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
- posted 17 years ago