SEARS 2008 Launch Schedule
Friday, December 14th, 2007Eleven launches with interesting events are planned for 2008 at the Samson, AL launch site.
Archive for the ‘Launch’ Category
Don’t Miss the January 5th SEARS Launch
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007Our next launch is January 5th 2008 in Samson, AL. The event is Maiden Flight Day. Use a green flight card for any first flight of a rocket and you will have a chance to draw from the prize pool. So this is a chance to get out the exacto and glue and show us something new. In particular, John Hansel will fly the Hewes Space Special for the first time. The Panama City Artist who painted the craft will be there to witness the flight.
SEARS December 1st 2007 Launch Report
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007The SEARS Dec 1st Launch in Samson was a Christmas present in itself! We were blessed with great weather having a high of 69 degrees and winds under 10 mph. Our event was ‘Tis The Season and John Hansel won the event with his Christmas Tree rocket. John Hansel also brought his Hewes Space Special to show. See it fly at the January 5th Launch.
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| John Hansel’s Christmas Tree Rocket | John Hansel’s Hewes Space Special |
Don’t miss the December 1st 2007 SEARS Launch
Monday, November 12th, 2007The next SEARS launch is December 1st 2007 at Samson, AL. Our event is ‘Tis the Season. So come fly a holiday themed rocket (on a green flight card) and get a chance for a draw from the SEARS prize pool. Here are some great examples.
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| Keith Stewart’s Naughty or Nice Santa | Shelby Foran’s Reindeer Rocket. |
Click here for more launch info. Greg
SEARS November 3rd 2007 Launch Report
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007SEARS 572 had the monthly launch in Samson today, 11-3-07. The day started out cool, with no breeze at all. The winds picked up as the day worn on and were 10-15 mph by the time we left at 2:00 PM.
There were only 7 fliers for the day. Those who could not make it missed a good day. There were 9 high power flights, with the biggest one being John Hansel’s Super Shadow on a J420. Jack Kale was the most frequent flyer, with 9 flights.
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| Randy’s Scratch Rocket on an I | Marty’s Shuttle Thang |
Webelos Rocket Rally Oct 27 2007
Saturday, October 27th, 2007SEARS supported this years Webelos Rocket Rally near Elberta, AL. There were 38 participants. Each Webelo made two individual launches. SEARS flew several demo rockets including an 4 inch AMRAAM on an I211 motor. We also setup the mass launcher. There were twenty Starhawks in the mass launch. This is a very enjoyable event at the skydiving center. Richard Gean has invited us back for next year. There were a number of webelos that remembered last years launch.
SEARS Research Launch Report for Oct 21st 2007
Sunday, October 21st, 2007The first SEARS Tripoli research launch was held on the afternoon of Oct 21st 2007 at Samson, AL. Kendall Brent did a static burn of a sugar motor and launched several rockets with sugar motors. See Kendall’s report below for the details. We also had some commercial motor launches. Chris Short brought a friend Halley from Auburn. Chris and Halley are members of this years Student Launch Initiative. John Hansel, Greg Lane and Chris Crews also attended. All flights were successful except for one CATO. The pictures are available here and the videos are here.
Click thru the slideshow below of the static burn of a sugar motor in a three inch PVC casing.
Thanks to Chris for setting up the research launch and Kendall for showing us his motors.
Greg
I came with 5 research motors, 4 to fly and one for a hole in the ground static test. There were 3 KNSO sugar motors. Two of these were singal use PVC with remachines aerotech nozzels. Big sugar is a 3 inch PVC motor useing a 54mm aerotech nozzel bored out to 9/16. The singel fuel grain was cast as a 1/2 by 1 1/2 C slot in a 9 inch 3 inch coupler. The total grain weighed 2.75 pounds. This motor was static tested and burned as expected. The other PVC motor was made from 1.25 PVC useing a remachine 29 mm aerotech nozzel bored out to .25 inch. The singel fuel grain was a C slot cast in a 5 inch 38mm liner tube with a .125 by .75 slot. This motor power a flight with a PerfectFlite timer for recovery. The other Sugar motor was a 3 Bates grain in 54mm Loki case. This motor suffered a CATO soon after ingition(see video) . Cause of CATO is expected to be either inhibitor failure or cracking of the grains at ignition. A 4 grain 38mm CPAP (Tiger Tales) was used to take my Firestorm 54 to 2900 ft. The final motor was a research Hybrid which failed to fill. The cause of the failure turned out to be a defective Press to connect fitting in the motor.
SEARS Tripoli Research Launch is a GO!
Monday, October 15th, 2007The first SEARS Tripoli Research Launch will be Oct 21st in Samson. The waiver will open at 1 PM. See more info on research launches here.
Greg
October 17th, 2007 at 2:42 pm If you have any questions please call me at 850-554-6531. This will be a very slow paced launch and there is likely to be less than a dozen flights. Please fell free to come out and watch but understand that spectators are not allowed onto the range for any reason. Lets make this a great first research launch. There will be a controller and a rail for HPR. If your are Tripoli L2 or above you can fly commercial. Greg is going to bring his low/mid power launch pads and controller.
The Next SEARS Launch is Nov 3rd 2007
Saturday, October 13th, 2007Our event will be Scratch Rocket Day. Fly your own scratch built rocket using a green special event flight card and you will be entered to pick a prize from the SEARS prize pool. Click here for more launch info. Greg
SEARS Oct 6th 2007 Launch
Sunday, October 7th, 2007All,
We had a overcast day in Samson, AL with steady 8-10 mph winds. Our event was Odd Rock Day. Cliff Oliver of Panama City won the event with his Spook Rocket.
Our special feature was the Snitch Invasion Mass Launch. I believe we had 21 Estes Snitch rockets on the pad and all but one flew.
John Hansel had an interesting launch of his Nike Smoke on a Contrail M Hybrid. He expected 3000 feet and only got 600 feet. There will be some analysis on why it under performed.
See more pictures and the videos.
Thanks for a great day! A special thanks to the Panama City group who make the trip and contributed to the Snitch Invasion! The next launch is Nov 3rd. and the event is Scratch Rocket Day. Fly any Scratch Rocket on a green flight card and you have a chance to win a prize.
Greg
