XPRS 2013 - Black Rock, NV - Who's Coming?

[Killachrome]

I'm going to try and make it Saturday morning. It looks like it will be humid for sure, so bring tons of water! Below are the coordinates in Google maps and the weather from Accuweather.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215399973939550750925.0004e639c965e0dfacadd&msa=0

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/gerlach-nv/89412/hourly-weather-forecast/344284?hour=57

 

[DeeRoc29]

It's raining. It's muddy. Stay home.

 

[Killachrome]

I thought it stayed wet for a few hours and it's usually dry enough by the next day. Someone please post an update tomorrow.

 

[robbdm]

I'm in route.. guess I'll go to edge and see what it looks like at first light... if it wasn't so late I'd try calling BA Rockets or What's up Hobbies to see conditions....

 

[DeeRoc29]

I'm at Bruno's tonight. Made it out before that second rain hit. Will check the playa Friday.

I know Jack G was out there because I saw the truck. No use calling him because there's no reception.

 

[iter]

The rain today was pretty wild. Sadly I'm failing to upload photos from my phone--by the time I get to my computer tomorrow they stand to lose some relevance I started on my way off the playa before 7 and made it to pavement after 10. A caravan of minivans made it out an hour before me, but it started to rain again as I got close to he 12-mile entrance and the playa got soft again. I waited an hour for it to dry and made it a little farter then got stuck again. Waited another hour and some, and playa was hard enough to drive on, very carefully.

The good news is that it dries pretty quickly, especially in the daytime. I expect it to be compltely drivable in he morning.

Ari.

 

[iter]

Oh, in case the playa gets muddy again tomorrow: I encourage you to find your traction control disable switch before you leave the pavement. Once it kicks in and cuts power to your drive wheels, you're pretty much dead in the water.

Ari.

 

[Killachrome]

I think the report said 30 percent chance of rain today (friday) for the playa, so hopefully it doesn't happen. Thanks for the update guys. How is the playa this morning?

 

[blackbrandt]

I waited an hour for it to dry and made it a little farter then got stuck again.
Ari.

:rofl:

 

[Killachrome]

It must be dry since no one is replying!!!!!

 

[troj]

Here's the picture that Gary Rosenfield posted on facebook. Looks like they're holding Mudroc early!



-Kevin

 

[Killachrome]

I just called the Friends of the Black Rock and they said the North end where everyone is going is wet but drivable in most parts. They also said the middle is dry. So can they move the launch site to the middle tomorrow if it's wet again?

 

[Killachrome]

From Aeropac's facebook:

Let's temper the "gloom & doom" stories from the Playa. It rained heavily yesterday, but the forecast is either clear or partly cloudy for the rest of the weekend. As Geoff commented, the Playa dries out very quickly. Friday has dawned as a beautiful day and flight ops began at 9:00.

As always, USE YOUR HEAD when traveling on the lake-bed. Read the Desert Survival guide on our website https://www.aeropac.org/ DO NOT DRIVE IN AT NIGHT OR IN RESTRICTED VISIBILITY. If you see color change in the lake-bed, don't drive onto the darker areas. if you feel your vehicle digging in, maintain speed and slowly steer back to the drier area where you came from.

Come on out, have fun and be careful.

 

[J Blatz]

I am heading out from Winnemucca to Black Rock Sat AM.

Can someone give me a lakebed update?

 

[iter]

:rofl:

Yes. These phone keyboards have an uncanny way of capturing users' innermost thoughts and feelings. That spelling is pretty close to my true experience last night.

Now that I'm home, here are some photos of the XPRS weather from Thursday. I have no information about conditions today.

First off, there are the twisters. This is what everyone expects at XPRS. Here one decides to take some of AeroPac's paperwork. (click to see the flying paperwork)


Then there's rain, unusual for September.


Playa mud is very sticky. Once you get any on your shoes, more wants to cling to it and soon everybody is waking on platforms. Getting it off is tricky; here a cooking spatula is temporarily winning.


