Tripoli South Florida

Not too surprisingly, Fathers Day at the rocket field wasn’t busy at all. We have a new Member that joined this month, Wayne P. He came up from the keys to see the rockets fly and the biggest one off was his! A fins and a nosecone rocket kind of thing that flew great in spite of some last minute modifications.
Also, Mike brought out a miniature camera that mounts onto an airframe bracket so it can go on any rocket and includes an integrated usb to plug it right in and download the video files immediately. Super cool – we’re waiting for the video to be emailed any day

It was a beautiful day at any rate.

Happy Holidays.

The third Sunday falls on Dec. 20. This’ll be the last launch of the year for the group.
We will be collecting annual dues for members in January and I will try to make up a roster of the members so I’ll probably be emailing for more info from some folks. In the mean time I hope you’ll enjoy this video of our  October Launch
Thanks to Rey we have some pictures of the November experience. I really like that picture of Don with his 2 stage on the mega pad. See the link to his site on the left.

There sure has been a lot of enthusiasm for flying rockets lately!  Such enthusiasm they can’t get enough in once a month.  I understand that launches are taking place about every other week; and certifications are happening monthly. It is a little alarming actually, how fast people are diving into the alphabet race even to the point of skipping letters so it seems.  Actually, I’m glad to see others jumping in so quickly because the club needs new people with excitement in their approach.

Even though we have a monthly launch other launches are being held. There are research launches that by Tripoli rules are not supposed to be held on the same calendar day as a commercial motor launch. Then there are the fun launches. We have approval from Mr Strano to use the land but it is important to respect the rules of the field and keep it clean. Both Paul and Jose C have been given copies of the waiver so these launches can be hi-power legit by the FAA.

This coming launch I plan to get there early and leave early because my family is having a get together sort of an early Thanksgiving. So If there are certs that need signing off Let’s have them ready. Tom – I have a 38mm H if you want to use it.

Lastly, although it isn’t obvious in the rule book, ONLY members over 18 can be  certified by Tripoli.

JS

The group is really growing in size! With this kind of participation we are going to need to delegate some responsibilities to our active members. Tripoli national requires that we think like a club with an organized leadership and so forth. With this in mind  we should start planning something that hasn’t happened in a long time – elections. January seems like a good time for these kind of events so start thinking now of who you want to be responsible for YOUR club.

I’m going to put the burden of the election on Marc S’s shoulders as far as making and counting ballots. Hey, he volunteered to be secretary! We’re going to need a Prefect, President, VP, treasurer, secretary and various minions who are willing to act as LCO, RSO, fee collector, membership keeper, etc.

Also, I have put a poll up about money; this is typically a touchy subject so having a poll means I don’t have to go around asking uncomfortable questions. TSF is obligated to pay TRA $100.00 annual charter fees that help to pay the TRA insurance. Annual dues to our small club will now cover this easily.  Additional funds can be used for cert flight H motors or whatever the leaders decide. Maybe a party, a gift for Mr. Strano our gracious land owner, or contest prizes.

The choices are self explanatory. You can vote on multiple items so if you say non-members you can also choose a dollar amount.

Have you seen the Facebook page?

The third Sunday seems to be the day that works best for the folks on the poll.  So with that let’s schedule for October 18th. This is likely to be another low power launch if we don’t get any info from the FAA. We will pass on any information when it becomes available.

UPDATE – 10/1/09 – I talked with Pete Acevido from the FAA this morning and he has verbally approved our waiver. I am expecting an emailed copy as well as a hard copy in the mail very soon. SO this month should be ok to do high power!

September 20th turned out to be a very nice day with a big crowd of launchers. Be sure to check out the links to pictures from Rey and Rick.  There are some excellent captures.  The spirit of camaraderie was tremendous with everyone out to fly and have fun.

Congrats to Jose C and Joe D for taking the written part of the level 2 test and passing with ease.

We had some new comers to the launch. Wes joined us with his splendid little flying saucer and there was a father and son, Omar and Richard, passing by who stopped to watch for a while. Martin K was nice enough to let him launch a small rocket, his very first.  Also, Manuel L. has paid in and joined the Prefecture.

Mark S has volunteered to do Secretary duties for the club. I’m not sure what all that entails other than preparing and officiating an actual election at the beginning of 2010. Mark has also said he would put together a facebook page for TSF. That sounds like a link!

The August launch was one of the best attended events in a very long time! We had 2 certification flights.  Congratulations to Mark and Joe on achieving  cert one level. I’m sorry that Jose could not certify because we were missing an aft closure on the 29mm cesaroni motor. I know I  saw people taking pictures at the field but no one has sent them in or posted links. If you have pictures be sure to upload them somewhere and post a comment link for everyone who wants to see.

