Rio Rancho Launch, February 9th 2008

It was a beautiful clear February day with temperatures starting in the high 20's but making it up to the mid 50's. We also had a slight breeze most of the day around 5mph. The day started off with a bang with Bill Beggs flying his scratch built Viking 9 on an Aerotech H699 Warp 9 motor. Bill also flew his fleet of Fat boy clusters, one of which made a small crater in the desert. The big flight of the day went to Nathan Dalrymple and his Merlin on an AMW L777WW which was a real crowd pleaser. Congratulations to a club flyer for a successful L1 certification flight with an Aerotech H123 in a BSD kit named "Flamer". Tony Jaramillo and Steve Nelson also had great flights both using Aerotech I-211's.

Motor breakout was:

Rio Rancho Launch, March 8th 2008

It was a pretty cool day to start off with but did warm up later in the day. At times it was a little breezy but nothing that would ground any of the flights. The most spectacular flight of the day went to Tony Lazzaro with his PML Callisto on an AMW I285. About a second or so into the flight there was an ejection charge failure and the whole thing shreded! Tony had an onboard camera and did get some good pics. Bill Beggs once again led the charge with a total of 14 flights. Bill also flew the HyperTEK J260 motor in his Viking 4 to an alitude of 3492 feet. Nathan Dalrymple also had some good flights with his BSD Sprint on an AMW I220 Skidmark. This time of year is great for the skidmark motors since there is little to no fire danger.

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Rio Rancho Launch, April 12th 2008

What a great day for a rocket launch. The weather was cool in the morning with a little breeze but at times was completely calm. We also had pretty clear skies with just some scattered clouds. The first big launch of the day went to Tony Jaramillo with his scratch built "Christine" rocket on a J275W. It really screamed off the pad. Kevin Small had a great flight with his "Skinny Stick" on a J415. We also had a bunch of younger fliers show up to add to the flight total. Bill Beggs flew his full scale Arcas on a HyperTEK L550 which made it all the way to 7660 feet after getting a little tied up on the launch system. John Currens finished the day with a spectacular flight of his scale WAC Corporal on an AMW M1480 Red Rhino. As you can see from the motor totals the launch was pretty balanced between the big and small motors. If you didn't come out, you missed a great day to fly. Make sure you plan for May. The weather is usually pretty good.

Motor breakout was:

Rio Rancho Launch, June 14th 2008

What a great day for a rocket launch. The weather was hot and so were the amount of flights for the day. In total we had 57 flights ranging from A to M. A group of Boy scouts came out and really added to the flight total as well as adding to the excitement of the day. The "Elvis" rocket had a successful L2 flight on a Cesaroni J285 while Ronda Cole and her "Phenolic Phenom" had parachute deployment problems with her L2 attempt. ARS would also like to welcome their two newest members, Jim Sauer and Michael Chirin. Jim really likes being involved with the educational part of rocketry and Michael enjoys the high power rockets as well as the smaller kids size ones. We hope they will have some exciting flights in the future.

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Rio Rancho Launch, July 26th 2008

The day started off kind of iffy where the weather was concerned but ended up being a pretty calm and cool day to launch. Most of the day was partly cloudy which kept the temps down to a nice level for July. We had a pretty good attendance as well as quite a few flights as can be seen by the totals below. The largest flights of the day went to Bill Beggs with a couple of AMW K's. Bill and Ken Goldstein both flew clusters as well as some RATT hybrids. Our "Busy Bee" award of the day goes to one of our newest members Grant Finch. Grant flew 13 times! Bill Beggs was a close second with 12 launches.

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Rio Rancho Launch, August 9th 2008

The weather was fairly nice but slightly windy. CONGRATULATIONS to Bob Finch for his NAR L1 certification! Bob did his cert in unique style with an Art Applewhite 29mm Priority Stealth cardboard rocket on an Aerotech H128. John H was able to put up a minimum diameter rocket on an I600R that went completely out of sight! It was found about a half mile away near the power lines.

