St. Louis Rocketry Association Launch Report

09 December 2000

Elsberry, Missouri

By Mark McGraw

The St. Louis Rocketry Association conducted their final high power launch of 2000 on Saturday 09 December 2000 at the Elsberry launch site. A perfect Elsberry launch has four conditions in my book; warm temperatures, low wind, high ceilings and dry fields. This launch scored a 2.5 as we had a dry field, high ceilings, and moderate winds, but man…..was it cold!

The launch by the numbers….15 flyers made a total of 39 flights. Motors fired were as follows: A-1, B-1, C-3, D-4, E-2, F-8, G-8, H-7, I-3 and J-4.

Alex Chapie launched his Estes Banshee for the first flight of the day at 9:30 am on a C6-5. Scott Kormeier and Mike Walsh Jr. tied for the most launches for the day at 5. Scott flew two cluster flights with his "Dirty Tomahawk D" on 2-F32s and 2-F24s and his "429 Straker" on 2-H180s and 2-G64s. I believe both were good flights. He said goodbye to his Quest Antari that was called "Killroy's Revenge" on a D21 and had a good flight on "Dart Blue" on a G64. Unfortunately, on the last flight of the day, Scott's beautiful "Stinger 38" was lost on an I211. Did you ever find it Scott?

Mike Walsh Jr. had a mixed day. Good flights were made with his EZI-65 on a G64, "Corky the Cork" on an A3, and "Splashmouth" on a G64. Mike's upscale Mosquito was not so fortunate as it appeared to lose a fin on G55 power and lets just say that his minimum diameter "High on AP" rocket on F25 power provided a good lesson on fin design. The motor must have been trying to tell us something as it took 4 igniters to finally get it off the pad.

Michael Tate avoided some long walks in the field by flying his "Rapid Decent" scratch built with a small parachute for two flights, one with an H97 and the other with an H128. One of the highlights of the launch was Michael's flight of a Loc Magnum with an onboard video camera and data link on a J350. Great flight of a great looking rocket. Eddie Meyer brought out some really nice looking Aerotech kits. The Initiator flew on E15 and then F25 power while the Cheetah flew on F20 and F25 power. Really nice flights Eddie!!

Brad Wilson had to fly his Loc IV he called "Locket" twice before the parachute finally popped out. Both flights were on G80s and obviously the first landing was soft enough for it to fly again. Brad's Strong Arm had a beautiful flight on a G80 and his scratch build "Pi-R-Squared" was the impulse champ for the day as it flew on a Kosdon J450. John Buckley got some good model flying in with his Fat Boy on a C6 and "Wild Weasel" on a B6. The Big Bertha took to the air twice, initially on a C6 and then a D21. John always popped out of the car with a rocket when the LCO called for some action.

Mike Bollinger's PML Tethys had a beautiful flight on H112 power and flew his bright yellow/green Loc Legacy twice on F23 power. I believe Claude Paquin said goodbye to his Estes Heatseeker on a G55 but had a great flight of his scratch built "Big Brother" on a J180. Another scratch built, "The Russians are Back" had a great boost on H97 power but a few parts separated during recovery. Jack Hollister had a good flight of "Clara Belle" on a G38 but lost his minimum diameter "Fred" on an E18.

Larry Mills had a reserved day of flying with just one flight of his LOC Caliber ISP on a J90. That motor is slow to light and slow to burn. Larry….what happened to the plans for the AMRAAM-2 on I200 power? As for me, well, I attempted my first two stage flight of a modified PML Quantum Leap with an I300 in the booster and an I211 in the sustainer. The boost phase was wonderful but the second stage never lit. Fortunately the altimeter still functioned and the rocket came back unharmed under canopy. Post flight failure analysis determined that two of my batteries came loose in the battery pack during the boost phase cutting off power to the timer. After the flight I did something really dumb by flying the unused I211 in my PML Bull Puppy. Great flight but it went a long, long way away and was never found. 5000 foot altitude…..windy conditions….36" chute….STUPID!!…Oh well.

And finally, congratulations to Rolf Gelert who certified Level 1 with his modified Aerotech Mirage called "Hellbent" that flew on an H-242. Welcome to Hi-Power Rolf!!! As they told me, now you can really spend some money, and boy, was that an understatement.