Here are some photos taken by new club member John Perry:   John's Photos

And here are a few other photos from the event:

Flight Card Analysis    -from Andy Eng:

Tallies and Summary - The following was extracted from the flight cards
and observations by the LCO on duty.  If you want pictures and videos,
then skip this post.

Total Flights: 211

Motor Usage:    Two things stood out while tallying the numbers.  First,
the usage was bimodal around C and G motors reflecting a nice balance
between MR and HPR fliers.  Second was that eight of the ten E motors
used were burnt in a single launch, Flight  # 68 (see below)

        Micromax        4
        1/2A            4
        A               4
        B               19
        C               66
        D               29
        E               10
        F               23
        G               36
        H               27
        I               19
        J               7
        K               1

Total Impulse:  ~ 41,471 NS (2.75 M motor equivalents)
 

First Flight of the Day - Rick VanVoorhis with his LOC “Not So Mini
Magg”  flies on an H180.  Rick is from Boise, Idaho though he claims to
be from Austin.  He tends to have good flights and enjoys LCO duty.
 

Weather: Perhaps the most telling sign that the weather was good was
that we  had a total of seven Estes Black Brant flights on D12  powered
flights, all with chutes, and all recovered in close proximity.   Four
of the seven were flown by Michael Stone (NAR 19429/TRA 002).  Two were
flown in a drag race (Stone & Peterson) and missed each other by mere
inches.
 

Level 1 Certification Flights:
   Mark Cassola, Flight #33 - PML Tomahawk, H123.  Good solid flight
   Jerry Flanagan, Flight  #78 - LOC I-ROC, H180.  Motor failure.
   Marc Graye, Flight #117 -  Rocket D&D, IRIS, I154.  Good flight.
   David Wheeler, Flight #127 - LOC V2, I490.  Deployed but no chute.

Level 2 Certification:
   Rita Long, Flight #193 - Scratch  built “Ooh Ahh”, 89.5”x4”,
   10.48#, Olsen dual deployment, J460. Absolutely stunning flight!
 

Space Exploration Part I -  Bill Reverman and Jaime Roman of Boy Scout
Troop 383 completed several successfull flights towards earning their
Space Exploration merit badges.

Space Exploration Part II - Four members of the National Space Society
were in attendance.  Represented by Robby Gaines, they participated by
launching a Micromax Saturn V and Shuttle.

Young Creative Talent (Flight #122) - Jeffery Wheeler flew  an Estes
BT-50 “Reed Mobile” on a C6-3 with sax reeds on it.  I was probably
prepping so I don’t know if it worked.

Long Burn Motors - When the calm weather became apparent, fliers started
breaking out their longer burning motors. The number of longer burning F
& G motors was quite a  few.  For those of you who enjoy the long
burning motors, Mike Clayton and Andy Eng both lit off H90-10 single use
motors.  Alot of eyes were necessary to following these birds and both
were recovered. Neither of these two had altimiters but predicted 4200
and 5999 feet respectively and both were recovered nearby.  However, it
was Michael Martin who achieved total nirvarnia with his Nimbus on J180
and J90 power.
 

Vintage Motors - At least eight vintage single use motors from the mid
'80s were flown this weekend.  These motors use to belong to club member
Marvin Howard before he elected to try a new hobby.  These classics
included F40 Smokey Sam, G80 Smokey Sam, AT H70, AT H90 (2), H115 Smokey
Sam, Vulcan H155, and AT I65.  Only one CATO which may have been due to
too much thermalite.  Not bad!  My observations is that there are at
least 32 more of these vintage motors out there that will have to be
launched before the end of the year 2000.
 

Flying Egrets - Andy Eng flew a D powered rocket glider trim flight.
The bird used the entire DT before landing a quarter mile away.  He’s
now muttering gibberish about taking up RC.  He needs a beer.
 
 

Cluster Mania - Not sure why but there were quite a  few clusters and
airstarts flown.  The following is a short summary.

   Flight #2 - David Bacque starts it off with “Cajun Power”, a LOC
Magnum K550 core airstarting 2 H180 motors.  I guess it’s David that
gets everybody motivated.  We had a tough time following this flight as
it flew out of sight.

   Flight #24 - Not to be outdone, Willie Alston follows with a 3x1/2A
left over from the cancelled Harvest Challenge.  This flight was alot
easier to follow.

   Flights # 25, 30, 44, 67 & 103 - Scott Johnsgard kept us pretty
busy.  I’ve never seen anybody turn so many three motor cluster flights
so quickly on the same bird.

   Flight #68 - David Bacque brings out his Impulsive Decisions for a
maiden flight.  Starting with an I211 core, David stagger airstarts four
pairs of E15 motors.  The crowd goes banannas.

   Flight #70 - Brian Wheeler, an intermediate school aged flier,
scores a solid flight on a LOC 4-29SS with 2 Aerotech G motors and North
Coast ignitors.  This kid is good.

