[Rockets] 01/09 Wilsonville Memorial Park Launch Report

[Keith Packard]

The weather gods shined on us last weekend, that's for sure. With dire
predictions of wind and rain, we experienced delightfully dry skies with
only a modest zephyr of wind from time to time. I suspect that the
forecast kept several people home though, we had only 20 attendees this
month.

I'd like to thank the Ward family for bringing cookies this month;
having treats out on the flight line adds a smile to any flyer's face.

I'm afraid we lost a few rockets this month; our friends the
rocket-eating trees on the south end of the park are the proud owners of
two new models, while Tim Ryerse managed to clear said trees and get all
the way to the river. I suspect he'll be getting a new record for
furthest landing at this park every day for a while as his poor Bullpup
floats down to the ocean.

First, the usual stats:

       Launches:           36
       Successful flights: 32
       Flyers:             14
       Rockets:            23
       Most Flights:       5 Chris Guenther
       Biggest Motor:      F39 Joe Bevier and Chris Guenther

Joe and Chris both flew their F39 motors in saucers; Chris in a
fiberglass bowl of some sort and Joe in his 6" Art Applewhite Delta,
which was the last flight of the day. I have to say that I like little
saucers with big motors quite a bit. Lots of noise and a fast boost, and
then the rocket just stops and tumbles back to the ground.

We had a few new people come out this month, one local science teacher
scoping out launch opportunities for her students and a father and son
who didn't have any rockets of their own, but helped launch quite a few
others and took home a rocket kit for their kind assistance. I'm hoping
they'll be back next month with something ready to fly!

The science teacher said she'd probably bring her class to the Feb
launch (weather permitting); they should have a half dozen rockets among
the 15-20 students. I'm looking forward to that; I'd love to support
rocket programs from local schools.

I don't know about the rest of the crowd, but while I had a great day, I
was happy to get moving again to pack things up at the end; it was dry,
but it wasn't all that warm standing around out in the field.

Thanks again to Tim Ryerse for helping set up and tear down, to Joe
Bevier for helping clean things up and to all of the fliers who make
this a highlight of my month.

We'll be back out next month on Saturday, February 13th from 12-3, come
join the fun!

-- 
keith.packard at intel.com
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