Launch for December 9th cancelled

Although it looks to be very warm on Saturday the forecast of rain and high winds will keep us off the field.

We will be taking January off unless we get very lucky.

So Happy Holidays everyone and we'll see you all next year.

 

Launch for December 2nd cancelled

Weather not so good with rain expected.

We will try again on the 9th

 

Be ready for December 2nd and December 9th.

We are going to go for two launches in December. Figure we will try to get as many in as possible while we can get into the field.

First launch will be December 2nd.

This will be a bring your own low power pad launch. We will have high power pads available.

Then again on December 9th.

We should have all of our equipment available that day so just bring your rockets.

Both launches will be at Horning #1

Next Launch November 4th at Horning #1

Although not too many folks attended the launch on October 28, the weather cooperated and it turned out to be a very nice day.

Our next launch will be on November 4th once again at Horning #1. We will try to have another launch in early December depending on the weather so stay tuned.

 Date Changed Again! Now October 28th

Weather not cooperating and the field has yet to be cut so we have to move the date back again to October 28th. We will be at the Horning #1 field.

We are also planning on launching on November 4th. Stay tuned.

Next Launch October 21, 2023

Finally! We have a good launch date. Strange weather this fall has played havoc with our schedule but October 21 should be a firm date.

We will be back at Horning #1.

Map to Horning #1 

Launch Date Moved to October 14th or 21st.

Our Horning #1 will not be ready for us on October 7th.

We have set a Tentative date for October 14th but this may yet slip another week. We hope to firm the date up by next week.

Launch date moved. Most likely October 7th

 

The Hornings tell us that the cool weather has slowed down the alfalfa so they won't be cutting for another 3-4 weeks. We will have to push back our launch date to probably October 7th. That will be the last cut of the season.

 Next Launch September 23 or 30, 2023

Our next launch date depends on when the field is mowed but we are looking at either the 23rd or the 30th. We will be back at Horning #1.

We'll let you all know exactly when we know!

Google Maps to Horning #1

Next Launch August 26 at Horning #1

Typically the Hornings would be cutting the hay this coming week, but this month they are delaying the cut for one week due to a family vacation. As long as weather doesn't interfere our launch is scheduled for August 26th. Reminder, the launch this month will include the Big Bertha contest.

Big Bertha Contest -

Designed by Vern Estes, the Big Bertha is the iconic model rocket throughout the decades. Make Vern proud and enter your Big Bertha in this fun contest.

Goal

Make three flights with a single model (Big Bertha) and attempt to score the best in four criteria.

Rocket Entry

Per the name, this is a Big Bertha contest. If you don’t have a Big Bertha then any rocket with at least 18” of BT-60 and four fins will do. If you wish to build one from scratch you can download the plans here, Estes Big Bertha #1948

Events

A Parachute Duration – Using an A impulse motor and parachute of any size, get a longest possible duration. Remember, you need to get it back for the other events!

B Streamer Duration Spot Landing - That’s right, two events in one. Using a B impulse motor and streamer for recovery, get the longest possible duration AND land closest to the target mark that will be placed randomly at the field.

C Altitude (altimeter) – Using a C impulse motor and electronic altimeter, reach the highest altitude. We will have a couple of altimeters to loan out if you don’t have a suitable altimeter.

Click the link below for a map to the field:

 Horning #1

Not too bad of a day...

A bit of rain rolled in right after everything was setup but it turned out to be a pretty good day. Thanks to all that came out and Welcome to our new members.

The August launch date will be set as soon as we get the OK from the Horning's. When we know then you will know!

Sunday Launch Cancelled.

 Saturday is still on for July 29th.

Sunday is cancelled due to most of our regulars and BOD members not being able to attend.

Saturday is on and we will have the Big JMRC trailer on site. Will be flying from 10:00am to about 5:00pm at Horning #1.

Jay Calvert of Impulse Buys should also be there for all your motor needs.

Tony

Next Launch July 29-30 at Horning #1

We will be at Horning #1 for both Saturday and Sunday July 29-30. The Big JMRC trailer will be making the trip for Saturday but not on Sunday. So Sunday will be another bring your own day although we will have both low and high power pads available.

And a Porta John will be available both days!

Let's hope for good weather and two great days of flying!

Bring your own low power launch equipment.

