Who's going to NSL in Orangeburg, SC this weekend?

[jetlag]

I'm at least going Saturday, maybe Sunday. Going to take my original NCR Bomarc, Hawks Hobbies Orbital Transport, FlisKits Borealis, and a few others.
Weather is supposed to be gorgeous entire weekend.
Hope to see you there!

Allen

[Brent]

I will be there

[jetlag]

Well, It was a great time, for sure! The hosting club put on a fantastic show!

Thanks a ton!

Got to meet some really super folks there, too.

Roger and Bracha were there from JonRocket.com. Matt Steele had a representative there from whom I bought a Lance Delta and a Bounty Hunter.
The owner of ASP Rockets was there, and I got a WAC with the booster from him ( that sounded kinda wrong...)
Jim Hendrickson was there from whom I bought an NSL commemorative Sky Wolf (I later won a Punisher, the other NSL commemorative rocket, from Roger on Ebay); both are fine looking and Hi-Performance additions for me.
T-Shirts, Raffles, and a gourmet food court (no kidding!), some kind of cinnamon and sugar and butter graham cracker delights, and super sunny days made for a wonderful event. I wish they could do it this way every single month!

Now for 4 pictures:
1) That's me holding my Hawks Hobbies Orbital Transport, a veteran of many thrilling flights.
And this one in particular caused a real pucker when the 4 second delay of the E15 was more like 6 seconds. Chute popped on the mother ship at roughly 200 ft from the ground, Broke the wing tip fins off, but that was all...Glider flew nicely, tho.
2) The OT launch and the weathercocking from the 10-15mph wind.
3) That's a 1968ish Mars Snooper I restored...It has all original wood, but a new payload BT, new engine shrouds, and few new vanes. Sorry, my friend did not get a launch picture.
4) The best picture is the Quest Minotaur of mine CATOing. That's an Estes E12-4 ejectimg its warp core at launch. Look at how long the shock cord stretched out! I was amazed. The parachute opened and landed on the blue rocket to the left (it had failed to launch!). The main body actually cleared the rod and hit the ground right next to the rack, relatively undamaged with 2 of the booster nozzles knocked askew.
Its repaired now, as is the OT. That wind kept me from launching more than half of what I brought to fly, but I had plenty to watch.

Thanks for a great time! I hope it's not another 8 years before the NSL comes back!

Allen

[tbzep]

Nice models and pics...
Is the Hawks Hobby OT booster BT-60 based? What altitude did you expect out of the AT E15? Will it fly on a D12-3?

[jetlag]

Nice models and pics...
Is the Hawks Hobby OT booster BT-60 based? What altitude did you expect out of the AT E15? Will it fly on a D12-3?


Tim,
Yes, the main BT is indeed BT-60 (32.25 inches long, WS of 13.5 inches); Glider is BT-55 (11 inches long). The lengths are tube only, not NC.

The altitude looks to be around 600-800 feet on that motor. The AT E20 is a good motor, too. The trim on the glider is such that, it circles the mother ship all the way down to the ground. That was a happy accident necessitated when the glider glided beautifully...very shuttle-esque, but incredibly stable, for what seemed like a straight mile! I added a strip of clear acetate tape to the left elevon, and the circling just happened!
I have a few old 24mm F motors I may just try next time...

The weight of the entire rocket and glider with a spent AT casing and 22in parachute is 13.9 ounces. A D12-3 recommended max liftoff weight is 14 ounces, so I would say marginal on whether one could use it. I'm sure you could build lighter by a small percentage and have it doable, though.

Hope those answers weren't too long-winded!

Allen

[tbzep]

Cool. Your info is exactly what I was looking for.

[Rich Holmes]

Catos suck... but they do make for great pictures. :cool:

[tmacklin]

Allen, those are super pictures of great looking rockets! Why I could have been there instead of Texas watching buckets of water fall from the sky! Maybe next year?