Spring 2004 Fun Fly Report
April 03, 2004

Spring Fun Fly featuring the Kentucky Tour de Deuce: 2004/04/03
Bluegrass Rocketry Society - NAR 657

WOW! What an absolute gorgeous day BluesRockS had flying the Deuces here in Kentucky.

Patrick and Patricia Harvey, Dennis Stevens, Joe Magginnis and Terry Dean met at out Hardin County launch site for a fun filled day of launching rockets and munching on some Barbecue. The weather was almost perfect, the day was bright and clear. There was a constant breeze with gusts reaching 15-20mph or so , BlueSkies indeed!

The wind may have keep the larger birds from flying but we managed about 50 flights in five hours:

- Terry practiced his high wind competition flying with an Alpha, launching it about 8 times. He also showed us his latest rockets with body tubes made of Kapton.

- Dennis brought his latest project; a Quickcreat tube that launches six Alpha's at once. The launcher itself will be made up as one HUGH Alpha with a nosecone that springs off to launch the cluster of six little ones. Very cool.

- Joe launched 12 birds on their maiden voyage. Talk about a building frenzy! He launched all 12 without one bit of damage I could see, and managed a perfect score on deployments.

- I managed to burn a 1/2" hole in Terry's blast plate when my Aerotrash II hung on the launch rod, D12 burning about three inches above the plate. OUCH!!!

- Patricia launched a bevy of beautiful Saucers, cones and other oddroc goodness. Watching the 'WalMart Express' go up is always a blast. This is a rocket made from scraps found at the Georgetown Wally-World. TP fins, two paper towel tubes for the body, scrap corrugated cardboard and a bright blue WalMart bag for a parachute. Even the shroud lines are nice thick packing string they were throwing out. I did buy the 50 cent alien astronaut and glue, but at Wally's place!

A few hours of launching our oddball rockets made Patricia hungry, so she volunteered to grill the hamburgers and hot dogs. Joe's wife made a rather tasty potato salad, making this an official cookout. I think we should do this more often; I may even need to get a larger grill ;*)

After lunch I prepped both Deuces with C6-5's and gave them to Patricia to launch while I grabbed my trusty Nikon to try and capture the moment. Both rockets launched perfect with all motors firing and deployment right at apogee. Terry recovered the first one while Patricia went to retrieve the second. Both parachutes ejected for a full deploy, no scorching or landing damage. Gotta love that soft Kentucky bluegrass! I took two rolls of pictures and hope you enjoy the ones posted here.

Patrick

Patrick M. Harvey
NAR 81752 L2
Bluegrass Rocketry Society NAR# 657 - Advisor