Just north of Interstate 80 in Princeton, Illinois, north off of state road 26, is a small town named Limerick.  Or not.  There's not really a town there, it's just a spot on a map.  What is there, though, is acre after acre of flat farmland and home of Tripoli Quad Cities' high power launches.  And every year after the corn is harvested, the site plays host to Midwest Power, Quad Cities Rocketry Society's annual gathering.

Midwest Power IV was held on October 27-29, 2006, and with a 21,000 foot standing waiver plus call-ins for higher altitudes, the sky was the limit for the event.  The two day show also featured a night launch to commemorate Halloween, and the results were outstanding.  MC'ed by the Wildman himself, Tim Lehr, there were lots of great flights captured on the ROCKETS Magazine Midwest Power IV video set.  Those of you who do not know Tim don't know what a personality they are missing out on.  His enthusiasm for the sport is often contagious.

So I found a nice comfortable chair and a glass of good old Southern iced tea, and combined with my remote, went about getting comfortable to watch the launch.  There must be something sinful about enjoying such a spectacular outdoor event from the comfort of your recliner, inside, under the air conditioning, but I'm not going let my conscience start bothering me about it at this point.

Drag racers had nice paint.

List of drag participants.

Winners' secret weapon.

Project Anarchy-X.

Team ARV Condor 6X.

The video starts with Saturday's flier's meeting, and Lehr telling everyone that their evil nemesis, High Wind, is there and showing his natural butt.  But anyone who flies in Illinois is used to this devil showing up and most have just chosen to ignore it.  As long as it stays at 19.99MPH and below, the launch is on.

One of the highlights of Saturday was the Mad Dog Drag Race.  Wildman Rocketry and Performance Rocketry teamed up to sponsor the event which was based on the popular Mad Dog kit, using an altimeter to record the contest altitude.  Motor selection was limited to certified 54mm motors.  The winner was the highest altitude, the loser was the lowest.  Over 30 participants signed up to be a part of this unique contest and I have to say, there were some beautiful paint jobs on the entries.

Winning the contest got you a $150 Wildman gift certificate, but losing got your photo in a bright sunflower dress.  I saw the winner, Dan Zupan, receive his gift certificate from the Wildman at Saturday night's banquet, but my hat's off to the film crew because I did not witness a man in a sunflower dress on the video.  Congratulations to Dan, though, for his winning altitude of 12,337 feet on a Cesaroni L730.

One of the highlights of the launch was the flight of "Project Anarchy X," the 12.5 foot tall, 12 inch diameter rocket of Clay Kramer.  Kramer drove up from Woodstock, Georgia, to be a part of the Midwest Power launch, and flew the rocket on an N2000 surrounded by six (yes, SIX) M1700 motors, totaling 60,000 Newton-seconds of power.  Built using phenolic tubing wrapped with KEVLAR and carbon fiber, machined aluminum centering rings and aircraft aluminum fins also covered with KEVLAR and carbon fiber, this rocket was loaded for bear.
Question: When does an I284 have a 60 second burn time?  Answer: When you are Paul Adam and your rocket, "Bush Sucks," never leaves the pad.  For unknown reasons, Paul's rocket sat on the pad and smoldered for an unbelievable amount of time, never even generating a chuff.  Perhaps the President sent the Secret Service out the night before to tamper with Paul's reload? 

The video had a great smattering of all the usual suspects, faces known to loiter around places where large amounts of ammonium perchlorate are consumed.  The evidence alone is incriminating, but hardly unexpected. 

Gordon McGrew's "Snakes on a Rocket", very appropriate for a Halloween-time launch, flew great on an I154.  Michael Gross brought out a fire hydrant which flew on a G64, but was a little slow on the chute.  Scott Kormeier showed off his "Stinger 3," a nice carbon fiber two-stage that flew on a J420 staged to an I154.  Frank Roushar redefined "Blink, gone" with his I285-powered Big Daddy.  Simon Crafts, with a rocket named "Cardinals World Champs," wins the Most Energetic Disassembly AND Closest to the LCO. 

Terry & Steve Temple, after flying their F40-powered "Tennessa Porta Potty" on a horizontal flight path, gave new meaning to the phrase "tumble recovery."  Randy Lutz's Mini Magg, on a sparky I315, created the ultimate self-packing rocket as if the Mini Magg wasn't short enough to begin with.  What can I say about Dean Gelinskey's Switch Blade on an N2800?  What a nice knobby motor! 

I need to give a shout out to my old friend, Dean Roth, for an unbelievably straight boost in his rocket with an M1550.  And thanks to the person who sacrificed their rocket to the tip of the tallest tree anywhere in the area.  The Rocket Gods were obviously appeased.

Not to be left out, our MC even got in some action.  A group project called "Team Condor," a 6X upscale of the ARV Condor, flew on an L1080 with R/C control on both of the gliders, one of which was piloted by Tim Lehr.  But Lehr wasn't done there, as he got off his "Mega Wildman," a huge rocket that left town in a hurry on an N motor and six M's!

It looks like the guys at Quad Cities Rocketry Society put on one heck of a show.  And once again, the guys at ROCKETS Magazine have produced a winner.  Get a copy today, for your very own recliner.

10-18-2007 06:25 PM  #1
dixontj93060 Certified Level Two   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 39	Mwp V Just whets my appetite for MWP V coming up next week!!!

10-18-2007 11:10 PM  #2
edk Fly L3 AP   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 5	This year's projects are looking fantastic!!! If the weather holds, the large motor numbers will be off the charts.