Launch report of Goraj, Tripoli MidOhio 04-17-2004.
This was the first launch at the new field, Michael's Farms south of Urbana, Ohio. Watch the website for details when the range opens and closes. We are looking forward to a dusk launch in the future. The field is a vegetable farm with mostly potatoes. The owner has stated that we should be able to fly all year, weather permitting.
Saturday dawned clear with a light breeze from the south. We were set up and ready to fly at 8am. The waiver was activated and the first flights were at
8:30. The first flight at the field was Greg DeCola with an "F" for windage. Next was the first HPR flight with Jim German's two stage "Cooker". An I-366R to I-161. A real great lift off and staging. Booster back on the chute. But where did the main go? I guess that the "rocket gods" ate it. After several hours of walking, Jim found it almost two miles away down range. No damage.By 9:30 or so, approximately 40 to 50 people were out to fly, watch and scope out the field. The wind continued to increase until we had a steady
10-18mph breeze. It did not stop the fliers however. We logged 49 flight cards. All motor classes from D-12 to M-1419 were represented except "L's". Not bad.The Prefect Gary Dickinson and other TAP members were busy with certifications. Todd Knight of Westerville successfully completed his L-3 cert with the awesome M-1419 and his chute found the only tree within a mile. Not a problem for him though. It was recovered undamaged.
Several L-1 certified successfully and Joe Pscolka from Pittsburgh nailed a J-350 L-2 cert. Congratulations to all the successful HPR fliers.
Don Williams and Mike Fraley drove over from the Cleveland area. They flew several rockets including an extended Magnum on a central AMW K1075gg and airstarting 2 H-268R's then 2 H-128's. The full K green is an incredible flight. But alas, they did not get the airstarts. Still a flight over 5000'. I hope that they try again soon.
And speaking of the AMW K1075, Dave Brewster of Springfield, flew one in his modified Amraam. The motor cooked for a second or two and then roar. Fast and hard until it almost reached mach. Oh oh! Shred and more shred. We picked up pieces the rest of the day. Nice try Dave. Come back and try again.
We had several fliers in the crowd that logged multiple flights. Keith Weisheimer flew a Pro 54 6 grain K-660, a K-1100 and a J-350! He is one of our newest L-3 fliers. His Big Nuke can be seen on the front page of our website. Seth Cooper brought his family and kept burning AP until 5:30 or so. Scott McNeely and his dad were there until the end of the day and were flying rockets with on board video. They had a couple of small video problems, but it did not stop them from flying. We even had a saucer drag race. Way cool. Shane Heilman launched his
4" Killer B's on a AMW K-670gg to over 5500' and landed it just a couple hundred yards from the pads. His smoke tracker system under chute was very interesting.Kreig Williams brought his trailer with the name "Bubba" painted on it. Inside he carries his newest scratch built carbon fiber rocket painted purple. It is over 20' tall, 16" diameter and over 190 pounds. It will fly on multiple "M's" and "L's". He said that weather permitting, he will be ready to launch in the next month or so. If he is going to fly with us, we will try to post something on the website on his schedule.
We had many guests that we have not seen for a while. These included Tim Goraj, Phil Pryor, George Ball Sr., Bill Hughes and Joe Fuller. And we had a fair number of people who just wanted to come and see what this is all about.
Ross at Magnum opened early for the early bird shoppers and then came out to the field for a couple of hours. And Lance with Merlin Missile Solutions set up for some on-site sales.
TMO hopes that the next launch will include both on site food and drinks as well as a men's and ladies' port a potties. Watch the website for the next launch.
Until the next launch,
dan