Makers Corner

I saw a gentleman flying some duration rockets for NRC at the Acton launch today (7/12/25). For those into contest rocketry I recommend trying to detect thermals. We did this a lot for the 2002 WSMC. The setup involved a tripod, telescoping pole, thin mylar streamer, bubble maker and a thermocouple. It was all fairly hacked together but a basic camera tripod staked into the ground held everything. The mylar streamer was placed on the top of the pole (roughly 10 ft long and 1 inch wide) along with the thermocouple tip. The pole was about 10 ft tall when extended but anything between 6-12 ft should be fine. The bubble maker sat on the base of the tripod. When it was running we had three data sources, the motion of the bubbles, the mylar streamer and the temperature. Rising bubbles were a definitive clue of good air and often we could see rapid temperature changes.

I was able to find a picture of my old thermal detector on the late George Gassaway's website. It was a temp-time electronic in/out thermometer. I believe this is a similar unit.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TRIPLETT-Indoor-Outdoor-Thermometer-TM020/318390917#see-more-details

For those looking to compete in a duration event, I strongly recommend putting together a way to measure the air before launch. Irrespective of the contest, its interesting track and try to visualize the air conditions.