Sullivan Lake21: 13-14 Sept 2014

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The Sullivan lake launch site <br />(at Rock Lake)... our home on wheels... the Sweetgrass hills with <br />a dusting of snow... Friday afternoon, and a typical <br />southern Alberta breeze... launch systems being readied <br />for the next day... dusk at Sullivan Lake... Saturday morning safety briefing... launch control setup... the range under a blue sky... Maddy and Madison, the <br />family that flies together... Ron examining Robert's airframe... rocket inspection table... Craig's G powered flight... with a less than happy landing... low-powered models... dominated the morning flights... with a lull in the winds, it was time to <br />fly the camera rocket... away it goes on a G80... descending under <br />a blue sky... to a relatively unscathed landing... high powered rockets dominated <br />the rest of the day... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Dale with his "K" powered airframe... which had an impressive flight... to over 6,000'... descending under canopy... the RI table... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... our rocket shop... and the day's lineup... Ian with his Tomahawk... Ian and Sarah... ready for launch... lift off... on a J330... into the heavens... nice shock waves... but unfortunately, not only did it descend with a tangled <br />streamer, but also without deploying the main chute... recovery crew... it landed a fair distance <br />from the launch site... but was still in reasonably good shape... Ian with airframe, the intact nosecone reveals <br />the main chute didn't deploy... rolling up the streamer... heading back... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... postmortem: the apogee charge <br />fired successfully... but for some reason the main charge didn't, <br />which resulted in a hard landing... and another cracked fin, ironically <br />the same one as before... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Dale's minimalist campsite... Craig's more complete site... a family of flyers... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... the wind finally subsided so it was <br />time for the grand finale... the Firestorm 54mm... flying on a J290 motor... the launch site is readied... and away it goes... on 90lb of thrust... into the wild, blue yonder... climbing straight and fast... and hitting almost 50 G's of <br />acceleration at liftoff... and a top speed <br />of 570 mph... after burnout the rocket coasted <br />for another 17 seconds... until it reached apogee... and the drogue deployed... at an altitude of 5,900 ft... and down it came... until the main deployed... and it coasted back <br />to earth... for a perfect flight, and <br />not too far to walk... a nice soft landing... nothing tangled... a textbook separation... recovery crew, Sarah and Mary-Ann... heading back... the flights continued... into the evening... and dusk... until the sun went down... skywriting... Sarah and Mary-Ann... Ian and Mary-Ann... late night activities: <br />fireworks, firewood...and firewater... Sunday morning... under an amazing sky... safety meeting... Dale's arsenal... a well appointed setup... with every tool imaginable... including a gasoline powered <br />margarita mixer!... Dale looking over Ron's "L" powered <br />carbon fiber airframe... payload section, with redundent altimeters <br />and real-time GPS link... Ron's airframe... the morning started with a few <br />obligatory model rockets... to get things warmed up... then it was time to try a second <br />flight with the camera rocket... one of the goals had been to see if the rate <br />of spin on descent could be reduced... up it went on the same G80 motor, <br />but at a considerable angle... which meant for a longer walk... it somehow managed to find a <br />soft spot between the rocks... and some burrs found their <br />way into my socks... the high-powered rockets took <br />over for the afternoon... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Graham getting one of his <br />rockets inspected.... by the RI, Tim... Ron getting his airframe <br />signed off for flight... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... it was finally time for Ron's <br />"L" powered rocket... that took off on 300 lbs of thrust... and climbing quickly... at nearly the speed of sound... to an altitude of 14,000 ft... and a clean landing just <br />over a mile away... the last few launches <br />of the day... took place under <br />perfect skies... and calm winds... Maddy's rocket at moment of ignition... building thrust... building thrust... and liftoff on 80lb of thrust.. soaring into the sky... where no man or women has gone before... to explore strange new worlds... to seek out new life and <br />new civilizations... to boldly go... were no one... has gone before... drogue deployed... descending fast... nice main deployment... beautiful descent... to a nice soft landing... Maddy retrieving his rocket... after a successful flight... the final launch of the day... a fitting grande finale... building thrust... and away on over 90 lbs of thrust... into the heavens... watched by a crowd of <br />hardy spectators... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sullivan Lake XXI... Sarah's rock art... getting a big hug.