Excellent Day at the field.
Lovely weather, and you who didn't join us should have been outside enjoying the blue skies and cooler temperatures. We all were grateful for this as we know that Summer IS coming!
Our pads were full the first 3-4 racks, but it seemed as though many had to take off, leaving those of us who served to really take advantage of the open pads. I only got one rocket off, but other did several including higher power. The biggest impulse of the day, G, came later in the morning after we confirmed good upper atmospheric conditions. You can see from our impulse chart below that we had a good day for flying higher. All but two flights landed in the field. One hooked in a tree on the southeast corner, but was low enough for a pole to capture and retrieve. The other was a lovely Estes Apollo Saturn V model that didn't get a chute out made a parabolic trajectory into the trees on the west. Pics on Facebook. I have seen worse, actually, I have had worse and made repairs! Those heavy rockets easily go awry and end up not looking a pretty as they did on the pads.
I am also VERY grateful for the help we received in set up. If you don't know, we have to set everything up, check it, tear down and pack it away after every launch. The field is ours for the day. So, if you come at 9:00AM, please join in as a volunteer to help us get things up and running. The help really makes a difference.
Also, and also VERY important was help from Anthony on the LCO position. I had lots of help and we traded off so that he could also fly his rockets. He and buddy Ezra pushed many a button for those taking videos. FYI, your consideration of help in that way makes a big difference for everybody, including me. I was able to diagnose our equipment to halt use of two failing pads. That meant fewer frustrations and questions about why your rocket motor didn't ignite. The pattern was identified early and Anthony really helped with the discovery. Consider being an LCO trainee too!
April 5 is coming. Those who are just getting started, keep building and flying! We love having you.