this Memorial Day weekend by launching one of the heftier rockets in the arsenal. The Apogee Zephyr is nearly five feet (1.5 m) tall and weighs about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) and takes a big engine to get it off the launch pad.
My Apogee Zephyr lifting off milliseconds after ignition. The side-vented pads work quite well and no fires were started on the range.
Zephyr ripping skyward on a 38 mm H motor.
Soft recovery to fly again under a four foot (1.2 m) diameter parachute.
when one fails to pay attention to the details of prepping a model rocket for flight! Despite this initial failure, it was another busy and fun day at the state line hurling projectiles into the sky.
Failure to properly retain the rocket engine in the motor mount allowed it to launch out the top of the rocket while sitting on the pad at ignition, displacing the nose cone and parachute and recovery wadding as it moved through the body tube. Oops.
No fires were started as the rocket engine departed the airframe leaving the rocket undamaged after the mishap on the pad. Exciting!
Second attempt: Nike Smoke Pro successfully lifting off the rail and piercing the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
Cherokee Pro heading up on a F engine.
Cherokee Mini seconds from touchdown after flying to 1,856 feet (566 meters) on a G engine.
this weekend at the state line was unfortunately cut short by high winds on the second day, but not before getting several high flyers off the pads early Saturday morning to a maximum apogee of 41,000 feet above ground level!
The high power launch pads and rails were set up shortly before sundown on Friday night. The FAA has granted the club a special waiver to fly to 50,000 feet this weekend where we are normally limited to flights no higher than 12,000 feet.
Ignition of the CTI L2375 rocket engine during an early morning launch.
The heavy metal pad collapses under the powerful thrust at liftoff! The CTI L2375 rocket motor produces 2,451 N-sec (551 lb-sec) of total impulse.
is my latest build and it soared to 1,035 feet (316 m) on its first flight under overcast skies today.
The somewhat translucent unpainted fiberglass Cherokee Mini model rocket revealing the Kevlar shock cord and parachute inside the airframe, racked on the launch rail and ready for its first flight.
Off it goes on an Aerotech F20 rocket motor on a flight lasting 81 seconds from liftoff to touchdown.
The slide out tailgate on the Bronco serves as a convenient workbench on which to prep rockets for flight.
when rockets are returning over the flight line. It was another fantastic and fun day at the state line with the gang from Colorado hurling projectiles at the sky.
My Nike Smoke Pro was just one of dozens of low-, medium- and high-powered rockets launched today.
was held today at the state line between Colorado and Utah. I successfully launched and recovered three mid-power rockets on a calm and sunny day in the Grand Valley. Always enormous fun.
The exhaust plume of a high-power rocket paints its trajectory as it heads skyward with the Book Cliffs serving as a scenic backdrop to the remote launch site.
Doorknob lifting off the rod on a F15-4 engine.
Nike Smoke Pro leaping off the pad on a composite F20-7W engine.
Nike Smoke Pro under chute during descent.
The mid-power Cherokee Pro heading up on a composite G77-7R engine to an apogee of 1,672 feet (510 m).
had me lofting the pumpkin-colored Moab Man rocket today. The second launch of the rocket involved a drag race with an identical rocket and identical engine.
Milliseconds after ignition, Moab Man accelerates skyward on a F15-4 motor.
Going up! Moab Man clears the rail.
Screen grab from a video of the drag race where both rockets were ignited at the same time. Big fun.
of low-, mid- and high-powered rockets occurred over four days at the National Sports Launch West event, bringing together more than 250 rocketeers from across the country for the Memorial Day weekend near Alamosa, Colorado. Here’s one of the first high-power rockets heading to 44,000 feet (13,400 meters) to kick off the event!
The high altitude launch site lies at 7,600 feet above sea level in the San Luis Valley with 80 launch pads/rods/rails/towers on the firing range. There’s nary a tree for miles and miles in any direction.
All launch pads and rockets on the range are fired by the Launch Control Officer and their staff of assistants, pad managers and spotters.
All rockets to be flown are first inspected by Range Safety Officers for flight worthiness prior to launch, no matter the size, both large and small.
GPS radio tracking frequencies must be managed so as to avoid conflicts during flights.
Basic kits were generously donated by Estes and the rocket engines by Chris’ Rocket Supplies for the kids.
Many vendors were represented at the event and a lot of business was conducted on the site.
the Gunnison River has deeply incised the Black Canyon, exposing the ~1.7 billion year-old Precambrian metamorphic rock that comprises the enormous Painted Wall, caught at sunrise and the moment of first light.