Club news - If you don't already know by now, Steve Nelson is going to be our local LOC/Precision dealer. He has many kits in stock and will also be stocking many extra body tubes and nose cones. He has been advertising on Craigslist so if you would like a new rocket kit please contact Steve. LOC/Precision is a great mid to high power rocket manufacturer. Their web site is: www.locprecision.com

Motor breakout was:

Rio Rancho Launch, September 13th 2008

Another great day for a rocket launch. The weather was in the mid 80's and not a cloud in the sky. In total there were 43 flights with motors ranging from 1/2A to L. Congratulations to Ronda Cole for her successful L2 flight! She flew a custom 4" rocket on a CTI Pro38 J330. Diane MacAlpine also attempted a L1 cert with a ProX 38mm I255 Red Rhino but had some problems with the main chute deployment. We hope to see her back soon to try again. Bill Beggs flew the first "Tomahawk Challenge" rocket with an F60 to an altitude of 1707 feet. This is now the mark to beat. Ethan Dalrymple also had a great three stage Commanche fligt using a D12 to C6 to C6. It was so clear and nice out that you could see the entire flight. This is one of the best Commanche flights I have ever witnessed. This was also the first time we have used the newly acquired tower launchers from Giant Leap Rocketry. Mike Sjulin flew the largest rocket of the day with his Star Fighter on an Aerotech L1150. It was a great flight up but had some problems deploying the main chute and came down pretty fast. Even so the rocket appeared to have no visible damage which atests to Mike's building ability. We also had a banana launched with a car air bag. When the air bag was activated it literally shreded the banana. We also grew as a club by two. Paul Morgan and Steve Rowan joined the club on Saturday and are sure to add some nice flights to the mix. Mike Chirin, Bill Beggs, and Bob Finch had six flights each.

Motor breakout was:

Rio Rancho Launch, November 8th 2008

Once again, another great day for a rocket launch. The weather was in the mid 60's and not a cloud in the sky. In total there were 43 flights with motors ranging from A to L. Tony Lazzaro heated up the "Tomahawk Challenge" contest by flying his Tomahawk on H73 power to 3474'. Nathan Dalrymple set the highest altitude flight of the day with his beautiful "Apache" rocket. Nathan had two altimeters on board which recorded altitudes of 10600 and 11530' using a HyperTek L625 motor. It was a great flight! Bill Beggs also flew his minimum diameter "High Flyer 38" on a CTI I470 to 9750' and also followed Nathan's hybrid with a HyperTek L550 in his "Hyper L" to an altitude of 9118'. Unique rockets of the day went to Bob Finch with his Helix on E power! This was a monocopter design and was truly something neat to see. Highest flight totals went to Bill Beggs with six, Mike Chirin and Grant Finch with five each. Here is a link to photos that were taken by Kevin Small. November 8th photos

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Rio Rancho Launch, December 13th 2008

It turned out to be a fairly descent day to launch rockets in December. The wind was a factor the entire day but didn't stop people from launching. We had groups out to launch that included Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and a bunch of kids from the West Mesa High School Junior ROTC. The West Mesa JROTC accounted for just about all of the H motors that were flown. We also had one L2 Cert flight by Bob Finch. The L2 cert flight was great going up and coming down but suffered enough damage to the airframe to disqualify it for certification but this rocket was a completely bolt-together rocket and will be back for another flight. The "Wackiest" rocket of the day went to Jason Sievent with his "Xmas tree" on a CTI G115. The rocket came to life very quickly and ripped off the pad! After about 30 or 40 feet it made a 180 degree turn and went into the ground under boost! Needless to say there wasn't much left. I think its stability needs to re-evaluated. Bill Beggs came out on the losing end for the day for losing two of his three rockets launched. One was a D-Region Tomahawk on an H210 which was last seen screaming into the clouds due South of the launch site. It is not known whether or not the parachute deployed. It had an Adept altimeter and an Aerotech 29/180 motor casing. A reward will be paid for the return of this rocket. The other rocket that was lost was a small 24mm rocket that also had an Adept alitmeter. This one also disappeared in the clouds but the ejection was heard but the rocket was never seen. It also flew slightly South but would have landed North of the launch site due to wind direction. A reward will also be given to the person that returns it.

Thanks to everyone that was involved with launching rockets this past year and I hope we are able to launch much more in 2009!

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