SEARS held its monthly launch on March 13 at Green’s Sod Farm. It was too windy to fly rockets but some of us were brave (foolish) enough to try anyway. Saucers and streamer rockets were good choices. The monthly event was Maiden Launch. Rick Gutknecht won the draw with an Applewhite Flying Disk. This little paper saucer flies on an E motor and tumbles down.

  The Samson TARC team continues to improve their design. They used a triple D-12 cluster in a BT-80 rocket with enough streamer to rope off a crime scene. Richard Crews grilled burgers and dogs to raise funds for the team.

  Tom MacPherson was undaunted by the winds and took frequent flyer award. His mid-power fleet barely stayed in sight on F and G motors. An Aerotech Barracuda was the only casualty to the winds. It was last seen drifting towards the Gulf of Mexico to join other fish of its namesake.  Tom achieved NAR L1 with a Madcow Seawolf. It weather-cocked at liftoff which made it look like a real guided missile.

  Going over the flight cards, It seems we have neglected other recent certification recognitions from previous launches.  Gabe Doering achieved NAR L1 and L2 on the same day in his “Dr Evil” LOC Minnie Mag. I guess he couldn’t fit an M motor in it. Andy Mosely achieved L1 on a Giant Leap rocket. Nicholas Hall achieved L1 on a PML Ariel. Bruce Heath achieved L1 on a Performance Little Dog. He also set a PD record with an oversized chute on this flight. Tim Morgan has quickly progressed to L2 in preparation for USLI competition. Congratulations to all and welcome to the club!

  Greg Lane flew a nice assortment of saucers. Riley Worring flew his Estes Outlaw several times switching from a chute to a streamer after its 1^st flight. Randy Folts flew an Estes Star Striker. Marty Wiggins flew an Estes Big Daddy. Bill Bosely flew a Quest Penetrator. I flew some odd rocs and streamer rockets. My DD Mean Machine reached 2771’ on an H motor.

  Chris Short flew the flight of the day in his Auburn War Eagle. Richard Crews transported all the spectators along with the 20’ tall rocket to the away cell in his limousine.  Loki Research provided a sparky M demo motor for propulsion. The flight was spectacular and recovered safely on the field.

The Feb 20^th SEARS launch at Green’s sod farm was the best launch that we’ve had this year. We had clear skies, cool temperatures, and no wind. We had many new flyers, HPR certifications and student teams. I am writing this from memory, so please forgive me if I forget to mention your noteworthy flights.

SEARS572 held its monthly launch on 9/12/9 at Green’s Sod Farm in Samson AL. The weather was gloomy with 50% rain prediction. This caused most flyers to stay home, but those who showed up had a great time. We had cloudy skies and 10MPH winds from the East. The wind direction was consistent throughout the day, which allowed us to pick a great setup spot. Some rockets drifted quite a bit, but all were recovered on field. Our monthly theme was Sci-Fi and Warp Factor.

(more…)

On 21 March, 2009, SEARS conducted their monthly club launch.  The skies were cloudless most of the day as can be attested to the number of people who looked like lobsters come the end of the day.  Temperatures were cooler than most had expected but most of us survived wearing T-shirts, I don’t think the temperature got much into the 70s F.  The wind was another matter.  When we set up the launch pads at a little before 0900 the winds were light and out of the east.  As soon as the range was set up the wind picked up and blew any where from out of the east to out of the south.  I think some of the early launches of C and D motor rockets landed in the sand pit and we were set up east of the Porta Potty location.  Those of us wanting to fly larger and higher projects waited until about 1600 to fly.  By then the wind was backing off and mostly out of the east.  At altitude the wind were much less than they had been all day.  There was a real rocket festival of large projects the last hour or so of flying time.

The Alabama Aerospace Week rocketry demos at Landmark Park near Dothan were enjoyed by several hundred enthusiastic students over the course of four days. Each student got an introductory lesson in rocket science through a talk about forces and watching actual model rocket launches. We hope some will pursue careers in science and engineering. There were many home schoolers among them. Several parents expressed interest in having their children get involved with rocketry to get a feel for engineering before they head for college. Thanks to SEARS members making this possible including Randy Wiggins, Marty Wiggins and Tom MacPherson. The R/C folks put on an excellent show as always. Ft. Rucker flew in a helicopter. This is always a rewarding event. We look forward to next year. You can see more pictures at http://sears572.com/gallery/2009-02-24.

Greg Lane S.E.A.R.S. President

The February 7th launch was held under beautiful blue skies and comfortable temps. However, there was a stiff wind which caused a number of rockets to drift into the woods. Congratulations are in order: Kendall Brent achieved his level 3 Certification on his 7.5 inch diameter rocket flown on a Loki M2550 Loki Blue. Russ Roberts made a successful Level 2 flight on his 4 inch Star Breaker on a K550. Eldon from Tuskegee made his Level 1 with a Loc rocket on an I357. Good job guys!

We enjoyed having Doug Harrell and two TARC students from Liberty County High School in Florida. They got some experience egg lofting. Also Justin Sanders instructor at Dothan Technology Center attended and got plenty of info for using rocketry in his pre-engineering program.

Applewhite monocopters were debuted at SEARS by Rick Gutknecht and John Hansel. Roy Houchin won the special event drawing.

