November 5th and 6th in Culpeper, Virginia. 10am-5pm. Spectators welcome and it's free. We're cleared through the FAA for flights up to 15,000 feet.

I'll be there, look for the red Mazda pickup. If you need more info, feel free to ask in the comments or via email. If you do decide to come out, please check that link or check back here, and I'll post whatever go/no go information I have if the weather's dicey.

This will be the first BattlePark for me sans kids, which is going to be kind of strange (I've got a seat open if someone would like to ride with). We've camped out there before, and other times we've just made day trips of it. Either way, it's big fun.

Posted by: Ted at 04:23 AM | category: Rocketry
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All right, this is way late, but since I use Rocket Jones as my online flight log, you get to read it or skip it.

This launch was one of our monthly club launches, sponsored by NOVAAR. Held at Great Meadow Equestrian Center on 9/11/2005, the weather was beautiful and the wind ranged from near calm to quite brisk. The biggest problem was that it was blowing diagonally across the field, directly towards the biggest patch of woods bordering the field.

I pulled a shift as Launch Controller, and also made several flights of my own.

1. Angel - D12-5 - This ring-fin hadn't flown for a couple of years, but she made an excellent comeback flight.

2. Snitch - D12-0 / C6-0 - I chad-staged this plastic flying saucer from Estes. Great flight, and it always gets a lot of attention with the big motor hanging out from underneath.

3. Pacifyer - D12-5 - Arrow-straight boost and good recovery for my flying blood-dripping battleaxe.

4. YJ-218 - C6-7x2 - Perfect ignition of both engines. Great flight.

5. Phoenix - H180 White Lightning, medium delay - Loud and smokey, and after the motor burnout you could hear her fins whistling as she coasted to apogee. She suffered the only damage of the day, when she landed on one lower fin and the body tube partially delaminated. Easy fix, and the fin is still rock solid.

6. Barenaked Lady - F24-7 - This flight was just plain stupid. I put a big honkin' motor in a large but very lightweight rocket. She screamed off the pad, arced ever so slightly into the wind, and landed less than 50 yards away. Only on low-wind days. Sweet!

7. Odin's Spear - B6-6 - Another excellent flight from Vertical Force's first kit offering. Rich was kind enough to give me one of the new kits in the package for helping to test the prototype. It's numbered too. Cool!

So that was it for my flights. Another excellent rocket flying day that are far too far apart.

Posted by: Ted at 04:58 AM | category: Rocketry
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Rocket racing. Real rockets, real pilots.

A private group of rocketeers has banded together to create the Rocket Racing League with aims at blurring the line between competitive racing and human spaceflight. Their vision: A fleet of at least 10 stock rocket planes flown by crack pilots through a three-dimensional track 5,000 feet above the Earth.

"Imagine not one, but 10 of these fire-breathing dragons flying around a race course." -- Peter Diamandis

One of these visionaries is Peter Diamandis, who also founded the $10 million Ansari X Prize suborbital competition for private piloted spacecraft.

The liquid oxygen/kerosene fuel mix is expected to have a burn time of about four minutes, which would force pilots to repeatedly shut down their engines and glide, then restart as needed to surpass opponents, explained Searfoss, who will demonstrate the method during the upcoming prototype demonstration.

Because of their fuel type, X-Racers should also generate a 20-foot flame easily visible from the ground, which will be vital for spectators, Diamandis said.

These people aren't crazy, they're looking to foster greater interest among the population for civilian spaceflight.

Better duck, NASCAR.

Thanks to Chris Hall at Spacecraft for the pointer. He's got some interesting background tie-in information too.

Posted by: Ted at 05:41 AM | category: Rocketry
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