Launch Report - July 2005 - Maple Island

The July launch will be remembered for its unique challenges. The sky was a hazy gray that made spotting rockets on descent an intense and arduous activity. The corn, while not immediately adjacent to the launch pads, was tall enough and thick enough to be a real factor in recovery. The potato crop next to the launch pad brought its own unique challenges when trekking for rocket-recovery. Despite these summertime challenges, July also brought visitors to join the ranks at Maple Island. Daniel, a student, heard about our club and came out to see what high power rocketry is all about. Jeff, with a mid-power LOC Weasel and a Big Daddy also joined our TSM flyers on the flight line.

Warren flew his Initiator, which was painted a very retro, chic battleship grey. He also had something in the skunk works that required technical assistance, hopefully we will see this project take flight in August.

Ron had his Altitude Junkie II waiting on the flight line at Noon to put teeth into our high altitude waiver. Powered by a K185, it graced the sky with a sim of 24 seconds to apogee. We called in confirmation of our waiver more than once, as air traffic was routed suspiciously close to Maple Island. Happily Altitude Junkie II returned to earth via dual deployment with an altimeter reading of 8,344 feet.

Tom was present with what appeared to be some coffee cups glued together - which he called a rocket. The Range Safety Officer called a heads up on that flight and the crowd generally expected the worst. However, it flew like a champ and the Decaffeinator returned to earth a little northwest of the flight line. Tom also added a very Americana theme to the July launch with The 4th of July Special and America Standing Tall, which produced two more great flights.

Terry, TSM's resident photographer and film expert, prepped a Aerotech Arreaux that simmed to reach about 2,100 feet. He took styling cues from Warren in its color 'flight ready primer' and found his rocket performing exceptionally in a fine flight.

Richard received some heckling from the launch line over his mishap with the bowling ball at LDRS, but as a true rocketeer, he shook it of and took his Stretch Aurora out to the pads. Even though his bowling ball rocket met a very cruel and untimely end, his Aurora looked great and took to the skies on a K185, reaching 5,610, breaking the LDRS hex with proper deployment and successful recovery.

Craig had a rocket named Praying Mantis. With a projected altitude around 3,000 feet, it was a very cool flight to watch as it arched over and blew the nosecone off. Spectators waited breathlessly for the chute to catch wind as it sped toward the ground with no more than a streamer to slow it down. At what may have been the last possible moment, the chute opened quite close to the ground, just enough to slow it to a safe speed. It appeared to land slightly northeast in the corn, but sadly the Mantis eluded Craig at the end of the day. Terry and David made another valiant attempt to search among the corn stalks, but did not find any sign either.

David flew his Beagle, which had not flown for some time. It was powered by a K550 and seemed to take its time pressuring up before taking off like a bat out of hell. It left the pad at a slightly cocked angle, sped to the skies and soared into the clouds. There was a very Apollo 13-esque quiet on the flight line as the crowd watched and waited for the parachute, but nothing was visible. After the blackout period expired without any sign we were left with the sad refrain, 'Snoopy Come Home.' Terry helped in a shot in the dark effort to find the Beagle but no recovery was made.

Even with the two lost rockets it was a fun afternoon at Maple Island. Tim Young had his caravan of goodies present and resident rocket grill maven Judy made a wonderful lunch for all present. Hope to see you all at the August Launch!

Some additional photos of the July Launch can be viewed at visiting spectator Daniel's webpage.