BlueSkies 68 Report
June 08, 2013

Launch was at the Sod Farm in Elizabethtown, KY. It was a partly cloudy calm day. The winds gust up to about 70 mph but were steady at 0 - 5 mph. The sun did make a short appearance every once and a while but it was overcast most of the day.

We had 5 fliers with 31 flights on 38 motors burned. The total impulse was 577.4 N-sec. (Aerotech I364FJ) .

Motor breakdown:
  • 1/8A - 0
  • 1/4A - 0
  • 1/2A - 0
  • A - 5
  • B - 11
  • C - 12
  • D - 2
  • E - 6
  • F - 1
  • G - 1
  • H - 0
  • I - 0
  • J - 0
  • K - 0
  • L - 0
  • M - 0

    Flyers and their Birds.
    Name Flights Comments
    Jeff Caldwell 12
    1. Mars Lander (C6-3) Estimated 360 feet. First Launch of the day.
    2. Lil Ivan (C6-5) Height estimated at 850 feet. Nice straight flight.
    3. SST Shuttle (C6-3) 278 feet. Straight Lift off but glider did not release. Landed close to launch pad.
    4. Defender (3 x C6-7) 1600 feet. Excellent flight. Recovery was a bit far but not bad.
    5. Black Brandt (D12-5) 1260 feet. Nice straight flight. Fin dented on leading edge.
    6. PSC Infiity (2 x C6-0 / 2 X B6-6) 1575 feet. All motors ignited giving a gread flight.
    7. Micron (B6-6) 1150 feet. Good flight.
    8. MX-774 (C6-5) 860 feet. Great straight flight.
    9. Vanguard Eagle (B6-0/B6-6) All motors ignited. Great flight with a lot of height.
    10. M.L.A.S. (B4-2) 275 feet. Nice flight. Easy recovery.
    11. Hornet (C6-5) 850 feet. Nice straight flight.
    12. SST Shuttle (C6-3) Great Flight. Glider separated this time and glided next to the launch pad. Short recovery.
    Joe Magginnis 10
    1. Witchcraft (A8-3) Nice low flight. Easy recovery on a streamer.
    2. Tri Star (A8-3) Good Flight and easy recovery.
    3. R2D2 (A8-3) Good flight and easy recovery. Shock cord separated from body.
    4. Maxi Alpha III (E9-4) Drag race with Ed but Ed's did not ignite. Good Flight. Medium recovery.
    5. Mongoose (B6-0/A8-5) Good flight. Both engines ignited and booster separated. Easy recovery.
    6. Jupiter-C/Explorer-1 (A8-3) Good Flight parachute opened at about 5 feet from the ground. Easy recovery.
    7. Jupiter-C/Explorer-1 (A8-3) Good Flight was a bit higher on this flight. Medium recovery.
    8. Jupiter-C/Explorer-1 (A8-3) Good Flight much higher flight. Long recovery..
    9. Witchcraft(B6-4) Flight was on a Quest motor which produces a black smoke trail. Ejection did not deploy streamer and rocket came in ballastic. Damage to body tube just above fins and smashed end. Easy recovery.
    10. Maxi Alpha III (E9-4) Good flight but a medium walk to recover.
    Earl Branch 6
    1. Red Flame (E9-6) Nice straight flight went just out of site. Walk not too bad.
    2. Maxi Alpha III (E9-4) Drag race with Joe but did not ignite due to broken igniter. Ignited after 3rd ingiter. Good slow lift off. Medium walk.
    3. Hijacker(F20-4W) Gorgeous liftoff. straight high flight. Walk not too bad..
    4. Top Shot (E15-7W) Fast lift off. Out of site height. 150 yard walk.
    5. Hijacker (G53-7FJ) Earl's 1st built Aerotech RMS was a great success. Good height. Longest walk of the day.
    6. Maxi Alpha III(E20-7W) Nice high flight. Too much delay caused the shock cord to separate and the nose cone & parachute came down a lot slower than the body tube. No damage to model except for the shock cord breakage. Medium recovery.
    George Gradl 2
    1. Mach Buster (D12-7) After taping launch lug to body tube, a great straight high flight made it difficult to see the gray model. Easy recovery
    2. Big Bertha (B6-6) Good flight. Easy recovery.
    Judy Gradl 1
    1. Big Bertha (B6-6) Her first flight was a total success. Good height and easy recovery.

    We had a new member join. Earl Branch from the Cincy area came down with his lovely wife Patty who was a godsend for recovery. She must have wore out her tennis shoes recovering all the rockets. She was a lot of fun to talk with too. I hope we have the honor of seeing you at the next launch.
    Bring the kids too. We would enjoy having them launch with us.
    Earl flew a few rockets with us using the smallest motor of E9. Welcome to BRS. We appreciate your membership and participation.
    Earl brought a model from Mercury Engineering, the Hijacker which is the first model I have seen from this manufacturer. It is a sturdy looking model and Earl did a great job making it look good with a minimum application of paint. Unfortunely no one took pictures so it can not be seen on the web site yet. Hopefully he can bring it to the next launch and we can post pictures of it.
    Earl assembled and launched his first aerotech RMS motor and it worked flawlessly. Great job. Earl it was great meeting you and learning another technique on finishing model rockets.

    Later in the afternoon we were suprised with the presence of George Gradl, one of the earlier BRS members. He brought his Rocket Vision Mach Buster and Estes Big Bertha. He also brought his lovely wife Judy who launched the last rocket of the day.
    George it was great seeing you again after about 4 years, and I really enjoyed meeting your wife Judy. Glad you could get her to launch a model too.

    Our next Sport launch is scheduled for July 13th at the Sod Farm .
    Come and have fun.
    Hope to see ya all then.

    Stay tuned to this web site for launch schedule updates.

    Dues for the 2013 season are only $20.00 for the year.

    END 06/09/2013 END