SEARS 572 had its monthly launch in Samson, AL on Jan 5, 2008. The day started out cool, but warmed to the upper 60s in the afternoon. The winds were mainly light.  They got up to about 10 mph around noon, but fell as the day wound down.
 
The day was one of the biggest attended in SEARS history.  There were 18 vehicles at the launch.  The totals were 18 fliers and 102 flights.

Many came to see the flight of the “Hewes Space Special”.  The maiden flight was not great, as the rocket nosed in.  John says it is repairable.

John Hansel and Heather Parker with the the Hewes Space Special. Heather did the excellent artwork.  (more…)

The 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.

John Hansel’s Christmas Tree Rocket	John Hansel’s Hewes Space Special

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SEARS 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.

Randy’s Scratch Rocket on an I	Marty’s Shuttle Thang

See more pictures and the videos in our gallery.

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SEARS 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.

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The 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.

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Thanks to Chris for setting up the research launch and Kendall for showing us his motors.

Greg

All,

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

SEARS 572 held its monthly launch on Sept 8, 2007.
The temperatures were warm. They climbed into the low 90s, but the humidity was not too bad. The winds were higher than forecast. They peaked out between 10 and 15 mph.

The event was cluster and drag race day. We had several entries and John Stein won the prize drawing.
It was great to see he and Sherry back at a launch.

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