Rocketry Planet

LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — Day Two at LDRS 29 began to look eerily like day one. Little or no action! It was another day where the weather conspired against ROC and LDRS. 72 pads lay dormant waiting to be flown off. The strong west/northwest winds from Day One had subsided into periods of relative calm to prolonged gusts of over 25 MPH.

SLIDESHOW: Stickshock23's Mark Hayes poses for the Discover Channel camera with his huge Little Joe, which went on to perform spectacularly for the crowd.

Stickshock23's Mark Hayes poses for the Discover Channel camera with his huge Little Joe, which went on to perform spectacularly for the crowd. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

The flight line was packed and the parking area/pits extended over a quarter of a mile long and were three to four deep. "Go Fever" had not spread throughout the camp yet. Most of the fliers were simply opting to wait it out, after all how long can the wind blow over 20 miles an hour? We will find out.

Sharpe Entertainment, the production company for The Discovery Channel spent most of the day getting back ground footage. They did get to tape an extended shot with Team Sticker Shock and their Mercury Little Joe. The rocket did fly and performed above expectation. All four motors, two K-570's and two K-160's, lit and the rocket was lucky enough to catch a lull in the wind and landed back on the flight line.

There were a few hearty souls that brought some of their big guns to the pads. Chris LaPanse was looking for 17,000 feet with his AMRAAM. Unfortunately, the M-2300 Dual Thrust motor catoed less than a second into the flight. England's Ben Jarvis took a whack at putting something big in the air with his Champagne Super Nova, but will not be taking the big rocket back to the UK.

SLIDESHOW: Brian Weese, left, dragged raced himself, using an X-15 on a K550 and the F-104 on a J350. In a surprise upset, he won!

Brian Weese, left, dragged raced himself, using an X-15 on a K550 and the F-104 on a J350. In a surprise upset, he won! Photo: Rockets Magazine.

There were some of the normal stunt/scripted rockets you would expect when the Discovery cameras are rolling. There was a neat football rocket with fumble recovery. There were also teams of college students with super-light-weight rockets resembling buildings and other somewhat recognizable structures. They flew in heavy winds with G and H motors, with the expected results upon landing.

The day included multiple certification attempts, some successful and some not so successful. While many of the fliers spent time resting or socializing, there was a steady trickle of G, H, I and J flights.  These flights kept people on their toes and eyes cocked to the sky.

One of the highlights was Brian Weese drag racing himself with his X-15 on a K-550 and his F-104 on a J-350. The F-104 smoked the X-15 off the pad but the X-15 took the altitude prize.

The big Interceptor upscale was simply cool.

The Wildman-sponsored N-10,000 drag race was scheduled to go off at 6:00. While the rockets were being RSO'ed, it was noticed that all of the seven rockets had rail buttons for the 1515 or 1500 rail, (depending what you like to call it). The problem was ROC only owns one of these rails that can be easily moved to accommodate the seven rocket drag race. The ROC team quickly raced into action and somehow scrounged up enough pads and rails to support the 60 to 70 pound N-powered rockets.

By the time this took place, the winds were steadily screaming at well over 20 MPH. The N-10,000 drag race is now scheduled for 9:00, which is scheduled to take place an hour before most of the participants are supposed to be taking part in the J-powered Sweet 16 Drag Race. I'll let you know how that works out, as I am in both of these. Until tomorrow, I'll keep you posted.

Special to Rocketry Planet.

Reader comments:

#1 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day One sees winds curb flights, not enthusiasm

I hope the tent didn't damage the Mega DarkStar at the Wildman Camp???????
Gary

TFRLLC on 06-11-2010 03:50 PM

#2 Article: LDRS 29 Day Two sees more wind despite rocket sacrifices

Quote:

LDRS 29 Day Two sees more wind despite rocket sacrifices
by Neil McGilvray

LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — Day Two at LDRS 29 began to look eerily like day one. Little or no action! It was another day where the weather conspired against ROC and LDRS. 72 pads lay dormant waiting to be flown off. The strong west/northwest winds from Day One had subsided into periods of relative calm to prolonged gusts of over 25 MPH.

The flight line was packed and the parking area/pits extended over a quarter of a mile long and were three to four deep. "Go Fever" had not spread throughout the camp yet. Most of the fliers were simply opting to wait it out, after all how long can the wind blow over 20 miles an hour? We will find out.

Sharpe Entertainment, the production company for The Discovery Channel spent most of the day getting back ground footage.

Read the full article.

Planet News on 06-12-2010 04:49 PM

#3 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day One sees winds curb flights, not enthusiasm

Nice reporting. I for one am on pins and needles waiting to hear about the N powered drag race.

