Launch Date: June 9th, 2023

 Friday, June 9, the Colorado Front Range was blessed with some very fine weather, prompting a rocket-flying jaunt to Founders Park in Castle Rock.

On hand to poke some holes in the sky were Mike Goss, Mike Perreault, David Frey and family: wife Anne, and two sons: Xander and Maximus.  Of course, Yours Truly Blogger was present, as well. 

Collectively, well over 30 flights were logged in a two and a half hour session (I lost count).  The prevailing wind was very minimal, perhaps averaging 2mph with occasional gusts of no more than 7mph. 

Rather than continue to engage in excessive blog-blabber, here are the pics:

Mike Perreault's 220 Swift ready for flight.

Liftoff on an A motor. The tiny bird was lost among the many
similarly colored dandelions dotting the field. 

Mike Perreault's nicely built Patriot

Liftoff!

The model later turned in a second successful flight.

My EAC Viper flagship ready for flight.

Flying on a B6-4, the model turned in a great flight, landing on the nearby street.  No damage!

Quiz for you blog readers:  name all these rockets!!
This is Mike Goss's arsenal of models all prepped for the day's launch.

Mike's first launch of the session was made by a Semroc Rawhide.

Great flight on a 1/2A motor!

Mike Goss's Duck Dodgers Cadet Cruiser from MPC.

The model was well photographed...

...and liftoff!

Mike Perreault's nicely constructed Bullpup set to fly.

This is the first of two successful launches of the bird.

Those pesky aliens are exploring again!
Mike Goss's Alien Explorer set for take-off.

Nice flight on B4-4 power.

My Quest Icarus with an 808 video camera strapped to the
payload section ready for flight on a C6-5.

Since both Mikes had birds ready to go on adjacent pads, we decided it might be cool to do a near-simultaneous launch to try and catch their liftoffs on the Icarus's flight video.

The Icarus leaves the pad first, closely followed by Mike Goss's Crossfire ISX.  Unfortunately, Mike Perrault's Purple Haze experienced an ignition failure.
The experiment was all for naught, however, when it was discovered that the video camera had failed to operate.  No video on this one!

A pre-flight photo of Mr. Goss's Crossfire ISX set for launch on an A8-3,

Mike Perreault is shown here launching his Purple Haze,
an Estes Patriot with an alternate paint scheme.
Mike flew the bird several times this day on B and C motors.

Mike Goss was soon back in action with a highly unusual model -
a halloween candy bowl obtained from the local dollar store!

Will she fly ???

You bet !!  On a D12-0, no less. 

By this time, the Frey family had their first model on the pad and ready to go. 
This is Anne Frey's "Gary", an Estes Baby Bertha, powered by an A8-3 motor.
Anne is new to the hobby, and enjoyed a successful launch and recovery of the bird!

The weather was good enough to allow me to make the call on flying the Big Daddy I had brought along. This is me apparently trying to talk the large model into NOT lawn-darting!

A D12-3 motor sends the big bird off on a perfect flight and recovery!

Mike Goss's Sequoia ready to fly on an A3-4T motor.

Off for a perfect flight!

Here, Max Frey is seen launching his Alpha III on an A8-3 motor.
The model turned in a perfect flight!

An Estes Lynx, courtesy of Mike Goss...

...takes to the skies for a perfect flight.  The model landed square in one of the soccer nets that dotted the field. SCORE!!

Mike Perreault's newly built Estes Orange Bullet on the pad.

A perfect launch and flight!

Not so much the landing.  The model took a hard hit on some asphalt
outside the park perimeter.  Ouch!

Mike Goss quickly had another model on the launcher, this time a scale Nike Smoke.

Off to a great flight on a B4-4!

David Frey was up next with a 3D printed model, a WAC Corporal.

The bird turned in a great run on a B4-4 motor, but suffered
a loss of the motor retainer.

My next flight went to a Citation Patriot loaded with a C6-5 motor.

Great launch and recovery.

Mike Goss's Quest Big Betty ready for take-off.

A perfect flight on B6-4 power.

David Frey was soon back in the action with an Estes Hi Flier XL
which he renamed 'Skylicker'

Launched by a young neighborhood visitor known only as "Mike", the Skylicker roared off the pad for the day's most spectacular flight.
Motor used? An E20-4 ! 
It's quite probable that this is the highest total impulse motor
yet to be flown at Founders Park.
In David's words, "The motor report definitely got everyone's attention!"
Sadly, the model drifted down and landed in the very top of a forty-foot Rocket Eating Tree located at the south end of the park, not to be retrieved.

Next up, Mike Goss ignited a B6-4 motor attached to a very nice-looking model,
the Estes Gray Hawk.

Perfect launch and recovery on a nylon 'chute.

A nice liftoff shot of Mike Perreault's Purple Haze,
sent aloft on its third flight of the day.

Mike Goss launched the second 220 Swift flight of the day.  Flying on 1/4A power, the model was 'swiftly' lost. During the search for the downed model, Mike Perreault found his own Swift model launched earlier.

My next model to fly was a Nike X.

An excellent B6-4 propelled launch.

The launch of a Cosmic Explorer marked Mike Goss's final flight of the day. 
Mike managed to fly thirteen different birds this session, thanks to having
everything pre-prepped the day before.

