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PLASTER CITY, California USA — Tripoli San Diego and the Diego Area Rocket Team (DART) invite you to the sixth annual Plaster Blaster event, held in Plaster City, California, a small community 90 miles east of San Diego, California. Plaster Blaster will be the weekend of October 4-7, 2007. Plaster Blaster is a nationally recognized and popular event sanctioned by both the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) and Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA). The NAR and TRA are national organizations that promote the safe and educational enjoyment of the hobby of sport rocketry and actively set standards for its members. The Plaster Blaster event is open to the public for spectating. The event usually draws some large and impressive projects, which last year included a 1/3 scale Little Joe II, a 27 foot tall behemoth that measured 48" in diameter. Also flown were a number of large upscales, including a 36" diameter Fat Boy standing 14 feet tall, as well as two 6.44x upscale versions of the classic Estes Starfighter combo, The Torellian Invader and The Orion Starfighter. This year's theme is Star Wars, a celebration of the 30th anniverary of the original Star Wars movie, and a number of Star Wars-inspired projects are being developed for Plaster Wars, including an extremely impressive group project belonging to Tripoli San Diego and lead by Andy Woerner of Polecat Aerospace and What's Up Hobbies. In keeping with this year's theme, the project is a huge 23 foot Star Wars X-Wing Fighter featuring a 19 foot wingspan. Sponsored by the fine folks at RMS Laser and Routing Services, located in El Cajon, CA, the unique fighter features a length of 23 feet, 2 inches, with a wingspan of 19 feet, 6 inches, weighing 525 pounds at liftoff. The fighter will utlized a motor in each of the four wing motor mount tubes and be recovered on three 30 foot man-rated parachutes. The uniqueness of the project runs through and through, from the finely designed, bulkhead and stringer construction design to its 2.3 horsepower electric motor driven wing movement system to move the wings from the "attack" to the "landing" position. Construction consisted of a CAD-driven CNC-routed wooden frame and bulkheads, thin plywood skins overall, sonotube and fiberglass-covered foam for the nose section. The mainpoint of the fighter's airframe is the wing box, which serves as the mounting point of the four huge wings, each housing a 5.5" receiver tube that receives different sized motor mount tubes. The wing box is cut from 3/4" Birch plywood, and feature numerous lightening holes cut by the CNC machine into each panel. The wings pivot on 1" diameter aluminum rods and are driven by a 2.3 horsepower, 1.75" diameter, brushless motor that Andy pirated from one of his R/C helicopters, designed to operate at 22.2V and drawing 75 amps. The motor turns about 40,000 RPM, so a combination of chain-driven nylon gears was developed that would produce the necessary torque to operate the wings. The result is nothing short of awe inspiring, and if you get the chance, you should put Plaster Blaster on your map as a must-see event. If you would like to read more information about this project, please visit the project page at http://www.polecataerospace.com/X-Wing.htm. Directions:
Coming from the east: Drive west on I-8 from Yuma. After you pass through El Centro, watch for the Dunaway exit about 15 miles west of El Centro. The exit sign will also say "State Prison". Go 1.5 miles north on Dunaway Road and turn left(west) on S-80. Go 1.7 miles until you see a sign on your right that says "Plaster City East Staging Area". There is a bridge just past this sign — if you go over the bridge you've gone too far west. Turn right (north) at the sign and go about 0.2 miles on a dirt road. Watch to your right for a nondescript road which heads up a low hill to the northeast. Follow that road to the top of the hill where you should see a group of rocketeers on the flat area straight ahead of you. You're there! Coming from the west: Drive east on I-8 from San Diego about 80 miles. After you drop down to the desert you will pass by Ocotillo. Go about 8-9 miles and watch for the Dunaway exit — it's the first exit past Ocotillo. The exit sign will also say "State Prison". Go 1.5 miles north on Dunaway Road and turn left (west) on S-80. Go 1.7 miles until you see a sign on your right that says "Plaster City East Staging Area". There is a bridge just past this sign — if you go over the bridge you've gone too far west. Turn right (north) at the sign and go about 0.2 miles on a dirt road. Watch to your right for a nondescript road which heads up a low hill to the northeast. Follow that road to the top of the hill where you should see a group of rocketeers on the flat area straight ahead of you. You're there! Plaster Blaster 6
October 4-7, 2006
Plaster City, California Website: http://www.plasterblaster.com/index.html
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