Wide pre-dawn view of the 2,250 foot (686 meter) high Painted Wall, showing pegmatite dikes intruding the foliated gneiss and schist creating a natural abstract mural nearly a half-mile high.
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) enjoying sunset near Cedar Point the evening before.
for the National Sports Launch West to be held near Alamosa, Colorado during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, a four day-long event. Launch waivers to 52,000 feet!!
The Arreaux (left) and Arcas (far right) are the highest fliers, and they will carry the GPS radio tracker in their payload bays.
by successfully launching and recovering the high-power HV Arcas model rocket with an “H” motor to 2,314 feet (705 meters). Here are several images taken at the remote launch site on the Colorado - Utah state line. It’s very good and quite satisfying to set and achieve lofty goals in retirement.
HV Arcas on the launch rail, prepped for liftoff on a reloadable Aerotech H128-8W engine.
Blast off!
Thumbs up on a successful soft touchdown under parachute about 1,500 feet (450 meters) down range.
The flight recorder showed that the rocket’s top speed was 391 mph with 16.1 G peak acceleration for a flight lasting 146 seconds.
HV Arcas launch video courtesy BH. “That’s the up part!”
from GJT to SLC and onward to GEG yielded several interesting views when the weather allowed. Remember, geologists always get window seats.
View northwestward across Grand Junction, Colorado shortly after departure. The sinuous dark area is the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers.
View northward, turning into the Salt Lake Valley over Utah Lake with the snow-covered Wasatch Mountain front.
The historic earthen causeway for the Lucin Cutoff railroad line separates the Great Salt Lake into two waterbodies with differing aquatic ecologies.
A peculiar roller cloud, about 40 miles (64 km) in length along its north-south axis, sits atop and defines Hells Canyon in Idaho.
occurs once a month on the Utah - Colorado state line, here framed by the Book Cliffs to the north. The so-called Warp Core chapter of the National Association of Rocketry organizes model rocket launches at this remote site where members fly low-, medium- and high-powered model rockets. It’s a ridiculous amount of fun and here are some of my launches from today.
The launch site in the Grand Valley west of Grand Junction, Colorado. NOTAMs are filed and we have a waiver to fly to 12,000 feet (4,000 meters). Coordinates: 39.27910365938015, -109.04074725724564
The scale model Doorknob sounding rocket moments after ignition.
Cherokee Pro roaring off the rail on a G40-7W engine to an apogee of 1,711 feet (522 meters).
The recently finished (but not yet painted/decaled) Bull Pup on its maiden flight skyward on a F20-4W engine.
where the Arreaux model rocket soared to an apogee of 2,402 feet (732 meters) on a “G” engine at a remote launch site on the state line. I’m aiming higher.
Also, these launches push me over the century mark, now having sent more than 100 model rockets skyward this year. Huge fun.
The Book Cliffs serve as a backdrop as the Arreaux zooms off the pad.
The Nike Smoke Pro under chute after achieving an apogee of 695 feet (212 meters).
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) wondering what all the commotion was about out on the range this morning.
in full resplendent beauty.
Rocky Mountain columbine (Aquilegia caerulea).
is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth’s history approximately 28 million years ago (Eocene). That enormous geologic event has left quite a bruise on south central Colorado and also created rich mineral deposits in the region.
Oblique aerial view towards the north showing the 20 mile wide (32 km) La Garita Caldera structure from Google Earth. Snowshoe Mountain is a resurgent dome in the core of the caldera.
The upper Rio Grande Valley on the western side of the La Garita caldera.
Much of the valley bottom is mantled with glacial till in terminal and lateral moraines and with glacial outwash.
Bristol Head mountain stands at 12,712 feet (3,875 meters) high with a smaller resurgent dome on the left.
Caldera-filling sedimentary rocks of the Creede Formation (Oligocene) near Creede, Colorado reflecting a lacustrine environment of deposition.
in the high country of Colorado.
Adult male Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus).
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus).
Male Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus).
Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus).
with a buddy from graduate school at a guest ranch near Creede, Colorado. Here are several of the local residents.
Our remote cabin for the week at about 9,200 feet (2,800 meters) in elevation.
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila).
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor).
Golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis).
in the high country of Colorado last night at 11,100 feet above sea level. It was certainly quite chilly around midnight when this image was captured.
Snowdon Peak (13,077 feet) and the Milky Way reflected in Little Molas Lake. Look closely above the galactic core and you’ll spy a short meteor trail.
The subalpine scene at sundown.
is the chief celebrity of Fruita, Colorado, having lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off in 1945. There’s even a local festival held in May every year to acknowledge Mike’s tenacity! Learn about Mike.
It’s easy to find Mike’s statue in charming downtown Fruita on Google Maps.