderstorms flooding the playa, we drove out mid-Friday.
We arrived to see another rain cell sliding by to the north. As well as this imposing structure:
Rain in the background as a flyer looks over the Transamerica Pyramid.
As the weekend continued, we saw this motorized monstrosity, variously nicknamed the Transamerica Pyramid, or the Uber tower, or whatever, was used for the ARLISS launches.
An ARLISS team loads and preps their flight.
Launches from the big white tower were pretty cool to watch, although not all the ARLISS launches were from there, some were from the regular ol' 1515 rail.
A late afternoon launch from the Uber tower.
For those that aren't familiar with the ARLISS project, it is a venue for college students to design, build, and launch their own payloads. There is a whole web site devoted to this worthy project.
Success! The Costa Rican college team celebrates a successful trial run of their rover payload.
Something that was very cool was how the ARLISS teams shared. Here, the Costa Rican team takes the time to explain their project with the children of a forum member, Green Jello.
Dave's two sons get an introduction to rocket science courtesy of the Costa Ricans and their rover.
The ARLISS launches are conducted the week before XPRS, and end the first day of XPRS. Still, it was great to hear M motor after M motor as the ARLISS projects were lofted.
An ARLISS launch at dusk. Spectacular.
Although we brought or toy hauler, and most XPRS participants brought RV's, still, some camped under the great open skies of the Black Rock Desert.
Sunset arrival: An attendee sets up camp on the west end of the flight line. XPRS was the best-attended rocketry event so far this year in the Black Rock.
We've been bringing our RZR UTV to these events for years. (It's possible we've been annoying in how much we've talked these up as a rocketry recovery vehicle
) This year, we saw more UTV's and ATV's at a rocketry event yet. Yay!
Schlep in style: using an ATV to take a project out to the away pads.
Some folks stuck with the tried and true methods, however. Here's one of the more prolific fliers using foot power.
Yet another flight! Walking down to the RSO table.
There were so many fliers, Saturday saw a standing-room-only line develop at the LCO. This meant that the landing area became busy as well!
Traffic controls: landing congestion on the range.
A forum member, Green Jello, took his life in his hands and brought not only his children, but his wife as well. They got to watch as Dave, nervous as could be, flew his new Super DX3 for his first dual deploy.
Dave preps his DX3.
...and arms the electronics...
For a perfect flight on an I-125!
Thins didn't go so well in the Flenner camp. My wife, Janet, had this happen midway through boost on a J-530:
Toasted: the fincan of Janet's Formula 75 Dual Deploy. Except for the fincan, everything else was undamaged.
I've got to toot the horn for Jack Garibaldi (once again). He took one look at the lot number and motor type, determined that it had been defective, and warranty replaced the reload and case on the spot.
As for myself, although my Wildman Extreme flew straight as an arrow and everything deployed flawlessly, I fell short of my goal (25,000') by a mere 167 feet of altitude Dang. Still had fun though.
Something that is enjoyable as can be about XPRS are the dusk and night launches. This is the perfect opportunity to fly those sparky motors.
Pretty as a picture: With the rosy sunset-painted clouds in the background, who wouldn't want to see this.
Two rockets duke it out in a night drag race.
The front line: Moonlight bathes the front line of RV's as a flight is seen complete to the ejection charge.
I've only just touched on the fun we had at XPRS. If you are on the west coast, you owe it to yourself to try it as an event. Come early and watch some amazing science projects at ARLISS, too!
All the best, James
I wasn't even scheduled to attend this year because of work pressures, it took some creative shift trading to make it happen.
With all the doom and gloom of unseasonal thunderstorms flooding the playa, we drove out mid-Friday.
We arrived to see another rain cell sliding by to the north. As well as this imposing structure:
Rain in the background as a flyer looks over the Transamerica Pyramid.
As the weekend continued, we saw this motorized monstrosity, variously nicknamed the Transamerica Pyramid, or the Uber tower, or whatever, was used for the ARLISS launches.
An ARLISS team loads and preps their flight.
Launches from the big white tower were pretty cool to watch, although not all the ARLISS launches were from there, some were from the regular ol' 1515 rail.
A late afternoon launch from the Uber tower.
For those that aren't familiar with the ARLISS project, it is a venue for college students to design, build, and launch their own payloads. There is a whole web site devoted to this worthy project.
Success! The Costa Rican college team celebrates a successful trial run of their rover payload.
Something that was very cool was how the ARLISS teams shared. Here, the Costa Rican team takes the time to explain their project with the children of a forum member, Green Jello.
Dave's two sons get an introduction to rocket science courtesy of the Costa Ricans and their rover.
The ARLISS launches are conducted the week before XPRS, and end the first day of XPRS. Still, it was great to hear M motor after M motor as the ARLISS projects were lofted.
An ARLISS launch at dusk. Spectacular.
Although we brought or toy hauler, and most XPRS participants brought RV's, still, some camped under the great open skies of the Black Rock Desert.
Sunset arrival: An attendee sets up camp on the west end of the flight line. XPRS was the best-attended rocketry event so far this year in the Black Rock.
We've been bringing our RZR UTV to these events for years. (It's possible we've been annoying in how much we've talked these up as a rocketry recovery vehicle
) This year, we saw more UTV's and ATV's at a rocketry event yet. Yay!
Schlep in style: using an ATV to take a project out to the away pads.
Some folks stuck with the tried and true methods, however. Here's one of the more prolific fliers using foot power.
Yet another flight! Walking down to the RSO table.
There were so many fliers, Saturday saw a standing-room-only line develop at the LCO. This meant that the landing area became busy as well!
Traffic controls: landing congestion on the range.
A forum member, Green Jello, took his life in his hands and brought not only his children, but his wife as well. They got to watch as Dave, nervous as could be, flew his new Super DX3 for his first dual deploy.
Dave preps his DX3.
...and arms the electronics...
For a perfect flight on an I-125!
Thins didn't go so well in the Flenner camp. My wife, Janet, had this happen midway through boost on a J-530:
Toasted: the fincan of Janet's Formula 75 Dual Deploy. Except for the fincan, everything else was undamaged.
I've got to toot the horn for Jack Garibaldi (once again). He took one look at the lot number and motor type, determined that it had been defective, and warranty replaced the reload and case on the spot.
As for myself, although my Wildman Extreme flew straight as an arrow and everything deployed flawlessly, I fell short of my goal (25,000') by a mere 167 feet of altitude Dang. Still had fun though.
Something that is enjoyable as can be about XPRS are the dusk and night launches. This is the perfect opportunity to fly those sparky motors.
Pretty as a picture: With the rosy sunset-painted clouds in the background, who wouldn't want to see this.
Two rockets duke it out in a night drag race.
The front line: Moonlight bathes the front line of RV's as a flight is seen complete to the ejection charge.
I've only just touched on the fun we had at XPRS. If you are on the west coast, you owe it to yourself to try it as an event. Come early and watch some amazing science projects at ARLISS, too!
All the best, James
