***RE-POSTPONED***

Due to ongoing red flag fire conditions, we will be unable to conduct our launch in Amesbury on the 16th of November. We will see what we can do to reschedule in December.

To make it absolutely clear, CMASS does not allow "sparky" motors at any of our launches.

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Sept 4, 2021, Launch in Acton; End of Our Acton Season!

Details
Published: Friday, 10 September 2021 18:50
Written by Claude Maina

sept4 20210905 1504242033245 Flights total, 18 NAR contest flights, at least 100 in attendance (at the high point) and no cricket(eer)s! What a way to end the season in Acton! It was a sunny day with no to moderate winds. Unfortunately, they blew the entire day toward the trees, which gobbled up more than its share of rockets - the only downside to a great day of launching. Esther Engines and FlisKits were there as well as the master himself, Jim Flis. Motors ranged from MicroMax to G. We had two CATO's that I remember.

Ray DiPaola of FlisKits flew several FlisKits rockets. All flew nicely and were well decked-out. Scott Clement did not have his usual summer fleet but did fly Asta. Asta wasn't too happy as he barfed out his parachute! Jeremy Hermann had his Starship Super Heavy that descended (in part) horizontally - just like the real thing! Joe Lemanski a really pretty Interceptor E; and Joe Colosimo his HighLander - that's a lot of whiskey! Daniel Shea launched his Baby Blue Bertha several times (as per usual). This time he actually used a non-A8-3 motor and launched in on a C6-3! And got it back! Guy decided it was a nice day for a walk and launched a non-spool rocket; his Alpha III on an A8-3 - so not much of a walk. But the rocket ofsept4 20210905 1128913843 the day was Brenton DeBoef's 'The Finless Wonder' that uses BPS's Signal R2 thrust vectoring system to control flight stability; i.e no fins! If you have not seen this, you can find out more on their web site -  BPS.Space. Unfortunately for Brenton, the F15 motor CATO'ed and the rocket did a couple of loops before hitting the ground. No damage though and she will fly again. Pictures are in the Gallery. Please post yours.

Thanks to everyone who attended for abiding by the Covid guidelines. Thanks again to Kenn and Guy for manning the launch controls; to Matt, Linda and Christine for helping with food, Steve for taking charge of contest flying, those that helped out at LCO and RSO and to everyone else that help set up and take down.

Our next launch is Sept 25th in Amesbury. Bring your HPR!

August 14, 2021 - Acton, MA - Why, yes, CMASS does contest flying.

Details
Published: Tuesday, 31 August 2021 22:02
Written by Kenn Blade

Our penultimate visit to Acton this season promised storms by the end of the day. Around noon, there were about 3 drops of rain but the rest of the day was good for flying. And cooperative weather was a good thing, too, as we were able to have 186 flights. Many of these flights were folks participating in the National Rocketry Competition (NRC). Thanks to Stephen Maire organizing the contest and registering with NAR, many club members are now enshrined on the NAR website with their current scores. Of course, to stay in the running, they’ll probably have to improve as the contest continues until next year’s NARAM. Thanks go out to those who printed the contest cards, ran the stopwatches for the duration events and helped record the results. If you’re not a NAR member, you can still participate but your results won’t be official until you join the national organization. This was so well received, we will make it part of all of our regular club launches provided we can continue to get the volunteer to help make it successful.

There were lots of non-NRC flights, some very impressive for their beauty and others for their failure. We had everything from MicroMaxx to G-impulse, many maiden flights and some old work horses taking to the sky. A larger version of the Mandalorian flew straight and true; there were a few Nike Smoke models many of which were recovered. Guy showed how to have two successful CATO's of questionable E12's with the same saucer.

For once, we didn’t have to chase any cricketeers from the field. We did have some people stop by just to watch and even had some loaner rockets for those who wanted to give it a try. We’ll have one more launch in Acton this year and then back to Amesbury for our Fall Cavalcade of Launches culminating with a night launch in November. Read up on the various contests that are part of NRC this year and give it a try.

Thanks to all the volunteer who took turns at Safety Check, Launch Control and, most importantly, Food Service. This is what makes our launches so outstanding. With a little training you can be part of the crew that everyone appreciates and respects; sign up for a slot for the next launch. If you have pictures from this launch, please upload them to the gallery.

  1. July 17, 2021, Launch in Acton; A Good Day to Fly!
  2. June 19, 2021, Launch in Acton; Let There Be Food... & Cake!