Almost like a religious experience, the trek to the Mecca of amateur rocketry begins in the fall of each year, with all points leading to the deserts of northern Nevada.  The destination is slightly northeast of Gerlach, on the flat expanse of the Black Rock Desert, and the event is known as BALLS, the national experimental launch of the Tripoli Rocketry Association.  Now in its 16th year, the annual event is like the call of the wild to those individuals who have extreme hobby rocketry in their blood.

There is only one BALLS.  There is no other event remotely like it.  It is the epitome of all hobby rocketry launches.  It is what rocketeers get into the hobby for: to experience the sheer exhilaration of the sport.  BALLS itself is the definition of experimental rocketry.  Until you have experienced it for yourself, you will never really be able to appreciate it being labeled as such.

Steve Cutnilli and Rob Lamb's Fisher EX motor with forward closure-mounted sustainer ignition.

Jeff Short's Broken Arrow made a successful L3 flight at BALLS 16.

Don Alexander's phenomenal Army Hawk flew on an O and four M's.

Jack Garibaldi gets my Hard Luck award for the flight of his perfect full scale Nike Smoke.

Jeff Jakobs was on hand with a mega-hybrid, but experienced a nose cone separation early in his flight.

Once again, the guys at Liberty Launch Systems and ROCKETS Magazine have captured this quintessence digitally and make it possible for someone who's never been to BALLS to be able to get the taste of the desert playa right in their living room or the fine dust layered evenly on their desk top.

The Black Rock Desert is well known as the best place in North America for amateur rocketry enthusiasts to assault the skies time after time again without worry of where it's coming down if something doesn't go right.  And yes, the guys at ROCKETS have captured some of those flights that didn't go right on this DVD set for you to experience yourself.  Let me add that some of the world's most beautiful cursive skywriting is right here on this DVD set, displayed in live video and in individual photos.  And, it should go without saying, kudos to the University of Michigan guys for style during their participation in this unofficial event!

This DVD set is a great balance of individual interviews, coverage of the rockets and their creators, launch footage (using slow-motion in addition to regular speed footage), and in some cases, the stunning aftermath.  As a special treat, the DVD set allows the viewer to get a feel for the beginnings of the Tripoli Rocketry Association, with a candid interview with Chris Pearson, one of the early contributors to what the organization would one day become.  He presented a mini-history of his involvement as well as interesting tidbits of information.  I found it very interesting that when TRA was formed, they thought that an H motor was big - it was LDRS3 before anyone flew the first J motor!

By the very nature of their construction, most of the rockets flown at BALLS are not your typical high power rocket.  While a majority of the high power rockets flown at launch sites around the country every month are still predominantly constructed of cardboard, plywood and plastic, the rockets brought onto the desert lake bed at BALLS are mostly composite construction and lightweight metals.  While you can still find cardboard and plywood there, it is usually heavily reinforced with fiberglass and carbon fiber.

Interestingly enough, the growth of hobby rocketry over the years has been a result of scaling up construction techniques as well as materials used in model rocketry, which is why you see such wide-spread use of cardboard, plywood and plastic in the hobby.  At BALLS, you start to see the opposite effect: the scaling down of real rocket technology into the amateur hobby space.  The DVD set is extremely beneficial for those interested in seeing how the big boys do it and how we are adapting that technology on a hobby basis.

Recent online discussions touched on one of these particular topics: the use of forward end sustainer motor ignition by igniters that have been installed in the motor's forward closure.  Early in the video, there is coverage of the two-stage project of Steve Cutnilli and Rob Lamb, which clearly shows the forward closure and its accompanying electronics structure for the forward-mounted ignition source.  For me, this is an extra benefit of the DVD set, to help me visualize how this sort of technology can be scaled down even further for use in the heart of the high power market.

DVD Highlights:

It was nice to see Team Numb still moving forward after the loss of team member Alex McLaughlin, who died in March of 2007.  The team was on hand with a two-stage project to distribute some of Alex's ashes at apogee.

While somber, can we take a moment of silence for Jack Garibaldi's gorgeous full scale Nike Smoke?  Straight up… and… straight down.  Sorry Jack.  My personal favorite two-stage flight was Ron Freiheit's T2-Dynacom M1380 staged to an M650.  What a nice flight!  Slow liftoff, perfect staging.

Probably the best flight of the event was Richard Hagensick's launch of The Q Reaction, which reached 86,000 feet.  The video featured picture-in-picture of Hagensick's on-board video within the regular launch coverage window.

All in all, a great package, featuring over four hours of entertainment and over 2,500 photos.  Add this one to you library, it's a must-see.