Liftoff for a perfect flight mission!

My final flight of the day went to the Griffin-2, a re-build of a
custom design dating back to 1975.

Liftoff of the Griifin-2 for the start of a perfect flight and recovery.

Mike Perreault ended the day's flying with another great flight of his Bullpup model. I didn't happen to get any pics of this one.

And 'little' Mike - our mysterious young visitor - he suddenly turned about and walked off the field without a word after learning a lot about model rockets and launching several of our models.

Perhaps we might see him again in the future....

For my part, I had a very rare day marked by seven flights without a single 'chute' failure, no losses, and  return of all models in perfect un-damaged condition.

Cheers !

An Anniversary...Of Sorts

 This summer marks the 50th anniversary of my very first model rocket launch.

The problem is, I have no inkling of the exact date of the launch, or any details pertaining to which model it was, as well as any flight data.  I just know that it occurred in the summer of 1973.

I didn't keep any records whatsoever back in those very early days.

I suspect that the model flown was the Estes Mini-Brute Hornet, the very model that I retired recently following its 50th flight.

The rocket, already built, was on display at a hobby store in Colorado Springs - Custom Hobbies. My friend and rocket mentor, Marc Kramer, suggested I buy it and use it for my first model rocket flights. I recall that I spent the princely sum of a buck-fifty for the model.

On that same visit to the hobby shop, I picked up my first rocket kits - a Mosquito and a Starblazer (Estes K-31), as well as some packages of appropriate mini-motors.

The Hornet was probably flown at an open field near my home on the east side of Colorado Springs.  Since I didn't yet have my own launch pad and controller it was likely flown off of Marc's GSE.

Apparently, the flight went well, as the Hornet lived to see a few more launches.  I am probably the only model rocketeer in existence that can't remember his very first model rocket flight!

The early launch of my first Mosquito, which took place around the same time period, is one that I vividly remember:

WHOOSH...Disappear......

I did actually find the model a couple days after the launch.  It was lying in the middle of a motorcylce trail at the perimeter of the launch field - crushed beyond recognition.

By the end of 1973, I had four additional models added to the fleet: an Estes Astron Spaceman and three small competition models of my own design, the Proton, Proton II, and Corona. 

Illustrations of the birds can be found on the "Old Fleet, 1973-1974" page on the right side of this blog's home page.

I didn't own a camera back then, but I did render color drawings of the early models.

One quick note - it wasn't until 1974 or '75 that I established my fleet numbering system, so some of the early model numbers don't reflect the actual build sequence. Oddly, my actual first rocket was assigned #13!

Oh, well ...

Anyway, in late 1973 I joined the Skywatchers Model Rocket Club in Colorado Springs, as well as becoming NAR member #25180.

In December 1973, Skywatchers had enough NAR members to apply for a section charter.

We became ROMAR (Rocky Mountain Association Of Rocketry), section #331 in January,1974.

So, that's my 50-year anniversary story, and I'm sticking to it!

Cheers.....

Photos From The Estes Tour

Mike Perreault and Jim Gazur sent me their pictures taken at the recent Estes Industries tour at Penrose Colorado.

Enjoy...

Bill Stine all set to lead the tour.  That's a really Big Bertha! - photo by Jim Gazur

Here are some photos taken by Mike Perreault in the main rocket building room...

Mike and Bill just hangin' out.

Vern and Gleda Estes at the autograph table.

Jim Gazur visiting with Vern and Geda

Jim and Bill greet at the tour

Colorado Front Range rocketeer Brock Wood also attended a tour. He posted his pics on TRF, here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/estes-tour-nsl-2023.180125/#post-2438946

And Now For Something Way Cool !...

 Yesterday afternoon I was hanging around the house when the doorbell rang.

It was my neighbor from across the street, Mike Perreault.

As you all remember, Mike was featured in my recent post covering the April 17th launch here in Castle Rock.

Mike is new to the hobby, and is as enthusiastic as they come.

Turns out he had just returned home from a trip to Penrose, Colorado.

He had managed to score two slots for the special scheduled tour of the Estes facility, so he and his wife spent the day at the 'Model Rocket Capitol of the World'!

How cool is that?

Mike described the tour, which was personally led by Bill Stine himself. They got to see most all of the operations there, except for motor manufacturing, of course. 

Part of the tour package included an Antar kit signed by Mr. Stine.

As an added bonus, Vern and Gleda Estes were both on hand at the event, meeting the guests and autographing various items.

They graciously added their signatures to the two kits presented to Mike and his wife.

Mike had brought one of them over to my home to show it to me.

I was delighted to see a pristine Antar kit bearing the signatures of so much model rocketry 'royalty'.

Then, to my immense surprise and amazement, Mike handed the kit to me.

"This is Yours", he declared.

HOLY MOLEY !!

He insisted that I have it, pointing out that he has another at home.

The item, never to be opened, now proudly has a special spot in my model rocket display cabinet.

THANK YOU A BILLION, MIKE !!!!

As I am writing this, an interesting thought has struck me -

What are the chances of two such rare model rocketry collector's items ending up residing in two homes on the same street in the same town?

Wow!

Cheers!