LDRS 31

LDRS XXXI Four days at the biggest launch event on Earth
July 2012 - Potter, NY Click on any picture to enlarge Video Playlist: LDRS XXXI (includes all videos on this page)

LDRS XXXI - Day one - 7/12/12
Midnight Express video of flights 1+2 playlist of all Midnight Express videos Rocketry Forum thread
3.4x upscale Estes Big Daddy. 68" tall x 10" diameter, 30 lbs without motor. Project was built to go for my L3 certification at LDRS.

First flight: CTI/AMW L820 Skidmark. Used a spacer to put the 3 grain load in a 4 grain 75mm case. First flight for this beast and my first L.

Flight went up well on a noisy column of smoke and a huge shower of sparks, reaching an altitude of 2608 ft. Gotta love a big sparky!

Pics include the required guy standing next to his rocket. Science Channel set up a few video cameras for this flight, and about one second of this liftoff made it into their LDRS XXXI show.

Our setup area as others continued to arrive. Day one gradually got busier as the day progressed.

This one burned intensely for a while... some other folk's flights. Plus my Turbine Rocket Saucer went up for the first of 3 flights at LDRS.

LDRS XXXI - Day two - 7/13/12
Midnight Express video of flights 1+2 playlist of all Midnight Express videos Rocketry Forum thread
Successful L3 flight, YYEEEHHHAAAA!

Flight 2: Friday the 13th. Built and loaded the 4 grain 75mm CTI/AMW M1230. Picked up one of the new Boostervision HD Gearcams on the field from Art Upton and got great onboard video.

At just before 4 in the afternoon the Midnight Express soared in the air, reaching 4673 ft, 1000 feet more altitude than Rocksim predicted.

The 275 pounds of thrust for 4.5 seconds sent the 40.8 pound rocket up hard, straight and fast. As this project has progressed, the rocket has kept gaining weight, it must be eating junk food when I'm not watching...

The rocket had a clean recovery for a good L3 flight. Thanks to Robert DeHate my L3CC advisor. RSO was Steve Eves and LCO Greg Gardener.

Burl Finkelstein’s Big V2 on 1x O5000 and 2x N2500 research motors. 15½ ft tall x 24" dia, 500lbs with motors. Steve Eve's Saturn 1B on display

LDRS XXXI - Day three - 7/14/12

HellBoy flight 6: video on 19x E9-6. Quick quiet liftoff on a column of flames and smoke to 1224 ft.
more info Rocketry Forum thread

Greg Gardener checking out the Spinning Saucer of the Apocalypse. Flights 3 and 4: video on 2x G64 + 8x D12
more info playlist of all SSoA videos Rocketry Forum thread

Nick DeBrita’s 1/6 scale Mercury Redstone          Dan Michael’s 3/4 scale Patriot Missile
1x M2500T + 4x K1100T           AT N2000WL + 4x M1315WL

14 way AT L900 Darkmatter drag race: video Both exciting and dramatic. Very cool on the way up, lots of debris on the way back down.

LDRS XXXI - Day four - 7/15/12

Sent up the Turbine Rocket Saucer twice on 6x D11-P and the Saucer of DOOM on a J250 Skidmark
video     more info

Mike Ruzzi

At the Odd Rocket competition for the Discovery Channel,
the infinitely wise Judge Krech presiding while Steve Eves and the infinitely charming Kari Byron listen

many Mennonites came to check out LDRS, with crowds growing each day

The incredible GO FAST jet pack: video Flown 3 times at LDRS. Made everything else we were doing there look tame by comparison.