UncleVanya on 06-12-2010 04:59 PM

#4 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day One sees winds curb flights, not enthusiasm

I really want to thank Neil and Bob from ROCKETS Magazine for their submissions as well. As busy as they are, they could have begged off given that Jerry was submitting coverage, but they didn't. As a result, Rocketry Planet readers are getting better coverage than they have ever enjoyed from a national launch. The coverage is almost in real time, held back only by the layout and copy technician.

ddmobley on 06-12-2010 05:08 PM

#5 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day One sees winds curb flights, not enthusiasm

Quote:

Nice reporting. I for one am on pins and needles waiting to hear about the N powered drag race.

So am I! Should happen sometime today..About noonish on the right coast..High winds last night prevented the N drag race..Man, I wanna see pictures/videos of the MEGA Darkstar going up!

pantherjon on 06-13-2010 10:36 AM

#6 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day Three sees many more flights, BOD drag race

Quote:

LDRS 29 Day Three sees many more flights, BOD drag race
by Neil McGilvray

LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — Good things come to those who wait. The strong winds of the past two days abated enough for LDRS to finally look like LDRS. The crowd had swelled to over 1/3 of mile long and four to five double rows deep. Estimated attendance of fliers and spectators was well over 2,000. Those in attendance picked the best day yet to witness some no holds barred rocket flying.

The day started earlier and rockets were being launched just after 7:00 am. While rockets up through the J, K and L range were being launched with regularity, the away cell was buzzing with activity surrounding the Wildman sponsored N-10,000 drag race. During the night the leadership of ROC was able to cobble together the needed seven pads to handle these fire breathing monsters. Discovery covered the launch and was front and center as six rockets roared off the pads. Crazy Jim Hendricksen had installed a large sparky motor in his rocket and lumbered off the pad long after the first six had broken mach.

Read the full article.

Planet News on 06-14-2010 12:50 PM

#7 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day Three sees many more flights, BOD drag race

Thanks for the photo of the 4 stage Comanche. That is the result of some hard work by Stephen Beal, Phil Laisure, (that's me!), with contributions from Kristopher Schumacher, and Nathan Beal. This was a LOT of work to do! We recovered the 3 booster stages, with 1 fin broken off the 3rd stage. The 4th stage got the parachute harness tangled up in the e-matches for the deployment, and didn't deploy. All but 1 of the electronic events went off, the one that didn't was a 3rd back-up for chute deployment in one of the boosters. We're wondering, is there any past history of any trying a 4-stage rocket? Inquiring minds want to know. Phil Laisure

maxitout on 06-14-2010 07:39 PM

#8 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day Three sees many more flights, BOD drag race

Phil, welcome to Rocketry Planet! Your first post was nearly on your first anniversary!

ddmobley on 06-14-2010 07:42 PM

#9 Re: Article: LDRS 29 Day Four saw the range open early, close late

Quote:

LDRS 29 Day Four saw the range open early, close late
by Neil McGilvray

LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — Day Four of LDRS 29 was open early and ran late. The wind had shifted to the north and varied between dead calm and gusts to over twenty. While the wind was down in the early morning, Nibbles the Space Cat, took to the sky. The world famous feline was boosted on an M-1550 and proceeded to air start combinations of K-540's, K-700's and finishing the flight with a set of J-570's. The pampered pet was recovered with the aid of nine different parachutes.

The flight line stayed busy all day long. Discovery was up at the crack of dawn filming the conclusion of ill conceived Sweet Sixteen Drag Race. By 9:00 AM the winner or more appropriately the survivor was crowned. Despite the lack of reality in reality TV, having Kari Byron at the launch overrode any of the participant's misgivings in participating or trashing their drag racing rockets.

Read the full article.

Planet News on 06-14-2010 10:26 PM

#10 Re: Article: Article: LDRS 29 Day Two sees more wind despite rocket sacrifices

Dang whos that guy with the sexy rocket on the first page of the article??

More photos to come soon. LOL buy the way the Little joe flight was AWESOME.. (along with 100's of other cool flights)

Stickershock23 on 06-15-2010 05:02 PM

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Stickshock23's Mark Hayes poses for the Discover Channel camera with his huge Little Joe, which went on to perform spectacularly for the crowd. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

All four motors, two K-570's and two K-160's, lit and the rocket was lucky enough to catch a lull in the wind and landed back on the flight line. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

Brian Weese, left, dragged raced himself, using an X-15 on a K550 and the F-104 on a J350. In a surprise upset, he won! Photo: Rockets Magazine.

The F-104, right, smoked the X-15, left, off the pad but the X-15 roared past and took the altitude prize. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

Chris LaPanse was looking for 17,000 feet with his AMRAAM. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

Unfortunately, the M2300 Dual Thrust motor catoed less than a second into the flight. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

Nice saucer flight under power. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

An ARMY Hawk streaks into the air. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

An Honest John heads into the desert air. Photo: Rockets Magazine.

What a brilliant flame! Photo: Rockets Magazine.

Houston, we have a problem. Photo: Rockets Magazine.