   Flight #105 - Charles DeBlanc, another pre-highschool flier, brings
out his LOC 4-29SS and gets a check mark flight using 2 F14P and 2 F50-9
motors.  Charles lights them all off with North Coast ignitors. These
kids are good.

   Flight #106 - Brian Patterson, loads up a  PML Miranda and fires it
off on 2 G80 motors and North Coast ignitors.  Where do these kids come
from?!?!

   Flight #183 - The next day, Mike Clayton brings out a LOC Viper-4 and
sets it off on 4 D12-7 motors.  After watching those kids from the day
before, LCO Clifford is blaise and doesn’t put anything in the flight
card comments.

   Flight # 195 - Club President Tom Lanier notices everybody having fun
and decides to stuff an H180 and 4D12 airstarts into a LOC Heavy Duty
Beauty.  Using thermalite for the airstarts, Tom scores a solid flight.
I believe this was a Marvin Howard model.

   Flight # 197 - After spending all afternoon prepping, Andy Eng treats
the crowd to a 3x38mm cluster of H123W’s.  Along with Igniterman home
dipped igniters and after two full days of launching, the batteries
still have plenty of juice with all motors lighting. From the spectators
viewpoint, the flight comes off without a hitch.
 
 
 

Food of the Rocket Gods & Other Odd Stuff - A shovel was on hand but not
needed as the dried and hardened clay fields proved mightier than many a
pointy rocket.  I like to think of this of these flights as paying ones
dues, thus worth mentioning -- It was interesting enough for the LCO to
make note of on the flight card.  If your flight was not mentioned,
chances are very good that it was a solid outstanding flight.  Names of
the unfortunate withheld.

   Flight #12 Lawn Dart - LOC Vulcanite, G80, no ejection.  Flourescent
paint job.  Vehicle was purchased at an auction.  May reappear at next
auction.

   Flight #33 - After a solid L1 certification flight which held up
despite ejecting at high speeds, fins are smashed off the bird while on
the ground as a dust devil picks  up the carcass by the chute and begins
slamming hapless  rocket onto the hardened clay field.

   Flight #36 - Boilerplate dual F20 powered scale Gemini Titan suffers
staggered motor ignition.  The curse of Martin Marietta runs deep.

   Flight #86 - R2D2 cracked.  Wise father explains to daughter the
inadequacies of cheap plastic RTF.  Hopefully, daughter will become a
skilled balsa worker.

   Flight #102 - According to the flight card, “Toothpick” shreds under
H128 power.  I’m busy prepping and missed this one.

   Flight # 116 - Smashing Lawn Dart, LOC EZI65, I211 w/ P5 Altimeter.
Vehicle attempted to bounce off of hardened clay but the airframe gave
way.  A moment of silence was requested and received.  Shovel was not
needed.

   Flight #131 “Texas Tea” -  This rocket of an oil rig is a tradition
at NHRC launches and remains in a prolonged breaking-in period.  Craft
will naturally fly again until Aerotech finally gets their F39 delays
right. Glue is believed to outweigh the wood and paper content.

   Flight #138 - F72 minimum powered vehicle vanished in thin air
without a trace. Young owner elated and jumping with glee the entire
flight.

   Flight #168 - G42 powered minimum diameter  bird decides to spit
motor.  Originally started off 43” long.  Will probably return as an
Alpha.

   Flight # 174  “Flying Star of Death” - Powered by an H128, this big
gold painted “thing” appeared to be a doomed lawn dart but miraculously
bounced off the hardened clay.  Must be made of rubber.

   Flight #194 - Smashing Lawn Dart of 8 lb vehicle from ~ 2100’ .
Parts of wreckage remains in the pasture as warning to cows.  Second
time nose cone has been damaged.  This time, owner swears off all
notions of repairing it.

   Flight #197 - Ejected 3  38/240 cases from 2100’.  Two were
borrowed.  None were found.  Positive motor retention didn’t.
Replacements ordered.

   Flight #201 - I211 powered scratch built “Scorcher” w/ 2 stage
altimeter recovery device lands in cattle pond.  Retrieved by veteran
flier merely chuckles and claims to have had a wonderful day.
 
 

That’s it!  If I missed anybody,  it wasn’t intentional and it was
probably a good flight.  That’s enough for now as it’s time to get ready
for the Turkey Shoot.

                               A few Photos from Saturday
 

    David and Paul Baque Show off their "Cajun Powere", and launch it on a K 55. Two H 180's were succesfully airstarted moments later followed by a perfect staged parachute deployment

    David didn't stop with the "Calun Power" either. Here his "Implsive Decisions"  lifts off on an I 211 followed in rapid succesion by four pairs of E 15 motors, the smoke trail went on, and on, and on..........

     Below are Michael Martins' beautiful Candy Striped V-2 on a J460 with a huge matching 'chute, and Michael Williams' beautiful PML Aurora on a J 350

    Waren Benson's 1/24th scale Gemini/Titan (before even getting it's final paint job) met the same fate as his 1/48th scale version, as one of the two F-20, sputtered to life as the vehicle was arcing over after a short single engine flight.