JMRC 23 June 2012 Launch Report

By Buzz Nau

June launch was held at Horning Field near Manchester, MI. The

hay had been recently cut, though the dry condition we have been

suffering through has made the ground harder than usual. As expected,

the great weather brought out many flyers and their families. The

temps were in the low 80’s and there was a light breeze for most of

the day.

Let’s thank our onsite vendors, Jay Calvert from Impulse Buys and

Scott Miller from Miller Motor Works for supplying us with motors,

ignitors, and plenty of other assistance in getting our flights off.

They are a huge part of why our launches are so successful. Also a big

thanks to Pinky and Emma Sadowsky for running the JMRC Café. The food

is great as well as the service and atmosphere.

Ron Watkins was in attendance and flew many of his kits that are some

of the nicest looking rockets you will ever see. Ron does a great job

finishing his rockets which always look like they’re right out of a

catalog.

Jeff and JoAnn Drongowski and their daughter Katie came out with a new

puppy, Athena. Jeff had nice flights with a PML BullPup and PML Matrix

on H242’s. Jeff also flew a LOC Vulcanite on a F59-5 and an awesome

looking QModeling Mars Snooper II on a E18-5. Katie flew several

rockets including a couple of “love interests” with mixed results of

course.

It was great to see Carl and Steve Wagner. Andy and Suzanne Tomasch

from HUVARS showed up as well. Andy flew his LOC Starburst for a nice

flight. We also had some new members show up for the first time as

well as Roger & Ruth Coates, a long JMRC members who put in some nice

flights as well.

Dale Hodgson put in four flights that all went well. A 5.5” Fatboy on

a CTI H100 Imax, the Lil’ Screamer on a Loki H160 Blue Streak, a 5.5”

Mosquito on a Loki I430 Blue Streak, and his 4” Mad Dog on a Loki

J528. The after flight inspection found a belled motor casing at the

forward closure. Scott suspects a motor grain issue. Dale’s highlight

of the day was having his son, daughter, and son-in-law come out to

watch his flights.

Tom Kurecka put in six flights that were all entertaining. Tom

constantly pushes the edge with his flights and is one of the handful

of fliers you always watch when one of his flights is announced. First

was an Arcas on a long burn CTI G54 Red Line. There was no chute

deployment, but it landed in a low wet area and suffered no damage.

His Sea Wolf on a J270 Green drag separated at 340mph after motor

burnout which caused a couple of tube zippers. Flight three was an

Aerotech Astrobee D on a H399 White to 1,741’. Flight four, the Sun

Seeker on a H255 Blue was another good launch and recovery.  Next was

the “Stealth” on a J280 Smokey Sam to 1,548’. Last was a scale Nike

Smoke on a G131 Smokey Sam that damaged two fins when the chute failed

to deploy.

The “Man of Leisure” Tony Haga put in a few interesting flights. Tony

describes his highlight flight, “My rocket, called "Over the Rainbow"

because of an awesome multi-color paint job is really a PML Endeavour

kit modified for dual deployment. On board were two ARTS altimeters, a

Big Red Bee tracker (just to make sure I wouldn't need it) and a key

chain camera. The motor was a Cessaroni J285. The up part was great

and the parachute deployed right on queue at 400' but despite my best

efforts to ensure a straight flight, the rocket arched over to the

west and landed behind the trees in what looked to be a grassy field.

But once we worked our way through the trees we found out that the

grassy field was really an algae covered pond!  Good thing PML Quantum

tube floats. A quick trip over to Buzz's barn for a fishing pole and

some skillful casting by Scott and we were able to hook that whopper

and haul it back in. Although full of water and covered in algae,

"Over the Rainbow looked none the worse for wear. At home, the

altimeters, tracker and camera were all taken apart, scrubbed off with

a toothbrush and left to dry out. Amazingly all the electronics seem

to have recovered. Unfortunately, I neglected to clear the old files

on the camera's memory chip and it didn't have enough space left to

record the whole flight so no splash down, just the up part. So, after

a nice bath "Over the Rainbow" will be back to fly again.”

Tony also flew his fine looking Interceptor E on an E18-4 and 40 year

old original Interceptor on a C6-5.

Jim Fustini had several nice flights including his Orange Crush on a

CTI H140 and Alarm on an AT I218 Redline. The Alarm is one of my

favorite rockets of Jim’s. I’m always amazed he flies that on an I

motor to apogee deploy and gets it back every time.

Chris Palmer flew several rockets including his Spike on a F50-9 and

Nike Ajax on a H123, both were great flights. He flew his PML

Pterodactyl on a I218 Redline for one of the more interesting cato’s

that turned the rocket into a roman candle. Chris also wants to thank

Jeff and family for allowing him the puppy therapy. Nothing like a new

puppy licking your face. What a sweetie.

Chris would have had “cato of the day” honors had it not been for one

of my flights. My first flight was a Mad Cow Honest John on a CTI G150

Blue Streak. Great flight and fun model to fly. Next was my 4”

Marauder upscale on a Loki J528. I had flown this rocket motor combo

before, but this time the motor let go at around 500-600’. The entire

lower section of the rocket disintegrated in a flash. The on board

camera, MOL chute, and ARTS board survived, but the rest is a total

loss. The motor casing was sheered off at the forward closure snap

ring line. The aft end of the case was belled out as well. After that

I flew my U of M Mini Magg on a Loki H160 and Big Blue Bird Zero on a

Loki I110. The I110 deployed early, but the Blue Bird suffered just a

small zipper. I also got in a handful of low power flights.

After the launch many of us wandered over to our house for a cookout

and some relaxing. Roger and Grace Wilfong from HUVARS attended and it

was great getting caught with them. All of the food brought to pass

around was amazingly great. Thanks to everyone that brought something

to share. I also want to thank Melanie for making several dishes and

pressing out all the burgers. After chow it was time to start the fire

pit with camper’s secret weapon, the weed dragon. In less than 30

seconds we had a nice roaring fire.  Thanks again to everyone who

attended. Melanie and I really enjoy hosting these bbq’s and hope

everyone has as much fun as we do.