Adrian

Many flyers more experienced than I have warned about the issues near Mach 2. For my 30K shot last year, I added a significant amount of weight, as I didn’t want to mess w/ the velocities that I was anticipating….   Read more»

Since there is a roll-off in drag above mach, there is an advantage to being light enough to get “over the hump.” Maybe that is both the core of RockSim’s problem and the secret weapon to higher altitude.My current strategy…   Read more»

The optimal mass varies a lot with the rocket drag. With a draggier rocket it helps to have more mass, and less mass for a lower-drag rocket. I left mine relatively light because there was so much variability in the…   Read more»

It’s tempting, but in order to get the Raven altimeter done, I’ll have to skip some launches like the upcoming Hartsel one to carve out more time for firmware development.Good luck on finding Synergy.

I have one you can use. It has a short section of 24mm airframe tube in it, some lead shot, and a section of kevlar cord glued in. The base of the cone is also sanded down so it’s flush…   Read more»

My hybrid went 7500′ on a Contrail L1428. It landed 300 yds from the launch.The hike I went on was for a 2″ carbon bird built by Sean Serell. It launched on a CTI L990 and went an altitude that…   Read more»

Congratulations! And I thought I went for a long hike. You and John must be beat.Wow, that heading is a lot farther North than was thinking. This puts a new spin on things for where I think I should look…   Read more»

All joking aside, here’s the related part of the landowner map that Mike Konshack helpfully put together last year. Let’s all respect the private property and see what we can do to improve relations with the folks who live around…   Read more»

Great. Thanks.

I think the GPS is closer. Baro altimeters using the standard atmosphere model will under-report the actual altitude when the weather warms up. It wasn’t that hot this weekend, but it was still warmer than 39 degrees, which is the…   Read more»

That’s a beautiful map. Where did it come from?Now I know where that nonexistant, mystery road in Google maps came from: the jeep track that was visible when the USGS created this topo, probably decades ago.

If you guys are thinking about going out again while the transmitter is still running, the bluffs would make an excellent location for the radio scan. The one that’s the 2nd from the right in the picture below has a…   Read more»

I had my talk with Bob when I was just west of “L” on the Mike’s map. Bob said that the Pawnee National grasslands don’t go any farther North than the line at the bottom of L.

Violent Agreement has been found! I’m downloading the data now.Larry Haynes thoughtfully organized an aerial search, and today around mid-day we went up in his friend Steve’s Cessna and headed for the hills. Thanks, Steve! Thanks to Ed’s good maps,…   Read more»

I would love too, not to mention one of the reasons I got into PPG was to look for lost rockets. I however am going on vacation..to of all places Iowa for a visit with the sister-in-law for a week…   Read more»

Thanks, Ed.The winds aloft during the descent varied between about 5-25 knots, coming from about 220 degrees. In other words, the wind carried the rocket about 40 degrees East of North. Based on 14 minutes from apogee of 14kft to…   Read more»

The email address to sign up for volunteering is:volunteer@ncrocketry.orgThanks!

Thanks, Murkdock. You can fill a Pad Manager slot. Basically, the way this works is that when the LCO is working the launch control system and the PA, and the RSO is at the front of the line of rocketeers…   Read more»

Thanks Bruce. The altitude competitions are more fun when more people are playing, so I’m glad John Wilke is back, John Bixler is in it, and Chad and some others are getting into it too.

This was the second annual Memorial Day a**hole apparently launches a rocket near a plane event.