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Hobby Rocketry Launch Reports
Commemorative launch held last weekend in Titusville, FL
Launch Report by Manuel Mejia, Jr.   
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Commemorative launch held last weekend in Titusville, FL

The�U.S. Spacewalk of Fame and the City of Titusville, Florida, held a commemorative model rocket launch to mark 50 years of manned space flight on June 18, 2011. In addition to paying tribute to manned space flight, the launch also commemorated the last Space Shuttle Launch scheduled for July of 2011.

The U.S. Spacewalk of Fame is dedicated to the achievements of the local space workforce who made it possible for Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center to function. Without those people, there would have been no flight for Alan Shepard, no flight for John Glenn, no moon landing, or any Space Shuttle launches to build an International Space Station.� Many of those people are long term residents of the City of Titusville.

 
18 year-old flier knocks out L1-2-3 at Oregon's First Thaw
Launch Report by David Harris, L3   
Sunday, April 17, 2011
18 year-old flier knocks out L1-2-3 at Oregon's First Thaw
At First Thaw, hosted by Oregon Rocketry over the first weekend in April, I was honored with the privilege of attempting all three Tripoli certification levels in a two-day span following my 18th birthday. I've been flying rockets all my life, really getting into high power over the last two yea...
 
Tripoli Cherryfield back to launching rockets at May event
Launch Report by David Smith, RSO & Scribe   
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Tripoli Cherryfield back to launching rockets at May event
CHERRYFIELD, Maine USA — Saturday was an odd day. The winds aloft were light out of the northeast but we had a sea breeze from the southwest close to the surface. Rich Willey and I did our best to figure out where to place the launch rail and spectators. We wound up on the southwest corner of...
 
Day 4 of LDRS 29 at Lucerne yields power to the people
Launch Report by Jerry Irvine   
Monday, June 14, 2010
Day 4 of LDRS 29 at Lucerne yields power to the people
LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — With the crowds a bit diminished and the rockets growing in size, day 4 of LDRS-29 brings to California what we brought to the rest of the country oh so many moons ago. More power to you! The vendors are hoppin' and the pads are fillin' with oddrocs, ...
 
Day 3 of LDRS 29 sees the grand tradition continuing
Launch Report by Jerry Irvine   
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Day 3 of LDRS 29 sees the grand tradition continuing
LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — Some say, 'go big!', others say 'go low.' Some say potatah some say potato. Some flights are destined to get headlines because the rocket is big, or complex, or a finishing dream, or some outsized motor. But when you shoot for 'low', t...
 
Day 2 of LDRS 29 sees moderate winds and good flying
Launch Report by Jerry Irvine   
Friday, June 11, 2010
Day 2 of LDRS 29 sees moderate winds and good flying
LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — The weather is a comfortable 75 degrees and the vendors are setting up their booths and setting out their wares. The participants are beginning to assemble and display their 'headline' rockets for the benefit of the Discovery Channel crew cruising aro...
 
Day 1 of LDRS 29 sees high winds with little to no flying
Launch Report by Jerry Irvine   
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Day 1 of LDRS 29 sees high winds with little to no flying
LUCERNE DRY LAKE, California USA — The weather is mild with temperatures around 75 and stiff winds around 25MPH gusting to 45. The launch site is a dustbowl. There is considerable site prep completed but nobody is crazy enough to launch.� The weather forecast for Friday is for decreasing winds...
 
Chasing the N record: Pursuing stratospheric dreams
Launch Report by Mark B. Canepa   
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Chasing the N record: Pursuing stratospheric dreams
Four years ago, James Dougherty didn't know the difference between a G80 and an M2500. A computer programmer from Northern California, Dougherty spent most of his time in Silicon Valley helping start-up companies and their customers with complex computer systems. In his spare time he liked to dr...
 
Steve Eves' Field of Dreams: The Launch of the Saturn V
Launch Report by Mark B. Canepa   
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Steve Eves' Field of Dreams: The Launch of the Saturn V
In the 1989 baseball film, Field of Dreams, farmer Ray Kinsella is walking his property one evening when he suddenly has a vision of a lighted baseball diamond in the middle of his Iowa corn field. Along with this vision, he hears an unfamiliar and ghostly voice, reaching out to him from the past. H...
 
Tulsa Rocketry's High Frontier 6 launch a big success
Launch Report by Jon Kerfoot, Tulsa Rocketry   
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Tulsa Rocketry's High Frontier 6 launch a big success
PAWHUSKA, Oklahoma USA — With over 300 flights over two days and plenty of rocket raffles and competitions, Tulsa Rocketry's sixth annual High Frontier regional rocket launch was a huge success! After a few years of dealing with trying weather conditions caused by an October date, the club...
 
One man's quest to honor America's Saturn V rocket
Launch Report by Mark B. Canepa   
Monday, April 13, 2009
One man's quest to honor America's Saturn V rocket
On April 25, 2009, history will be made.� At Higgs Farm in Price, Maryland, Steve Eves will enter the history books as the person who flew the largest scale model rocket in history. The rocket will weigh over 1,600 pounds, it will stand over 36 feet tall and it will be powered by a massive array of ...
 