The picture album for the the Launch is at http://sears572.com/gallery/2009-02-7  and videos at http://sears572.com/gallery/2009-02-07Vids 

Thanks for a Great Day!

Greg

Kendall Brent’s L3 Launch

Russ Roberts Star Breaker L2 Cert Rocket

The November 1st 2008 SEARS launch proved to be an excellent day for flying rockets. The sky was cloudless and temps around 70 in the PM with a light breeze. The event was Cluster Day. Not sure how many we had yet. Russ Roberts won the event. He picked out an Fliskit Proconsul (Like a Drake) from the prize pool.

Dave Brassell of Panama City made a sucessful Level 1 cert on his LOC Bullet four inch rocket. The rocket flew on a Aerotech H148 redline motor. Congrats Dave!

Roy Houchin of Shorter, Alabama has joined SEARS. Roy is a NAR member. He flew his Estes Skywinder at the launch. Roy is the historian for the ARCAS sounding rocket and has a lot of the hardware. Maybe we can do some type of ARCAS club project.

John Hansel flew his Old Blue which is a four inch Performance Rocketry Intimidator (I think) an a K motor. It went over 6000 feet and landed off the field at the creek. It was drapped across several trees and required chain saw recovery.

Bob Stetson flew his Apogee Aspire on an Apogee F10-8. This combination sims out to a mile high. Apparently the shock cord frayed. Bob Stetson recovered the nosecone and Rick Gutknecht found the rocket body later.

We were glad to have Doug Harrell who teaches Science in Bristol FL attend. He brought his wife and some members of the Liberty County High School Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) team.

Rick Gutknecht and Arron Gutknecht of Panama City attended. Rick flew his Halverson Wicked Winnie and Arron an Guardian Estes rocket with a nice paint job. 

Bob Mullins flew his “Flame On” six inch Rocket on an AMW L1800. It was great boost. The main did not come out but the rocket had no damage, Thanks to Bob for bringing his EZ-GO rocket cart. It got a real work out.

Of course this is just a snippet of the activity at the field, Thanks for a great launch day! Pictures can be seen at http://sears572.com/gallery/2008-11-01 and videos at http://sears572.com/gallery/2008-11-01Vids

Greg Lane

SEARS President

Dave Brassell and his LOC Bullet.

(more…)

SEARS had the pleasure of supporting the Webelos Rocket Rally on October 25th 2008 at Emerald Coast Skydiving in Elberta, AL.  The October weather was perfect and the Skydiving center has a beautiful field.  There were over sixty Webelos this year, the biggest turn out yet and it could double next year. Russ Roberts and Greg Lane put on two rounds of demo launches. The Webelos launched their Starhawk rockets twice individually and then they did mass launches with the SEARS Mass launcher. We enjoyed the Skydivers between launches. The event was well orchestrated by Richard Gean and his team of leaders. The response to the demos and mass launch was very positive. Of course we plan to return next year.  See all the pictures at http://sears572.com/gallery/2008-10-25.
 
Greg

Webelos load their rockets for the mass launch

(more…)

A witches broom flies solo and a tombstone on the pad.

The weather was hot but not too humid with light winds the seemed to blow from just about every direction at some time or another.

 Alexa Stetson won the odd rocket contest with her Decaffinator.

We had 13 paying members/families, there were new faces ( Dr. Roy and others) and some old faces (Bill Bosley, John Kegans).

A safe and good time was had by all.

The album for the Oct 4th SEARS Launch is at

http://sears572.com/gallery/2008-10-04

and videos at

http://sears572.com/gallery/2008-10-04Vids
  (more…)

The July 12th launch was SUPER!
 
Jon Ward had a successful Tripoli Level 3 Certification. His rocket Red Robin Fireball flew on an Aerotech M1297 to 6166 feet. This was the first L3 cert flight at SEARS. Chris Short is now a Tripoli Tap Member.
 
There were three Level 1 Certifications. Rob Wilson flew his “Emily Grace” on an H123,  Ricky Nikolson  flew his PML Callisto on a H148.  and Richard Crews flew his Little Dog on a H123. Congrats to all!  
There were 23 glider flights. Daymon Campbell won the draw from the prize pool. He picked an Estes Eliminator. Alexa Stetson won the Glider duration with a 90 second flight. Her pick from the prize pool was a Quest Bright Hawk.
 
There we several Georgia Tech fliers. Lelia and Demetri had unsuccessful L2 certs but they will succeed next time. Both Lelia and Demetri are aerospace majors and will be on the Georgia Tech USLI team next year.
 
We were spared from the forecasted thundershowers until 4 o’clock. There was one storm threatening but it only cooled the air which was a relief. Another relief was the SnoCone Stand run by Alexa Stetson. I forgot how good SnoCones were. Thanks Alexa!
 
I had requested more launch help. The response was great and appreciated. By the way, Russ Roberts actually likes being LCO and does a great job.

There are pictures and videos in our gallery. 

We enjoyed having John and Sherry Stein back. John treated us to a flight of his R/C Centurian. Jack Kale came for a visit. He is being treated for cancer so keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
 
We will not have an August launch. So build some rockets in the air conditioning. See you on Sept 6th when the event is Scale Rocket Day. Thanks all for making the July Launch a great one!
 
Greg Lane,
S.E.A.R.S. President

Demetri’s skidmark launch

(more…)