Looking at the photographs that I took at this event, the weather must have been cracking, it doesn't look like there was a cloud in sight. I certainly can't remember since it's now the middle of July and I have trouble remembering what I did 10 minutes ago, let alone four months ago. This report is basically going to be based on what I can gather from the flight card logs and the photos that I took on the day. The launch seems to have been pretty well attended as there were a total of 46 flights and there was a good selection of names on the flight cards.

A number of model and mid power flights were made before the high power antics started. The biggest of these was Marcus Lauder's GPI on a cluster of three Aerotech F20's. The rocket wobbled a bit as all three motors came up to pressure, but was fine once they had. The first high power flight of the day was made by Gary Sinclair with his modified VB King Blobbo on an Aerotech J275, for a cracking flight. My photo of this rocket taking off was used on the Big EARS event program.

There were plenty of models going off in between the high power stuff, with Mike Roberts seeming to be the main protagonist. Mike launched a total of eight rockets through out the day, most of which were off the pad before any of the high power stuff had even been prepped. Being this organised is certainly one way to avoid any potentially bad weather waiting round the corner.

Next up off the high power pads was Steve Gibbings with Neo a modified kit on a Hypertek J317, which fairly ripped off the pad. The finish on this rocket has to been seen, as it's a totally glorious metallic shimmery green colour. When Steve finally gets round to flying this thing of the Hypertek K240, it'll be a flight worth hanging around to see. There were quite a few Hypertek flights made, with the most interesting rocket name falling to Chris Eilbeck with Pathetic Waste of Nitrous, it went up on a J330 for a successful Level 2 flight.

Also using a Hypertek to certify Level 2 was Helen Green, she used a J250 in her modified PML Endeavour called Sparkling Cyanide. The Hypertek system seems to be gaining popularity at the moment, whether this is just due to there being no Aerotech motors, or whether it is because people are genuinely interested in the system I'm not sure. The final Hypertek flight of the day was made by Richard Osborne with his scratch built rocket Hades.¹

There were a number of other cool flights made, by a variety of people, Les Newman made a flight of his ½ scale Sidewinder on a G80. Most of us thought there would be problems, but it flew remarkably well. Gary Sinclair flew his Black Brant II on an Aerotech I200 for a very nice flight, got to love that rocket. Malolm Holt flew his PML Tomahawk on an Aerotech H112 and Jim MacFarlane flew his Q2 on an Aerotech H242 both for optimal flights.

It was getting late by this point, but that doesn't deter the avid flyer who turns up at EARS launches. Dave Warman flew his Sunburn on a Rocket Services H136, you don't see many of these motors now, but they are quite a treat when you do. The complex rocket of the day has to go to Jim Mac for flying his Gyroc, an actively stabilised rocket. This time the problem with the flight wasn't down to dodgy software, but a dodgy G12 Aerotech motor. This motor is supposed to burn for about 8 seconds, but the batch Jim has are burning for longer with less thrust. This means that Gyroc is hitting the ground under thrust, as there just isn't enough to keep it in the air.

Over all it seems to have been a pretty good launch, quite a good turn out from the regulars and quite a few of the non-regulars. If only we could have clear skies like that at all the EARS launches, I'd be a very happy man.

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Last update: Tuesday, 30-Mar-2004 03:42:45 EST