I went to my first organized launch today, sponsored by SORA (Southwest Ohio Rocketry Association, www.rocketryohio.com). I didn’t really get any photographs, only a 10 second video of my first launch. It was in Hisey Park, north of Lebanon. Naturally I’ve forgotten some names, darn it, but I know I met Robb and Rick and John and Tim and Emily and at least two more people whose names I can’t recall. But they are all extremely nice folks. They made me feel welcome right away and explained how everything worked.
The club has several sawhorses on which they place the launch rods. I had never seen anything like the technique with which they mount the rods. It looks like they put some little PVC fittings together, that are exactly the right inside diameter to accept billiard balls. I didn’t get a close enough look to see exactly how the rods are mounted but it looks like the billiard balls had been drilled out, then plugged with maybe a one-hole test tube stopper, into which the rod inserts. Then the ball is dropped into the little PVC fitting. It’s very clever and infinitely adjustable.They also have one of the really nice professional multi-launch consoles and a big Black and Decker 12V power supply. They even have a big communal box of "dog barf" cellulose biodegradable recovery wadding and some LP motors available, along with pop and water for sale. There was a donation jar so I left $10 and I want to join SORA but I didn't see how to on their website.
So the way the launch works is one signs up to fly on the launch sheet. First you prep your bird, then on the sheet you put your name, your rocket’s name, whether or not it’s a first flight, the motor size and if it’s been safety inspected; I think that’s all. There’s a blank at the end too and if the flight went OK they write “nominal” there afterwards. Next you have your rocket inspected by the Range Safety Officer (RSO) - today it was Rick. When it’s your turn (I was first to fly today!) you take your bird to the pad and ask someone taller than you to put your rocket on the rod lol. I didn’t think to bring a standoff but my first flight attempt, with my Satellite Interceptor on a B6-4 motor, went OK because they provided a clothespin to hold the aft end of the rocket off the blast deflector.
I was thrilled as I counted down from 5 and hit the button to launch my first model rocket in 20 years. I was simultaneously shooting video with my iPhone so I really only caught the launch itself and not apogee, parachute deployment and recovery. But the breeze was slight, the chute deployed right at apogee and my rocket landed within probably 50 feet of the pad! I did successfully shoot video of this flight but Blogger apparently won’t allow me to upload it. Rats!
But the flight was awesome! I really wish I had reached out to a rocket club a long time ago, I felt right at home and it was so cool to be able to talk about rocketry stuff with other people who are in to it. My sweet lovely wife Bridgid, bless her heart, listens patiently as I prattle on and on about rockets but it’s not quite the same as discussing finishing techniques and so on with someone else who makes rockets.
So next up for me was my little Semroc Micron! I chose an A8-3 motor. I asked the RSO to check it out because as the construction blog said I screwed up placing the thrust ring and the motor protruded 1/2” rather than 1/4”, as it was supposed to. I was worried that the CG would be shifted too far back for the Micron to be stable. Rick gave me some clay to mold around the eye hook in the nose cone and then rechecked and gave everything an “OK.”
This time Robb helped me get the rocket onto the rod. I handed it to Robb and - major faux pas! I forgot to install an igniter - duh! He was kind enough to get me one and after that was installed he slid the bird on. I asked Robb push the launch button so I could focus on videoing the flight. Next it was 5...4...3...2...1......nothing! After a safe wait Robb ascertained that the ignitor was shorting out. He fixed that and I started the videoing again. This time the launch went smoothly and the little Micron flew incredibly well, almost straight up! I actually lost sight of the little thing temporarily. Then I saw it, coming in fast on its streamer. It landed hard but nothing broke. All those hideous epoxy putty fin fillets did fantastic!
So I stopped filming, went and retrieved the Micron and then instantly cued the video, eager to relive the flight and - wait a minute! It's still filming? What had happened was when I thought I started shooting video again I had actually stopped the camera. And when I "stopped" it to retrieve the rocket I had actually resumed filming. Oh well, a classic mistake. So I have no documentation of its flight but it sure went great.
At this point I made an executive decision. I had successfully flown twice, with LP birds. I did bring one other LP rocket, the Estes RTF Saturn V, which uses exclusively C6-3 motors. That’s supposed to take it to about 200 feet. The other two rockets I had brought (both Estes, an Orange Crush and a D-Region Tomahawk) use either D or E or even F motors and I had already seen how high other people’s were flying on D12-5’s or D12-7’s today and I saw how much more likely it was becoming to end up in the relatively closely surrounding brush and trees. So though I likely could have flown the Saturn V and easily gotten it back, I chose to pack it up.
I did hang around for two more launches Robb recommended I see, one a two-stage flight and the other an E12 motor flight. The two-stage rocket weathercocked significantly but the overall flight was nominal, as they say, and the rocket was safely retrieved after flying very high. Likewise the E12 motor produced a magnificent flight. Apparently there was a question about the E12 motors because Robb or Tim or someone said they had a batch of three that were all bad but today’s, from a different batch, worked just fine.
All in all I believe it was a fantastically successful launch And by the time I left there had been no CATOs or lost rockets. The only mishap I saw was when one of Tim’s rockets never left the pad. The engine hook had inadvertently slipped over the blast deflector and held the rocket fast until the ejection charge popped the nose cone off. The motor actually burned a hole through the blast deflector!
Anyhow I can’t wait until the club actually begins physically meeting again, at the Lebanon Public Library the third Tuesday of each month at 6:45 PM, with monthly launches the following Sunday.
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