The stickiness of this mud discourages walking until some of the water recedes. People pretty much stay where the end of the rain catches them. Water penetrates only 1/2" deep into the mud. You can make a dry spot by digging through mud to dry dirt below. Mostly, I notice people simply staying put and enjoying the company of whoever's trailer they helped secure during the downpour. Some take more proactive steps to drying the playa; here, with a box of matches.


Through the chaos (or mostly after it), there are scenes of extraordinary beauty in the desert. Mountains reflect in mud puddles. A double rainbow comes up over the playa.


Towards 7, I work up the courage to try and drive off the playa. Several minivans had made it previously, and DeeRoc29 is leaving in his 4WD, so I tag along. A second rain catches us en route, and less than half a mile from the 12 mile etrance my rental gets stuck. DeeRoc29 offers me a ride to Gerlach but I thank him and decide to wait for the playa to dry enough for me to continue. I finally make it onto the pavement about 10pm. Sticky mud around me means that I stay in the car the whole time. The view, with a bright moon, is quite surreal. Bright light in the center of this photo is a car driving towards me on pavement--it passes about 300 yards from where I'm contemplating the desert.


Ari.

 

[iter]

Some rockets from Thursday:

 

[4kids49]

Yes. These phone keyboards have an uncanny way of capturing users' innermost thoughts and feelings. That spelling is pretty close to my true experience last night.

Now that I'm home, here are some photos of the XPRS weather from Thursday. I have no information about conditions today.

First off, there are the twisters. This is what everyone expects at XPRS. Here one decides to take some of AeroPac's paperwork. (click to see the flying paperwork)
View attachment 145586

Then there's rain, unusual for September.
View attachment 145580 View attachment 145583

Playa mud is very sticky. Once you get any on your shoes, more wants to cling to it and soon everybody is waking on platforms. Getting it off is tricky; here a cooking spatula is temporarily winning.
View attachment 145588 View attachment 145590

The stickiness of this mud discourages walking until some of the water recedes. People pretty much stay where the end of the rain catches them. Water penetrates only 1/2" deep into the mud. You can make a dry spot by digging through mud to dry dirt below. Mostly, I notice people simply staying put and enjoying the company of whoever's trailer they helped secure during the downpour. Some take more proactive steps to drying the playa; here, with a box of matches.
View attachment 145587 View attachment 145591

Through the chaos (or mostly after it), there are scenes of extraordinary beauty in the desert. Mountains reflect in mud puddles. A double rainbow comes up over the playa.
View attachment 145589 View attachment 145584

Towards 7, I work up the courage to try and drive off the playa. Several minivans had made it previously, and DeeRoc29 is leaving in his 4WD, so I tag along. A second rain catches us en route, and less than half a mile from the 12 mile etrance my rental gets stuck. DeeRoc29 offers me a ride to Gerlach but I thank him and decide to wait for the playa to dry enough for me to continue. I finally make it onto the pavement about 10pm. Sticky mud around me means that I stay in the car the whole time. The view, with a bright moon, is quite surreal. Bright light in the center of this photo is a car driving towards me on pavement--it passes about 300 yards from where I'm contemplating the desert.
View attachment 145592

Ari.

Hi Ari, Nice pics. Too bad about the rain. In your photo of the ez-ups, it looks like everyone has identical stakes and orange tie downs, ropes, whatever. Do people get those at the launch or where do they get the same ones? Good stuff to know for desert launches. Thanks.

Chris

 

[DeeRoc29]

Just to confirm, the playa is fine now. Dried out nicely Friday. Saturday should be awesome!

 

[butalane]

Great launch despite the mud! Successfully flew the N5000 to almost 60K - flight report to follow.

 

[iter]

Just to confirm, the playa is fine now. Dried out nicely Friday. Saturday should be awesome!

Glad it ll worked out for you. Thank you again for your help getting off the playa!

Ari.

 

[iter]

Oh, and here's my L3 flight.

Ari.

 

[troj]

Oh, and here's my L3 flight.

PVC - I love it! Of course, I might be a bit biased.

What does it weigh, without motor, what motor did you use? How high did it go?

Also, how did you get the union to reliably come apart? PVC, in my experience, likes to jam if it gets off just the tiniest bit.

That thing is just fun, and I'd love to see details!