Looks like the trailer won't be making the trip so we will ask that you bring your own low power pads. There should be plenty to borrow if you don't have your own. We should have three high power pads available. 

Saturday AND Sunday!

Update on this weekend's launch. We will be at the field Saturday and Sunday, June 24-25, 2023 at Horning #1 to give folks as much opportunity to fly as possible. See you there. 

Next Launch This Weekend June 24, 2023 at Horning #1!

Even though the alfalfa isn't very tall the Hornings have found that waiting more than 28 days between cuts results in a less palatable meal for the cows, so they are going to cut this week. That makes the field available to us this Saturday the 24th. The BOD is still figuring out logistics, but we wanted to give the membership as much notice as possible. Port-a-johns are sold out but Buzz will open his house up for visitors. We can't say definitively if the trailer will be there yet. Standby for updates.

Based on the farm wanting to stick to a 28 day harvest schedule, we can at least narrow down with in a couple of adjacent weekends when we can expect to fly going forward.

Click the link to find the field:

Horning #1

Great Launch!

 Thanks to all that came out Saturday. Even though the clouds just wouldn't leave and a bit of rain made us leave early, the winds were light and we still put up over 60 flights.

Also, as a bit of an apology, sorry if we were a bit slow at the LCO table. We were doing quite a bit of experimenting (as you may have noticed) but we hope it was a good show. We have not flown hybrids much lately but with Scott working on making grains for the old Sky Ripper hardware we hope to be flying many more.

Our next scheduled launch is Crapshoot out at the Muskegon waste water facility June 10-11. Launch dates at the Horning fields in Manchester will be determined by field conditions so we will let you all know as soon as we can. Horning #2 (where we were Saturday) is probably out for the rest of the summer so we will be at Horning #1 whenever the hay is cut.

Launch is ON for May 13th!

The hay at Horning 1 is too tall to walk around on, but not tall enough to cut in the next week or so, but the Horning 2 field on Bethel Church Rd is available to us. We're working out the logistics on the trailer, so it's not confirmed yet that it will be there. I wanted to get this out to the membership as soon as possible for your planning purposes. We'll post updates as we learn more. Reminder also that the Precision Altitude Contest is open until the last launch of the year. The target altitude is 1898'. See the latest newsletter for details.

Horning #2 can be found here:

Horning #2

May launch date may change.

The warm weather we have had has made the hay start to grow and now is too high for us to use the field. We will have to wait until the field is cut before we can fly and that just depends on the weather. So keep checking back for updates and when we know for sure then you will know for sure!

Launch is ON for April 8, 2023

That's right. We will be flying at the Horning #1 field this Saturday April 8th.

Weather doesn't look too bad now so we should have a good day.
We should be good on launch equipment as the massive JMRC trailer should be in attendance (thanks Scott).
Oh, and pack a lunch...

Click the link and that will take you to the field:

https://goo.gl/maps/v8FyvAKqrX84u4Zf7
 

2023 Launch Dates

Well finally, after months of cold, dark winter Spring is on the way!

We are still here and ready for another season of flying so we have a couple of launch dates set.
Looks like we will have to write March off. Weather forecast for the rest of the month doesn't look good for field conditions. So the current schedule is:

April 8, 2023 at Horning #1.
May 13, 2023 at Horning #1.
June 10-11, 2023 at Muskegon.
Additional date in June at Horning #1 if possible.

Dates for the rest of the summer depends on the crop cutting schedule and will be at Horning #1.
We may change the location to Horning #2 if we can get in there before the corn goes in.

We are also considering expanding our launches to include Sunday as well to maximize our limited flying time.
And as usual, all dates are subject to change.

Google map link to Horning #1:
https://goo.gl/maps/v8FyvAKqrX84u4Zf7

And Horning #2:
https://goo.gl/maps/xqrN11BxKEPE99UQ6

More details to come!

 

Results of our BOD election:

    President - Scott Miller

    Vice-President - Roger Sadowsky

    Treasurer - Tony Haga

    Secretary - Buzz Nau

Members at large:

    Al de la Iglesia
    Dale Hodgson
    Fred Ziegler
    Herb Crites
    Mark Chrumka 

A  big "Thanks You!" to everyone.

Thanks for a Great 2022!

And we are looking forward to a Great 2023.
We probably will not fly again until March but if we get a patch of good weather we may try to sneak in a launch so stay tuned.