Oct 28, 2023, Launch in Amesbury; Happy Halloween!
- Details
- Published: Thursday, 02 November 2023 19:58
- Written by Claude Maina
It was a really windy day, mostly sunny with temps in the 70's. Luckily the winds were blowing away from the power lines. So there were a number of HPR flights throughout the day.
There were 205 flights ranging from 13mm A through J motors. Considering there were about 40 boy scouts, that really wasn't a lot. The scouts were from Pack 89 (North Andover) and Pack 635 (Melrose). The scouts were scattered pretty much all over the set-up area, but were gone by 1:00. So it was a bit hectic in the morning but a lot quieter in the afternoon. There were 14 HPR flights with one successful L1 certification - congratulations to Gerry Duggan! There were three (at least) competition flights; and at least three CATO's. There were a number of tree'd rockets, and quite a few long walks due to the strong winds. Launching was even paused a coup of times in the afternoon due to the strong winds.
There were not a lot of Halloween rockets, probably due to the strong winds. Scott Clement did have his falling pumpkins and "Eyes in the Sky" rockets. There were a couple of other pumpkin rockets and one really neat Wizard's Hat; and I launched my Spider; but not a lot of others. Rich Pelle launched his water rocket a few times. Each got off the launch pad and one did get its chute out before landing. So I guess that counts as a successful launch! Peter Waithe launched his very Big Nuke 3E on a CTI J motor. It was a great flight and a slow, but anxious descent as it nearly caught the trailer and a few spectators! There was a
Frick 'N' Frack (sort of) drag race. The launch system was acting up; so each of the five went sequentially instead of simultaneously. But all five got off the pad and it is still neat to see.
The launch of the day though was Joshua Drummond's Frankenstein launched on a Aerotech I motor. It was set up for dual deploy with 6 bags of candy, each under its own chute deploying with the main chute! It worked great! The six bags of candy came floating down with a stampede of boy scouts running down the hill after them!
Acknowledgements to Kenn, Guy, Matt, Linda, John P, Ed, Curtis and everyone else that helped with set-up, take-down and food sales. Pictures are in the Gallery. Please post yours. Our next launch is Nov 11th at Woodsom Farm. This is also our night launch and will be the last launch of the season. So don't miss it!
