Contest Rockets

C Superroc Altitude Results

Only 4 contestants tried C Superroc Altitude at the LUNAR Altimeter Meet 2, due to the overwhelming number of youth groups who showed up to fly their first rockets many club members did not have a spare minute to fly rockets!

Of those that tried, Michael Tran did the best, flying his 165cm rocket to 224 m on a C6-5. My rocket, shown above, managed 270m but was much shorter, only 131 cm.

Unfortunately both Kira and Reese Tran DQed when their parachutes failed, but their rockets were mostly okay and will fly again!

http://rgc.name/prcb/results/6007-12L.html

Video Coverage of an Indiana Contest

This is video coverage of a contest held by Launch Crue in Indiana this past weekend. Looks like they had a great time!

C Superroc Altitude

So, the LUNAR Altimeter Meet 2 was delayed due to rain, it will be happening April 21st (hopefully). I decided to test fly my C Superroc Altitude model. It worked great! It flew to 286 meters, which stays under the Ames waiver of 1000 feet and good for 35750 points (had it been flown in the contest). Points are calculated as length times altitude, so there is a tradeoff with longer models that won’t go as high and shorter models that get more altitude.

The LUNAR 1/10th of a mile wall

Follow-up to this post.

I built this rocket for C Streamer duration, with the caveat that I had to use a paper towel tube as the rocket body (Construction here, flight report here). I decided it would be a good rocket to try for Predicted Altitude / 1/10th of a mile wall. Loading it up with a B6-4, tower and piston, it got 421 ft / 128 meters. Again, not really close to 1/10th of a mile, but good enough as a predicted altitude entry on some future occasion.

The LUNAR 1/10th of a mile wall

I decided to do some entries on the LUNAR 1/10th of a mile wall, as well as practicing/getting some data for Predicted Altitude. First up is a BT-20 based altitude model. I drilled some holes in the payload bay for an altimeter and loaded it up with an A8-3. Result: 88m/290ft. Clearly not enough for the 1/10th of a mile wall or enough for Predicted Altitude (minimum prediction is 100 meters).

Loaded up the same model with a B6-4 and got 236 m / 774 ft. Not very close to 528 ft, but a good number to remember for Predicted Altitude.

G Eggloft Altitude

I decided the best way to fly G Eggloft Altitude was to upgrade my E Eggloft Altitude model. First, I removed the 24mm engine mount to upgrade it to a 29mm mount for G motors. After that messy operation was complete, I added a real altimeter bay to free up space in the main body for more parachute. It will fly at Dairy Aire!

LUNAR-FUN-3 Final Results

As mentioned before, LUNAR-FUN-3 started in February and was finished last weekend. After last month, several leaders had emerged, but who won in the end?

C Division

Wes Freeman, no surprise, was not beat in Predicted Altitude, since you can’t beat perfection. Predicted Altitude was the most popular event and continues to be hard to win! Many competitors flew the event with mid power rockets, and two did very well. Marcus Krause was only 3.2 percent off, flying a F motor. Kevin McGrath was only 4.4 percent off, flying a G motor. This is a challenging way to fly the event, and both contestants should be congratulated for their daring.

Michael Tran, first time competitor, barely edged out Tom Desmarais by a meter in Open Spot Landing in C Division.

Jack Hagerty, LUNAR#2 and Past President, maintained his lead in Predicted Duration.

B Boost Glider Duration only saw one new competitor, Breck Leitz, who could not match James Bassham’s awesome results.

In E Eggloft Altitude, two competitors improved on Breck Lietz’s mark of 365 meters. Ryan Coleman flew his modified Quest Courier to 384 meters (pictured above). James Bassham flew his rocket to 386 meters, winning the event and setting a new National Record! Jack Hagerty also flew “Pennsylvania Crude”, which he documented in full video. 

Breck Lietz showed up with an immaculately finished Estes Hornet (pictured above). He was only a few points behind the other competitors, mostly due to his model being simpler than theirs. Difficulty in craftmanship events counts!

A Division

We had a sibling rivalry in A division (7 to 13 year olds). 

In Open Spot Landing, Reese Tran edged out his siblings to win, with 17 meters. His parachute opened late, but his rocket was aimed well and was near the spot when it opened and landed.

In Predicted Duration, Cody Tran won with 13.3% off. His prediction was 30 seconds (the minimum) and his parachute opened at apogee and he got a good flight! His siblings predicted higher times but actually got lower times due to parachutes not fully opening.

In B Boost Glider Duration, both Kira Tran and Reese Tran tied for first place with 37 seconds total on two flights each! Their kits performed well and provided entertainment as they glided down.

Final Results, Classic Model Judging Sheets

More Contest Photos

These are from the February half of LUNAR-FUN-3 and from the Barkers. More photos here:

Photos - Google+