3/17/2001 Launch

About a dozen club members & family met at 10AM at our new launch site for the inaugural club launch. It was cold ( low 40's) & cloudy (1500-2000') & breezy (5-15mph), but not enough to hold things up. We wandered thru a maze of roads and settled on a launch site near the SE corner of the property. Interesting land for the newbies: 300 acres of rolling 1/2 - 2 ft. grass covered hummocks of glacial till, with the occasional stand of Scotch Broom, a few 20-40 ft. deep depressions, and a gravel operation on the NW edge with forest on the E & S edges. The depressions were a bit soggy with a little willow growing, but totally navigable.

Andy Casillas:
OK, my daughter Laura and her friend Brian were with me. We were the first to launch. My daughter flew her Lil'Nuke on a F64 - nice flight but a long walk for retrieval. I followed with a Big Bertha on 3-B4's with only 2 motors igniting; that helped in the recovery as it landed three feet next to me. Next was a Custom Rocket Land Viper on 3-C6's. My last flight was an Aerotech Strong Arm on a G80 for a great boost and another long walk.

Nick Doben:
An Estes Amraam on a C6 motor, and a North Coast Eliminator on a G64 motor.

Chuck Layton:
Yesterday, I flew a PML Phantom on an AT G35-4W Econojet. Fouled chute almost brought it down in the trees. Thanks to a dead branch for opening the chute at the last minute. :-o
I then flew a modified Estes V-2 on my last North Coast F62-6. Nice flight, long walk.
I finished off the short afternoon by launching an Estes Fat Boy on a C6-3 and a Custom Serval on a C6-5.

Andrew MacMillen:
Tried to launch my daughter's scratch built Hydac (from Alway's Scale Bash) a couple of times on an A-RMS D15-7, then went with a D12-5 for her first mid-power flight - perfect - and a moderate walk.
Spent a while sanding the motor tube down to fit an F23-7 Econojet into my scratch built Mars or Bust: 2 LOC nosecones back to back with 50's retro fins. Finally launched for a great spinning flight and a long walk.
Finished up with a glorious tumble and no ejection using an Apogee A2-5 in an experimental 2 fin design. More nose weight needed!

Last but not least: let's not forget Chris Scott's thundering back-to-back flights of his Quest Micro Space Shuttle!