St. Louis Rocketry Association held its second Fall high power launch on Saturday, November 22. Temperature was around 40 and wind was light to moderate, but cloudy skies kept the ceiling around 2000 ft for most of the day. Twenty-five fliers registered, making 70 flights from 1/2A to J power. There was one 1/2A flight, 3 A's, 8 B's, 17 C's, 13 D's, 8 E's, 5 F's, 7 G's, 3 H's, 3 I's, and two J-powered flights. Jim Thomas joined us for the first time, along with many of our regulars from the 1997 launch season.

Aaron Edwards made a great flight with his Black Brant II on AT E28 power. John Buckley made a spectacular flight with his original X-6, which was originally built for the NARAM-39 6-C Cluster Altitude event. Powered by 6 C6-7 motors, the model screamed off the pad, then suffered a partial shred with multiple fin pieces fluttering out of the sky; despite this, the model maintained its straight flight path.

Jim Hollister flew a range of rockets up to the Initiator, boosted by a G33; Kevin Souers also chose a G33 for his Initiator flight, and flew his new PML Callisto on G64 power. Mark McGraw made good F52-powered flights in his LOC Onyx, LOC NORAD and AT StrongArm, plus a G64 flight in the Onyx.

Heino Pull just missed on Level 2 certification attempt; his Thoy Falcon lifted off on J90 power for what looked like the beginning of a great flight, but his chute tangled for a less-than-perfect recovery. The rocket was undamaged, and Heino welcomes the chance for another Level 2 flight.

Trista and Keara Witteried brought out several new birds. Trista won a Silver Comet kit in the Parachute Duration event at our October contest; she brought out the completed model for a great first flight. Her sister Keara made a good flight with her Astrosat LSX, successfully deploying two satellites. (!)

Jeff Brundt put up his nicely-built Mountainside Sandhawk for a good flight on a G64, but had less luck on some other flights - his Super Vega suffered a lawn dart, and his Terrier-Sandhawk suffered a CATO of its E28 RMS. Both of these rockets have had their hard luck in the past, as had Steve Mizerany's Changeling, which has evolved from an Estes Maxi-Patriot during several rebuilds. The Changeling will change yet again, as it suffered a lawn dart on a 4-D12-powered flight.

Michael Sears had a cliffhanger of a flight with his Shadow on E18-4 power; the motor had a 'bonus' long delay, producing a just-in-time ejection. Bill Hrach and Chris Gillham both pushed the power envelope with new scratchbuilt creations; Bill's Jarvis 1 and Chris's Boomerang both made great flights on I154J power. Mark Geislinger's reliable EZI made a good I161 flight, as did Robin Weinrich's PML Quasar on H180 power.

Highlight of the day was the flight of Steve Seger's scratchbuilt Black Rock, an 8.5-inch diameter, 32-pound behemoth formerly known as the Nemesis. This roared into the sky on two J800's, then executed a perfect two-stage deployment to recover close by on the field.