PREFECTURE ONE
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Launch Report July 18, 2020
TRIPOLI Pittsburgh had its first launch of the 2020 season on July 18.
A small but hardy group of fliers braved the heat and were treated to a beautiful sky and light winds. "Look at that Tail Stand!" TRIPOLI Pittsburgh President Joe Pscolka was heard to say numerous times as rockets approached apogee.
Tom O'Donnell carries his Funeral Rocket to the launch pad.
This was the first launch of the Wildman Darkstar kit on a CTI J 210. The onboard Eggtimer equipment appeared to work flawlessly and the GPS tracker reported the correct location.
After chute deployment however, the Funeral caught some unfavorable winds and drifted into the trees by the pond. Despite the onboard GPS tracker, Tom was unable to find it in the dense trees.
The Funeral Rocket was later located by the FMV Research Drone crew.
"The Up part was GREAT!", Tom commented.
Steve Howard hauls out his veteran Giant Leap Talon 4. This 4" diameter rocket flew on an EX J 300 red to an altitude of just over 2000'. A PerfectFlite MAWD punched out a 48" spherachute.
This rocket has over 40 flights, according to Steve. He added, "This was my Level 2 cert rocket back ten years ago."
Steve's Talon has seen a number of paint schemes and is currently "in progress" of a new design with some help from decals from fellow TRIPOLI Pittsburgh member Dave Rose.
Unhappy winds carried Steve's Talon into the Duda cornfield. An easy find for the Drone Crew. Launch photo coming soon...
Temp: 95+ F
Winds: Light and Variable
Fliers: 6
Flights: 21
Sparks fly as Rocket Rob Camile's PML Stryker takes to the air on an AeroTech H 178 Metal Storm.
Team Andre had multiple successful flights.
The red/blue rocket to the left won the closest to the pin contest of the day, coming down about 50' from the launch pad.
More to come.....
An earlier flight of Steve's had an unexpected event just after liftoff.
"I believe my smoke grain burned through early and created pressure to start a premature separation before full burn through.", said Steve Howard.
"At that point I had full pressure coming out both ends."
The pinwheel show was one of the more exciting of the day.
TR Garman's L2 rocket lifts off on a J 570 for a level 2 re-certification flight. About 2300' altitude.
More information about this rocket will be coming in the near future.