Tripoli Louisiana releases "High Cotton Launch" calendar!

[BayouRat]

We are a small club. This means no lines at the pads. The field is huge and well drained. There is a nice Best Western Motel in Winnsboro, LA about 7 miles from the launch site. Hope to see you there.

The official Tripoli Louisiana "High Cotton Launch" Schedule.

Saturday March 8th 9:00am till we finish. (Rain date March 23rd)
High Cotton Field, Winnsboro, LA (See website for directions)
Waiver 10,000ft (WIndows to 15,000 available on request.)
Motors A-M (L-M flights most have prior approval. Contact in advance))
(Hybrid support available. With arrangements made in advance.)

Launch Fees: $20.00 for high power (H-M)
$10.00 for mid power (E-G)
Low Power is always FREE (A-D)

TWO DAY END OF SEASON BLAST OFF!
Saturday and Sunday April 5th & 6th 9:00am till Dark Saturday. Sunday 9:00am till 3:00pm
High Cotton Field, Winnsboro, LA (See website for directions)
Waiver 10,000ft (Windows to 15,000 available on request.)
Motors A-M (L-M flights must have prior approval. Contact in advance))
(Hybrid support available. With arrangements made in advance.)
Club dinner at Jesse's Steakhouse Saturday night.

Launch Fees: $20.00 for high power (H-M)
$10.00 for mid power (E-G)
Low Power is always FREE (A-D)

(Club member yearly dues are due.)
*With your club membership launch fees are half off for the rest of the year and you get the right to vote in club elections
DON'T DELAY JOIN TODAY!

Hope to see you all there,
Whitney Richard
Secretary Tripoli Louisiana
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Cell# 504-914-8202

 

[BayouRat]

It's official. The launch in Winnsboro, LA at the "High Cotton" field is a "GO" Saturday March 8th. The weather report is for clear skies. Winds 3 to 6 MPH and variable. Temperature in the 40's so bring an extra jacket. We should be getting there about 9:30'ish AM.

Please drop me an e-mail if you plan to attend so I can get an idea of how many are planning on attending.

Hope to see you at the launch,
Whitney Richard
Secretary Tripoli Louisiana

 

[BayouRat]

The first "High Cotton" launch of 2008 is now just a memory. While we were questioning the weather on Friday the forecasts held true and a great day of flying was had by all who attended. ​

Here is a list of my flights, some other flights and things I remember.​

The first flight of the day was my PR Lil Dog "The Coral Snake" on a Aerotech G69 "Warp Nine" end burn motor. The flight was low and slow. The PerfectFlite MAWD reported an altitude of 1,200 ft. Recovery was nominal on the Top Flight 100" Ultra Streamer.​

I had so much fun with that flight I just had to do it again. This time I flew the "Coral Snake" on an Aerotech I161W. Nice flight. This rocket has a strange wiggle (Conning Effect) I was hopping the added weight in the nose of the Altimeter, Battery, and tracking transmitter would even this out. but it didn't. The rocket turned in a respectable altitude over 4,000 ft. Living up to it's name by leaving a snake trail of smoke behind.​

My next flight was my 4" rocket "Research One" with my new video camera pod. The up part was nominal. When the J350 cut off the rocket coasted to it's apogee of 2,200ft. the altimeter blew the first charge. The rocket separated and began the drougeless free fall. At 500' the second charge blew the main chute out of the rocket and it deployed normally but the chute on the camera pod did not. The camera pod fell and smacked the ground hard. This resulted in the destruction of the camera. I took the SD card out of the camera hoping to at least have video there was no such luck. The file was there but the file size was zero. I don't know what happen. I suspect the camera has to be on to write the file to the card and when it suddenly lost power the file was never written. Or something to that effect. ​

So after my camera incident I felt like I just had to spank something. So I spanked my Apogee Aspire on a G79-10W Single Use motor. I used the surveyors tape streamer with a chalk bomb for easy visual tracking. It worked out great and recovery was nominal.​

It brought Nathan with me and he racked up a bunch of flights with his new Estes "Chrome Dome" He flew it on everything from B4-4's to C6-7's. He is now really getting involved and I will be getting him his own range box for next launch. I think he put a good dent in my Estes motor supply.​

Scott Taylor was there with his XST Triangle Rocket. This is always a crowd pleaser.​

Clarence flew his Talon for a spectacular flight. I got some nice shots of the recovery while I was out in the field.​

Eddie Williams had a rocket with an air start setup and successfully air started what I think were a couple of G motors. This was real cool.​

Scott Taylor flew a rocket with a cluster of 6 D12's (I think). The flight was awesome but at apogee the motors blew out of the rocket and it resulted in a lawn dart. ​

Darian Rachal had many flights. One on what I think was an F21 in a 24mm rocket. It left the pad so fast I couldn't get a photo. All I got was smoke. This flight got the neck snap of the launch award.​

Ronnie Broussard had several successful flights. One was a Redline motor that chuffed it's way up the rail before coming up to pressure. We were all holding our breath as it finally got going.​

I want to thank Paul and Ed for all they do for the club. We are getting a new 1.5 inch rail for the new pad and it will make it's début at the next launch. This will allow us to fly rockets up to about 100lbs. Depending on configuration and motors of course. That's about all for now. ​

So I hope to see you at a launch soon,
Whitney Richard
Secretary Tripoli Louisiana​

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