October 31, 1998 Launch Report

Contributed by Mark Henriksen

The St. Louis Rocketry Association held its first high-power launch of the fall, '98 season on October 31, 1998. The weather was more than cooperative. It was uncanny. The skies were cloudy all day long, however the ceiling was at about 3500 feet in the morning, but cleared up to about 6000 by the afternoon. The key was that there were no winds all day long. I can't remember being at an Elsberry launch with no wind. The temperatures warmed up to a comfortable 60s as well. All in all, the day was perfect for rockets. We had 37 registered fliers put up a total of 133 flights for a very active day. I'd guess spectators outnumbered fliers three to one.

Early on Fred Gruiz brought out his Minnie Magg. At least it looks like a Minnie Magg. I don't think Ron Schultz ever planned on a K185 in this rocket. Actually, the one Fred had was scratch built, modeled to look like a Minnie Magg. He did a good job too, next to my stock kit it was hard to see any difference. Later on in the day he scaled down the total impulse, and upped the thrust with a J800. It really moved out on this engine.

Steve Seger was in attendance with a couple of big ones too. He obtained a window, and brought out his Monolith. This rocket looks suspiciously like his Nemesis with a different paint job and extra payload. Either way, he gets the award for largest motor of the day. He flew this 40 pound, nine foot rocket on a full L. An L952 to be exact. With a loud roar, it took to the Missouri skies for an impressive flight. I believe I heard that he hit about 8000 feet, have to check on that.

Kevin Souers gets the award for farthest travelled rocketeer. He came all the way from Wisconsin to join us. He had a number of great flights also. He loaded up a Binder Design Sentinel on a J275 for a level two attempt. With an Altacc for drogue and main deployment, the rocket performed well. Welcome to even higher power. Later in he day he flew a PML Tomahawk on a J350 just to prove it wasn't a fluke.

Chris Gillham also took this opportunity to certify level two. His vehicle of choice was a scratch built rocket he calls the Boomerang. He also installed a J275 motor for an excellent flight. He also flew his Roswell Investigator and an Estes Big Brute to round out the day.

We also had a couple of long lost fliers. Robin Weinrick and Ken Brightwell made appearances. Robin had a good flight with a PML Quasar on an H180 and helped out at the LCO table for a shift. Ken Brightwell came out to enjoy the day and talk rockets.

The day saw several clustered flights also. James Hollister flew his Big Bertha on two C6 motors for a nominal flight. Later in the day he flew it again on two F40s, but suffered an early ejection. Don't know if there was any damage though. Aaron Edwards had his trusty Big Bertha in which he clustered three E25 motors. Only two lit, but this rocket still blasted off the pad. Mark McGraw brought out a scratch-built rocket called the Holley 4-Barrel. He loaded four F40 motors for the highest power cluster of the day. A full H motor level. It performed quite well. Jeff McCoy had, you'll never guess…a Big Bertha. He clustered three C6 engines for another good flight. John Kennington unpacked a scratch built rocket he calls the Orbital Sciences Taurus. He loaded up a D12 with two C6 motors for a beautiful flight. Bob Schapp had a good flight with an Estes Ranger on three C6 motors.

Multi-stage rockets weren't quite as prolific. Dan Weeks flew an Estes Comanche on a D-B-C combination for a good flight. Tim Sears flew a Delta Clipper on a D-D combo for the second flight of this rocket. Kyle Weeks also flew a Comanche two-stage version on a C6 to a C6 for a nice flight.