Launch Recap - May 3rd, 2008 We got started a little late on Saturday, but that did not dampen the full day's launch! Later in the afternoon we felt a few drops as a small shower passed over, but that didn't stop the launch either. Winds were from the south giving us the benefit of the entire field length for recovery. We also announced three winners of EMRR's invitation to help clubs engage young rocketeers to join the National Association of Rocketry as junior members. Congratulations to Malcolm, Robbie, and Andrew who were selected to each receive a one-year membership to NAR! The day's theme was gliders. Gliders and winged rockets were in abundance. Carl Campbell flew his Intrepid split glider on a F20. Ascent was great, deploy went well, and the glider really flew well. The booster section did not deploy its parachute and bulleted into the weeds south of the field. Carl was not discouraged, he merely indicated that it was time to rebuild the model anyway. It had flown plenty of good flights and was in need of "renewal." Carl made the longest time with his flight at 58.61 seconds. Plenty of finned rockets flew too. Brian Coyle's Shrox Star Shuttle and Cici had flawless flights. Brian also flew his Red Baron glider. The engine ejected a little hard, and broke off the one wing. Parts were fully recovered and Brian can try again next launch!Tom's Split shuttle also took off nicely on a C6-3, gained nice altitude, then split off for two decent durations - the shortest being 38.5 Seconds. Some nice thermals and currents contributed to these great flights. Several Estes Eagle Boost gliders took to the skies - most without incident and with varying quality of flights. Kyle Chung took the early lead on glide duration with his at 30.91 seconds. Malcolm had a engine nozzle failure on the pad which resulted in a flame out and meltdown of his Eagle. We hope that he can get it replaced! We also had two Space Shuttle models take to the skies with glider shuttles and great flights. Malcolm and Rom added quite a sidelight attraction with their own drag race competition with Estes Cosmic Cobras. After three "volleys" Robb declared himself the winner - best two of three. Part of the fun was determining whose Cobra nose cone actually did land last! Malcolm did give a good effort but had an interaction with a pine tree after his nose didn't deploy on a flight. The rocket wasn't damaged, and flew the third round. Nick R. added yet another dimension to Saturday with an official NAR safety test of an older 1/2A2-2 motor. The first attempt didn't light, but a new igniter solved the problem for Nick's S3A model, and it did fly! The large 'chute took it for a ride to the edge of the field where thankfully it got caught in a bush, not a tree. Thanks Nick for doing those tests to help support safety in model rocketry. Carry on! With the prevailing conditions, we also launched a few cluster models. Ryan's Atlas 5 flew beautifully on 3 D12-5s. Mike's cluster machine did well too with a nice stable flight. Chris H. even avoided trees with his Nice Little Red flying on a C6-5. Carl also flew his Aerotech Initiator on an F20 for another great flight. There's been some talk about doing another NAR sanctioned meet in June. Keep looking to the website for details! We'll post and email specifics. Impulse Breakdown Motor Count 1/2A 2 A 9 B 29 C 24 D 12 E 2 F 2 Total Number of Motors: 80 Total Number of Launches: 74 Approximate Total Impulse: 222.81 Ns (equivalent to a medium H motor)

Launch Recaps Launch Recap - May 3rd, 2008 We got started a little late on Saturday, but that did not dampen the full day's launch! Later in the afternoon we felt a few drops as a small shower passed over, but that didn't stop the launch either. Winds were from the south giving us the... [More] Launch Recap - April 5th, 2008 Saturday was a nice but windy day.  Winds were from the south, so we had a good opportunity to fly into the field for recovery.  The winds became stronger in the higher altitudes. As such, thehigher power rockets didn't fare well... [More] Launch Recap - March 1st, 2008 Blue skies, Temperatures in the 70's, minimal winds, open fields, quiet... wait, except for the occasional whoosh of  a rocket leaving the pads--yes--that was today at ROCK's monthly launch! A perfect day allowed for many really nice... [More] Launch Recap - February 2nd, 2008 What a full and fun day This launch day we had a great turnout and lots of fun predicting our flight durations. While we had some durations go longer (and farther - into the trees) than we hoped, we still managed to only lose two... [More] Launch Recap - January 5th, 2008 We had a slightly smaller turn out than usual (possibly due to the New Years holiday), but that didn't limit the fun or number of flights! In addition, we had guests from the Seminole Chronicle covering the launch. An outstanding article with... [More] Launch Recap - December 1st, 2007 What a great day at the field! We had Sunny skies until mid-afternoon, and it was a bit windy above 100 feet, but we still had a great time. This launch was dominated by the Steamer Spot landing contest. We had a number of other fun flights, but... [More] Launch Recap - November 3rd, 2007 Greetings after a BEAUTIFUL Saturday of fun in the sun flying rockets!  The moderate temperatures finally arrived!  Only the moderate Southerly (up to 10 MPH) winds gave us some challenges and we did lose a few rockets to the trees and... [More] Launch Recap - September 1st, 2007 Greetings after another WARM Saturday of fun in the sun flying rockets! Our turnout today was about average in terms of numbers but certainly not with regard to flying! Glad to have you all out after the soggy field in August!... [More] Launch Recap - August 4th, 2007 Today was different! Besides the reality that many of our regulars were unable to join us, we had several new faces at the launch. Welcome David and Andrew P, the Charleton family visiting from Phila, Jay and Brandon, and Trent, Alex, and Andrew... [More] Launch Recap - July 7th, 2007 We were really excited to be able to fly this month. As you may recall from our June meeting, we are now flying year round, and started the new cycle with this launch. We also decided to set up earlier to avoid the potential of early afternoon... [More] Launch Recap - April 7th, 2007 We were really excited to be able to fly in April with absolutely clear blue skies. The higher and variable direction winds in the morning caused us to limit our flying to smaller engines, but the afternoon, we were in full swing launching several... [More] Launch Recap - March 3rd, 2007 After losing our opportunity to fly in February because of the weather, we were really excited to be able to fly in March. Though the lower cloud ceiling and higher wind in the morning cause us to limit our flying to smaller engines, but the... [More] Launch Recap - January 6th, 2007 Wow! What a wonderful way to start the New Year- flying rockets! The unseasonably great weather not only attracted many Section regulars and a few old-timers, but also some new faces! WELCOME! We had twenty flyers and spectators and launched so... [More] Launch Recap - December 2nd, 2006 Another day of great flying! Welcome to all! Gliders and copters were definitely out today. We logged 63 flights across motor classes A thru F. With minimal wind and partly cloudy skies, we had prime flying conditions for the gliders and... [More] Launch Recap - November 4th, 2006 We had another great day of flying!Welcome to all, particularly Tom, Madeleine, and Jack C., hopefully your first time experience will result in many return visits! Thanks to Winston C. for your help yesterday in assisting as LCO! We logged 44... [More] Launch Recap - October 7th, 2006 We had a great day of flying at the October launch! Many new faces and a few new section members. Welcome to all, hopefully your first time experience will result in many return visits! We logged 62 flights across motor classes A thru G, a few... [More] Launch Recap - September 2nd, 2006 We had a great day at our new launch site. Turnout was small, probably due to the Labor Day holiday weekend. A total of ten flyers launched 38 successful flights- no rockets were captured by rocket-eating trees! Winds were light and variable,... [More]