I'm still feeling giddy after a successful NAR L2 attempt Saturday at Jackson. I had taken a PML Tethys and added about 2 feet for dual deployment and it worked great. The day started off chilly with the wind blowing at 10-15mph from the SW (straight towards the corn, more on that later). The first thing I did was to pay a visit to Scott Miller (the Space Freak) and he set me up with the Pro 38 J285 I had ordered in September to take advantage of the Cesaroni sale. Next for the level two test (I should have studied in school as hard). Turned the test back to Scott and started to prep the rocket. I had to assume I passed right? Got the charges built (Pratt canisters) but it didn't take long to realize that the Quantum tube had shrunk because of the cold, the booster just wouldn't slide onto the coupler. A half an hour or so with some 100 grit sandpaper finally got it to fit. In the meantime the wind was getting worse and I new I'd better get the bird on the pad soon. I went to fill out the flight card and realized that I didn't have a name for the rocket. Guess I was too concerned about potential catastrophes to think about a name. I ask my 10-year-old son and he suggested Dyno-might. Ok, sounds good. Got Dyno-might loaded on the pad and sweated bullets for a few minutes until it was time to go. 5 second countdown and. nothing. I hadn't gotten the igniter up into the motor far enough. By the time we got another igniter ready, the alarm on the anemometer was going off. The wind was now hitting 20mph frequently. We would have to wait until things settled down. Ugh! Another 45 minutes later and we were ready to try again. Another countdown and. nothing! By this time my heart was about ready to blow. Time for a special recipe igniter. One more time, countdown and. away she went! Beautiful boost to 2400ft, separation at apogee (drogueless) and a full main at 500 ft. Nice gentle touch down in the pasture behind the electric fence. Another rocketeer was good enough to get it out for me. Not a scratch and a successful Level 2! Thanks to Scott, Roger and Mark for all their help and advice. Rocketeers are truly a special bunch of people.
Also got to fly my Small Endeavour, also stretched for dual deployment, on an I218 Redline. Nice flight and into the corn it went. What a pain in the neck! Finally found it after about 45 minutes of searching. We also spent quite a bit of time looking for another rocket but never did find it. Corn is EVIL!
My credit card is hot, can't wait for Three Oaks.
Tony Haga NAR 81532 L2