Tripoli Mid Ohio’s final launch of the first half of our 2018/2019 season was a fairly quiet event. Mother Nature gave us plenty of blue skies and winds better suited to kite flying, but that did not stop the 10 fliers and a host of spectators from have a good time and some long walks.
Andrew Kleinhenz made the long trek down I-75 to launch his Mad Cow “Frenzy” on an AT I284W and his scratch-built “Red Rocket #2” on an AT I211W. Both were recovered successfully using the Jolly Logic Chute Release.
Andrew brought Bruce Levison with him. Bruce launched his PML “Ariel” on an AT I200W and recovered it with the Jolly Logic Chute release.
Jim Rosmarin launched his very green Binder Design “Sentinel” and a very green I245 for a nice flight & recovery.
Kelvin McMillin is getting back into rocketry and discovering all of the neat toys that we have to play with. He launched a very old LOC Precision rocket on an H123 with dual deploy via the Jolly Logic Chute release. I believe that a certain rocketeer from Bowling Green has been doing a sales job at our launches!
The sparse turn out allowed TMO staff to actually launch some rockets, something that does not always happen when you are running a launch and assisting other fliers.
Bob McAninch launched his much worn “Ursa Major” twice on Research motors. The first flight on a K924 Everclear motor send Bob across the creek to retrieve his rocket. Flight number two on a K394 Wayside White kept the rocket in our primary field.
TMO Tap Member Joe Grubb, with assistance from son Adam, launched his scratch-build “Cherokee” on an AT K535W to an altitude of 2944 feet AGL and a close recovery.
TMO Secretary/Treasurer Steve Temple launched his “Arrow” on an AT K540 and got very close to one mile high and a long way away. The rocket deployed the main at apogee and was recovered by Andrew Kleinhenz and the infamous rocket recovery quad.
Bill Good launched his Mad Cow “AGM 33 Pike” on an AT K456DM to 5000 feet AGL and managed to keep the rocket in the primary field about 150 yards off the flight line.
Bert Garrison launched his Public Enemy “Performer” on a Loki H144 Loki White for a nice flight. The wind turned the rocket into a plow, resulting in a large amount of damage to the gorgeous rocket. Bert has his repair work cut out. On a positive note, Bert passed his TRA Level 2 exam, scoring 100% on both the Safety and Technical portions of the test. He postponed his L2 flight until the fall. Congratulation!
Joyce Smith from Cincinnati, by way of The Ohio State University, came out to attempt her Level 2 certification. After passing the written exam with 100% on both portions of the test, she launched her “Flower Spiral” on an AT J350W, never to be seen again. Almost. Joyce and some folks from OSU spent several hours searching for the certification rocket but came up empty-handed. But wait, the story gets better; please read on.
Steve Temple and Gary Dickinson were ‘unwinding’ after the launch was shut down, and the subject of Ms. Smith’s flight came up. After revisiting the flight track the two of them set off in search of the wayward rocket. A scan of some white “stuff” off of SR41 turned up nothing. They stopped in to talk with one of the adjacent land owners, who gave them permission to venture onto an adjoining field. Three minutes after exiting the ‘Rocket Transport & Recovery Vehicle’, Dickinson yelled out “Found it!” Joyce, congratulations on a successful flight. Looking forward to your Level 3 project and your work as Propulsion Lead for the Buckeye Space Launch Initiative next year.
If you have been in this hobby long enough, you may remember a rocket avionics company by the name of G-Wiz; they stopped production in 2012. Rob Briody, one of the principles, showed up to see what we are all about. He and his family are living in Beavercreek. We hope to see Rob as a regular in the coming months as we can always use an extra hand in cleaning and maintaining our launch gear.
Well folks, that is all until November. I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting our prefecture, including Lee Berry and Merlin Missile Solutions. We could not do what we do without the support of our landowners, Chuck & Carol Wildman and Chad Wilt; along with all of the surrounding folks that allow us to retrieve our wayward projects.
I hope that you have had fun during this interesting portion of our season. Here’s hoping and praying for a mild winter and some good weather. Stay safe this summer and get out and fly some rockets; there are some great regional/national launches coming up including:
• NSL and URRF in New York
• Mini Midwest Power in Princeton Illinois
And if you don’t mind a serious drive or two:
• LDRS in California
• AIRFEST in Argonia Kansas
• BALLS, Black Rock Nevada
SYATNL!!