-Kevin

 

[jsargevt]

Oh, and here's my L3 flight.

Ari.

Nice pictures and congrats on the L3. I love how when you fly, you do it with something unique and with style. I look forward to more RCBG flights from you.

 

[Killachrome]

I had a blast and I wished I could have stayed for more than one day. Lots of cert 1's passed (including mine) and I met a ton of cool people. I was sad that the rocket flying a Q CATO'd on the pad.

 

[4kids49]

Oh, and here's my L3 flight.

Ari.

Congratulations Ari.

Chris

 

[crossfire]

Anyone know how Tom and Kevin Cayenburg are doing?
gp

 

[robbdm]

I'm in route.. guess I'll go to edge and see what it looks like at first light... if it wasn't so late I'd try calling BA Rockets or What's up Hobbies to see conditions....

I saw the reports of mud.. went there anyway with my Honda Accord. Dry enough on Playa till 1/4 mile of launch site then the mud started. Found a dry stop on West extreme end and stopped. Set up camp and had muddy evey for the Friday Flyers meeting... by launch time in the afternoon... clay no longer sticking to shoes and was able to launch 3 flights. Dryer Sat, despite passing thunderstorm Friday afternoon. Glad I made it out. Launch report to follow.

 

[iter]

PVC - I love it! Of course, I might be a bit biased.

What does it weigh, without motor, what motor did you use? How high did it go?

Also, how did you get the union to reliably come apart? PVC, in my experience, likes to jam if it gets off just the tiniest bit.

That thing is just fun, and I'd love to see details!

-Kevin

Thank you Kevin. Once the playa dust settles, so to speak, I intend to do a retroactive build thread--I have all my construction photos etc.

The motor is, as the sticker suggests :=) is an M650. Special thanks to Mark @ Sticker Shock for cutting the vinyl on extremely short notice. Empty weight is 18 pounds. On this flight, the rocket reaches 6,683'. This rocket's goal is to to stay slow, and consequently low. This is the rocket's 4th flight, and I have 8 out of 8 ejections. On the 3rd flight, the main comes out, but fails to inflate. That is a packing problem; ejection itself is fine, and we can see the main flapping in the slipstream--still in its Nomex--all the way down. I'm using PVC couplers from the plumbing catalog. They do things differently--e.g. they care about a consistent inner diameter, so put their couplers on the outside. Fancy that! In my case, it works OK--for this rocket's purpose, more drag is fine. I put two 4-40 shear pins for the main--not sure I needed them, but seems like the thing to do. 1.5g of BP reliably opens both ends of the rocket, with or without shear pins.

I have another PVC rocket, 3" diameter, where I use LOC BT as coupler--its OD is exactly the right size for PVC ID. That one also opens reliably, and flies on anything from I to K.

I also have an ABS rocket, 2 3/8". This one is motor eject, has 7 flights on it from F to J, and in every single case the nose ejects. On this one, the NC is a pipe reducer fitting, same as my L3 ship, but without any shear pins. This one is so simple, cheap and reliable, I'm thinking of offering it as an L1/L2 cert kit.

I'm curious about your experience with jamming PVC.

Ari.

 

[iter]

Congratulations Ari.

Nice pictures and congrats on the L3. I love how when you fly, you do it with something unique and with style. I look forward to more RCBG flights from you.

Thank you guys! My process had more drama than I expected, but it's complete now!

Ari.

 

[tfish]

Just enough rain to keep the dust down....


David and Ryan's N5000..instant on..12 foot flame ..bat out of hell!

Iter...I knew you had it in you!

Burner..nice motors James!

Bryce...new personal K record!

Green Jello...thank your kids for keeping "Rocket" occupied at times.

Degreser...I was impressed! Awsome craftmanship..

Deeroc...you sure got that 'turd'..(meant in a nice way)..moving! Your 5" motor rocked!

(young) Ryan...3 54mm flights to 29K...over mach 2..rocket recovered each time...you've been paying attention!

me..my son AJ came for a couple days..We flew an Estes Fat Boy that he built 14 years ago. This was it's 9th I motor flight..an I283 Wimpy Fast...stayed busy running around.

Tony