ROC May 2002
May 2002
/ Lucerne Dry Lake
2 flights, 545 N-sec burned
The May ROC launch had a small crowd, but excellent weather. My girlfriend Katharine and her mom came out to see what this whole rockets thing was all about. I prepped the Arcas to fly on a J415W, but a finicky MissileWorks fired the ejection charge in my face during arming, so that got scrubbed. Instead, I boosted a few smaller rockets. Everything worked out well, though, and the launch was a great success.
Flight 1: iROC, AT I300
After fighting with the RRC in the Arcas all morning and having two ejection charges go off in or near my face, I was really frustrated with avionics and decided to prep something quick and easy. The iROC on an I300T seemed ideal. My (sunburned) girlfriend Katharine accompanied me to the pad, setup was easy, and launch was quick. The rocket kicked up a nice cloud of dust as it left, and ejected right at apogee, for a good flight.
Flight 2: Legacy, AT G64
After the disappointment of the Arcas earlier in the day, I needed something to cheer up my spirits. Besides, my English teacher was there and I had to fly something! The I-ROC was cool on the I300T, but to redeem myself, I flew the Legacy on a G64. I planned to fly an H238T for the first flight, but we'll save that one for later. After check-in and torture from Brother John, I made the walk out to the pad. Slide on the rail... stuck. What's wrong? Slide it on again. Tried to take it off but picked up the pad instead. OK, that can't be good. Look at the rail from the side, well that's not gonna work. The rail was bent about 5 degrees off vertical. That's the problem with blacksky rails- the couplers can allow the rail to bend. Bent it back, slides on no problem. An igniter and back a few feet to enjoy the flight close up.
