TSM May Launch

The May TSM launch had the backdrop for a great day of flying, cooler temps and mostly sunny skies, with only the wind to test the skills of the flyers. Ron and crew got the range operational and thanks to Craig for help and shepherding the porta-john to the fields.

Ron welcomed flyers and shared rules for the launch today.

Gary gave an update about the shortage of black powder; Aerotech is building a new facility which will take 24-25 weeks to complete. Cesaroni is about 6 months behind on shipments.

Thank you to Craig Knippel for bringing the port-a-potty and club trailer.

Some of the early flers were Mark and Chris. Mark had his Firestorm and Chris has his Big Daddy out for a flight on a G80 with a sim to 1,700 feet and Jolly logic electronics the record the festivities. Both flights were logged as vetrans for the May launch.

Chris also was armed with his Quick Silver with an H100 white lightning motor and a predicted altitude of 2,200 feet with Jolly Logic suport. To round out the medley of rocket, Chris also flew his Estes Doorknob on a H242 to close to 3000 feet with the chute out at 600 feet.

To keep the memory of the Argonia project in the spring alive, Carl had his 1/2 Scale Miss September out for a flight on a L850 motor to a respectible 5000 feet. Carl brought his large pad for the flight and it made ease of effort much more manageable then pulling out the large TSM monster that is slumbering in the trailer. The flight took a bit to gain enough thrust to get it stable but the Miss looked awesome and the onboard cam took some very classy shots of the flight. A tractor in the fields got a candid view of the flight and she nestled back for recovery under its watchful eye. As the crow flies the distance it the tractor was reasonably sizeable. Great flight Carl!

Tom has his Zephyr out the fields for a Level 1 certification attempt. His Zephyr was powered by an H100 motor to a projected altitude of 1700. Hats off to Tom on a great flight and a cert! Good Job. Luckily things went as planned in the flight for at the May launch Tom might have earned his creed as a rocketer for experiencing a Cato with his Doorknob flight!

Warren had his Viking 7 out for a flight and with the questionable wind the motor down graded from an H to a G. The Viking flew on a G80 to 1,800 feet. The different in altitude between the H and the G motor rendered about 1/2 the verticle distance obtained making recovery much more managable however parachute did not deploy so recovery included the use of the shovel for the nose cone.

Craig had Manly and El Toro out for a flight. Manly was feeling frisky wih a blend of sugar and AP for a Motor - 1/3 sugar and 2/3 AP which I think somehow became a H123 motor with hopes to reach 2,900 feet however the records indicate Manly came in hot with a crash landning. Craigs El Toro was expected to reach a slightly higher altitude of 3,200 feet powered by a venerable J350 which found a nice recovery in the fields.

In searching through the flight cards, a flight of what looked to be a RedMax could not be found. In the flury of events of the day I think this might be in Ron's arsenal.

Scott had a very stout Big Nuke. out for a flight on a J185 with a sim to 2000 feet. Scott had the Nuke armed with Jolly Logic and PrefectFlight electronics with motor ejection.

To cap off a day of nice flights with a cert to boot, folks headed tp Brunos for a bite to eat and to look back on the days events.

Thanks for evveryones help and some great pictures - with a great day of flying at the Island!