First, the disclaimer ... this was my first LDRS (hopefully not my last). However, with that out of the way, I wish more people could approach it from that perspective. I'm more accustomed to small launches comprised mostly of modrocs on the near pads where families rejoice in their child's first successful launch of a rocket their father built for them. Which is worth its weight in gold. But when you wanna fly and see fly some big boys, you welcome the opportunities whenever they arise.
Having attended the last 4 NYPowers, and having had a great time each year, LDRS was very cool in my humble opinion. My previous experiences in NY have been great as well, but LDRS was particularly enjoyable. Seeing a group of people once a year with whom I get to share such camaraderie and meeting people I know only from chatting in ROL make the trip worth the time & energy.
I would take this time to applaud BRS for all the hard work they obviously put into such a daunting task as LDRS. Considering the area-specific obstacles and the level of various expectations, I feel that these guys & gals did a great job! If I didn't say so enough at the time ... Thank You.
Those who know me know I avoid poitics ... well ok ... not National politics (they don't call me "Conan the Republican" for nuttin') but rocketry politics are a major pet peeve of mine. So I won't go into rocketry politics ... more than I just did. Except for one thing ... we should all just be grateful for the opportunities in which we might punch some of our birds into the sky.
As for me, I enjoyed the highlight of the trip early with my L3 cert flight on the first day. I enjoyed seeing three of my rockets take their maiden voyages and thrilled at each successful boost. eh hem .... the landing part I definately still need to work on.
Cave Digger III, my L3 bird, flew fantastically twice and landed successfully twice. uh ... as for the Sky Ripper, built specifically for Sky Ripper Systems J motors ... well, let's just say that both the rocket name and motor name lived up to their billing. Thanks to Todd Moore(Sky Ripper Systems) I enjoyed a fantastic boost with a great motor in an untested rocket design; another of my originals. 8 ) Sadly my electronics failed (either that or I failed to do something correctly) and it landed HARD after free-falling in a flat spin.
My two stage "American Justice" (also an original design) also boosted in fine fashion on an AMW RR J400 ... however, once again, I had some difficulty with my recovery. Well ... it wasn't difficult using the shovel ... but it was difficult putting all the pieces of a cherished rocket into a plastic EMS bag