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.

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The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday September 12th at Samson, AL. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go until about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info

Launch Events:
        General: Sci-fi / Futuristic / Alien Day
        Youth: decorate a rocket to have aliens on-board
        Challenge: Fly a Mars Lander type rocket
        Advanced: Warp Factor (See the definition of Warp Factor at end of this post)

        Special: Snitch Mass Launch

Use a green flight card for any event flight and you will entered for a draw from the prize pool.

In addition we will have at least two large rocket launches on M motors. This is an excellent launch to invite new people, especially any student or teacher who might consider the Team America Rocketry Challenge.

Greg Lane

SEARS President

WARP FACTOR 

This will be a fun event, and was one of my suggestions for this year. Warp Factor flights are achieved by flying a production kit using motors exceeding the total impulse that the kit was designed for. This usually involves modification to add larger motor mounts or clusters. Some kits can be flown Warp Factor without modification by using 18mm D or 24mm F Aerotech motors. The Warp Factor of the flight is determined by how big of a motor you fly. The Extes Fat Boy is a good example. The stock motor mount is for C motors. Fly an Aerotech D for Warp Factor 2. Seven Cs gives a Warp Factor of 7. Five Ds is a Warp Factor 10. Fly an H for a Warp Factor 32. Flyer with the highest Warp Factor wins bragging rights. Sometimes Warp Factor flights do not return from hyperspace and are lost forever.

  Remember, more motor in back means you may need more weight up front, so don’t forget to check your CG / CP relationship. An easy way to do this is to find the CG on the stock kit, and add nose weight to make sure its in the same place with the bigger motors. Maiden voyages or unproven designs should go through RSO inspection.

Russ Roberts

The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday July 11th at Samson, AL. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go untill about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info
 

Jul 11, 2009
        General: Glider Day
        Youth: Bring a hand glider and fly it
        Challenge: Glider Duration
        Advanced: Fly an glider with 24 inch wingspan or greater (Maybe R/C)
 
Use a green flight card for any glider rocket and you will entered for a draw from the prize pool.

The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday June 13th at Samson, AL. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go untill about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info

Jun 13, 2009
        General:  Multi Stage Day
        Youth: fly a two stage rocket and find both the booster and sustainer
        Challenge: fly a three stage rocket
        Advanced: fly a four stage rocket

Use a green flight card for any multi-stage rocket and you will entered for a draw from the prize pool.

Note: We depend on everyone’s good judgement about keeping their rockets safe and stable and on-the field. Most but not all multi-stage commercial kits are good designs. If you are scratch building be sure to research the principles and tips that will keep your rocket safe and stable. We will require a check by a RSO for multistage stage rockets at this launch to identify rockets that should not be flown or need to be flown at the away cell.  Low power multi-stage need an RSO by a Level 2 club members. Mid and high power need an RSO by a Level 3 club member. Every multi-stage rocket is a HEADS-UP Flight. So keep your eyes on the rocket and remember the booster will be decending separate from the sustainer.

Gary Goldenbaum’s cluster two stage.

Tip: CHAD (Cheap and Dirty) Staging is direct staging and requires no
modification to an existing rocket. This is where you add a booster
motor with a -0 delay behind the ususal motor. This is done by attaching
the top end on the booster to the bottom on the usual motor. You can do
this with one wrap of cellophane tape. I would use CHAD staging where
the weight of the extra motor does not change the CG that much. Remember
CG must be forward of the CP. I have  found that the Estes Snitch can be
CHAD staged C6-0 to C6-3.

Greg Lane

SEARS President

All,

The May 9th launch in Samson is cancelled due the number of regulars not attending. We will resume on June 13th. See you then.

Greg Lane
SEARS President

The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is April 18th 2009 at Samson, AL. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go until about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info

Events:

General: Peep Spot Landing

The peep landing closest to a target on the field (about 60 feet from the pad) will win a draw SEARS prize pool.  You may make as many peep flights as you like. Use Official Peeps of any variety. Multiple Peeps are allowed on one flight. Peeps that are ejected must have a recovery device for their/our protection.

Youth: Launch three different kinds of peeps
Challenge: Deploy four or more peeps. The more the better
Advanced: Fly a peep to as close to 1500 feet as possible based on an altimeter 

Greg Lane

SEARS President

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.

Due to the recent shootings in Samson we will not hold the club launch this weekend on March 14th and research launch on March 15th. We all agreed that with Samson in a state of shock and morning that it would not be appropriate to “play” in their backyard this weekend.

We will move the regular SEARS launch for March to Saturday the 21st. There will be no research launch on the 22nd.  This
should give the USLI teams time to work out problems and fly rockets.

Please keep the kind people of Samson in your thoughts and Prayers.

John Hansel
SEARS 572 Treasurer
NAR 83131
TRA 10910

The next SEARS monthly launch is March 14th in Samson, AL.  The events are:

General: Maiden Flight Day, first flight of any rocket.

Youth:  Decorate A Rocket Contest

Challenge: Kit Bash, build a rocket using parts from two or more commercial kits.

Advanced: Fly a Rocket on a hybrid motor.

All event flights are on a green flight cards and will be used to draw a winner for a prize pool pick.  

Note on hybrids: the club has the nitrous oxide tank and Kendall has the hybrid launch controller. The hybrid gear has been under used lately. Lets change that this launch. Kendall is willing to share his hybrid expertise and assist on your launch. I have a complete set of SkyRipper 38mm cases and several fuel loads. I am willing to lend a case out to anyone wanting to get hybrid experience (let me know before the launch). One advantage of hybrid launches is that there are no ATF regulations for the oxidizer or the fuel. Remember you must have electronics for recovery deployment with hybrids.

SEARS welcome beginners and their families to watch or launch rockets. You do not have to be a member to launch. There is a porta-potty provided. Bring your lunch, sunscreen, and camera. Fliers 19 and older pay a $10 range fee. Do not drive off the road and onto the sod except where the parking signs indicate. See this page for directions.

Greg

SEARS President

www.sears572.com

Hybrid Launch

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