Big dreams can become big realities, in Kansas
Launch Report by Darrell D. Mobley   
Friday, September 05, 2008
Big dreams can become big realities, in Kansas
ARGONIA, Kansas USA — A growing folk story is winding its way out of the Kansas heartland about a young lady who would go on to become the youngest female member of the Tripoli Rocketry Association to certify Level 3, an event that occurred over the Labor Day weekend and the LDRS national laun...
 
Success in pursuit of the NAR Jr. Level 1 certification
Launch Report by Niccolo von Grebmer, AKA nick   
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Success in pursuit of the NAR Jr. Level 1 certification
We all told him he couldn't do it. Rather than discouraging him, we should have been encouraging him to reach for the brass ring.� Thankfully, Niccolo von Grebmer didn't let us keep him from his goal, that of successfully achieving his NAR Jr. Level 1 certification.� "It all started when my...
 
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High Power Rocketry's Top 10 Biggest Regional Launches

I have a friend who has the goal of watching a baseball game in every big league stadium in America. He's been to Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium, to Fenway Park and Chavez Ravine, and a dozen other parks scattered throughout the land. Every year he makes it to a new field, sometimes even two, and returns home with great memories—and enough hats and shirts—to last a lifetime.His most recent journey—to Progressive Field in Cleveland—got me thinking about high power rocketry's biggest venues and how this hobby has continued to grow in the last ten years. Some impressive traditions are alive and well out there at the biggest regional events in America.

 

Chasing the N record: Pursuing stratospheric dreams

Four years ago, James Dougherty didn't know the difference between a G80 and an M2500. A computer programmer from Northern California, Dougherty spent most of his time in Silicon Valley helping start-up companies and their customers with complex computer systems. In his spare time he liked to drive sports cars, have fun at the beach, or just hang out with his wife and daughter.Today, Dougherty is among a handful of hard core, high-power rocketry enthusiasts — in the United States and abroad — who are quickly moving toward a new altitude record for a commercial N motor. These fliers, taking advantage of technologic advancements in rocket motors and recovery systems — and their own hard work — believe they can clear 50,000 feet, or higher, on a single N. That's an altitude nearly two miles higher than commercial jetliners typically fly, and close to four miles higher than the peak of Mt. Everest. This is the realm of the stratosphere, where thunderstorms are born and the air density is nearly one-eighth that found at sea level.

 

One man's quest to honor America's Saturn V rocket

On April 25, 2009, history will be made.  At Higgs Farm in Price, Maryland, Steve Eves will enter the history books as the person who flew the largest scale model rocket in history. The rocket will weigh over 1,600 pounds, it will stand over 36 feet tall and it will be powered by a massive array of nine motors: eight 13,000ns N-Class motors and a 77,000ns P-Class motor. The estimated altitude of this single stage effort will be between 3,000 and 4,000 feet and the project will be recovered at apogee. In a special to Rocketry Planet, author Mark B. Canepa and ROCKETS Magazine wish to share Steve Eve's story with the readers here.

 

The Jarvis Illustrated Guide to Carbon Fiber Construction

Over the last few years, many people have asked Jim Jarvis of Austin, Texas, how he makes his carbon fiber rockets. So when he had an opportunity to make a new fin can, he decided to document the process in detail.The result of the build was the TooCarbYen Tutorial presented in this article. Actually, tutorial isn't a particularly accurate name for the build since it implies instruction on the proper way to do something. This article isn't about the best way to build carbon fiber rockets, it's about how Jim builds carbon fiber rockets, presented in enough detail to allow others to execute the process if they so choose.

 

HJ101: Turbocharging the Estes Maxi Brute Honest John

This edition of the Rocketry Planet How-To Classroom is based on the Estes Maxi Brute Honest John, a 1/9 scale model of the venerable ballistic missile used by the United States Army. This class covers the Estes first edition Maxi Brute kit #1269 released in 1975, the Estes second edition Collector Series kit #1269 released in 1993 or the third edition Maxi Brute kit #2166 released in 2000.This kit is approaching collector status, if it hasn't already, and you can still find them occassionally on eBay for reasonable prices. This class project features dual deployment with an altimeter bay, fiberglass airframe reinforcing and fiberglass fins to replace the thin styrene shells that come in the standard kit. In fact, of the original kits, we are mainly using the styrene fin canisters and the two-piece styrene nose cones while replacing most everything else — this is imperative to be able to fly these kits on 38mm and 54mm motors.

Upcoming Events

ROSCO Sport Launch Orangeburg, SC
October 13 - 14, 2012
(Local Launch)
Rocketry of South Carolina sport launch Night launch Saturday possible

Oktoberfest, Tripoli Las Vegas, NV
October 19 - 21, 2012
(Regional Launch)
at Jean Dry Lake South of Las Vegas, NV. Located between mile marker 9 & 10 Las Vegas Blvd South....

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