Unfortunately, the next few launches will be low power only. I applied to renew our FAA waiver this spring and since then there has been no response in spite of emails, phone calls and letters. This past weekend they removed our waiver information and we must completely reapply. I have found some new (to me) information and will be sending in the paperwork this coming week. There will be a minimum of 45 days and probably 60 before a response – hopefully an approval- is expected putting us solidly into October and likely November before we can lawfully Hi-Power launch again.

Also, I have emailed Ben Russel for permission to schedule all our launches as research launches. This should allow people who want to make their own motors and commercial motors to be used at the launches. This brings up a number of issues for younger flyers as under 18s are not allowed to fly during a research launch. Only Tripoli members are allowed to fly launch.. Non members may not. And for sugar motor Martin, PVC is not allowed. Maybe he can cast them in a liner and put it into a non-frangible,  i.e. aluminum,  casing.

We may be required to state our upcoming launch dates for the year or 18 months ahead. Anyone want to comment on that? Do you want to pick dates or should we have a fixed weekend schedule? See polls. Should we make every other launch a research launch?

For a very long time TSF has been a relaxed, uncomplicated group. Rules have been very lax because they could be, but now with the club getting bigger it is going to have to establish and enforce some rules. I am calling out for some volunteers to help with these kinds of duties. We need to get together and come up with some guidelines for club membership fees, flight fees, RSO and LSO activities. Someone will have to act as secretary and will be required to conduct an annual Prefect election.

September 20 looks like a good day for a LOW POWER only launch. G power and below.

Looks too breezy this weekend to launch, and with a front coming in I don’t expect it to lighten up. Lets try for next weekend, maybe April will be better.

ALSO I’ve posted some pictures to the picasa site and there is this made by picasa. No music but there is sound from the launches – very important.

object width=”425″ height=”344″>

And I’m hoping to put a few items on the site for sale / donation to the club. The parts given to us by Korey Kline when EAC went out of business. There are some nice 3″ nosecones, lots of paper tubes, some PML tubes, a couple of quest kits, couplers, rings, etc. Even some Hybrid equipment. Speaking of hybrids, I got this in an email:

Hi everyone,

Shawn Hinzey here (I live up near Bernie in Hollywood).  Just letting everyone know I’ll be selling my Hybrid rig.  I’ve gotten into aviation the past year or so (that’s why I haven’t been around) and no longer have time for rocketry, let alone hybrid rocketry.  I’ll give the club 1st wack at it if they want it.  I used this rig for my PML Ion.

Comes with:

3/4 loaded bottle of NOS w/gauge

All fittings (will fit ANY hybrid system out there)

Extended hose

**Pratt Hobbies ULS (Universal Launch System)**

Other stuff:

Ignition/recovery black powder and pellets for a contrail system

Tube grease

2 Contrail Rockets exhaust nozzles for the Contrail 38mm J-255-HP Reload Package (small and large)

1 Contrail Rocket Reload (H-246HP, I-255-HP, J-246-HP, or J-222-HP)

Various injectors for the Contrail 38mm/28 Inch Motor System

Launch rail w/mount (doesnt include pad)

Ozark Aerospace ARTS2 altimeter recording&telemetry system

Everything here would get someone well on their way into hybrid rocketry (specifically for a Contrail system).  My “Ion” went ballistic so obviously I’m missing the motor tube, injector assembly, and the medium nozzle.  Everything else is there though.

I forgot to add the obvious and most important:

The tank comes with a ULS Module2 Valve Manifold as well.

January’s launch video – in case you missed it.

Tags: video youtube

Did I say the sixth I meant the 7th – my bad

Launch day is fast approaching in a couple of weeks. I hope the weather will be a bit less breezy than November’s launch. My Magnum got beat up pretty bad with it being dragged across the field. I had to trim an inch off the booster when I got hom and and considering repainting at least the fins due to abrasion damage.

We look forward to be treated to the visual spectacle of a steam rocket to be launched by Bernie. Two gallons of water heated to 500 psi should but to rest any kiddies with a bicycle pump and pop bottle tumble recovery water blast rockets.

The video is of Tom’s upscaled Este’s Sprint.  His was the only video because my battery wasn’t charged. Other than a few snaps it wouldn’t stay on long enough to shoot movies.

Note to self – charge the camera the day before.- may need a new battery soon; might as well get a 2 gig stick too. A few pics can be seen here

Tags: november launch announcement

July’s launch was actually a very nice day out in the field. We witnessed a couple of unconventional rockets that worked excellently.  The Pyramid is actually more like three sides of a cube and the Flying Saucer was a octagon. See plans here Both worked flew spectacularly and required no additional recovery devices. We appreciate Marc’s showing us something other than a fire arrows. He put up a couple of clean, complete videos from that day and I thought I downloaded them to incorporate into the video but I couldn’t find them.  The link I had went 404 before I began making the video.

Tags: 2008 Pictures, launch, pyramid, saucer, video