Sport Rocketry

36 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 SPORT ROCKETRY A Return to Competition by Dave Zuchero I first read about international compe- titions almost 50 years ago. "How cool is that?" I thought back then, reading in Model Rocketry magazine about these competitors in their red, white, and blue racing jackets. Although I actively competed in model rock- etry events in the early 70s, I always thought this international stuff was out of my league. Now, 50 years later, I found myself in Mun- cie, Indiana, competing in the North Coast Cup and trying out for the U.S. Team. Through my son's TARC team I got to know Kevin Johnson, and in turn his wife Esther, Dave O'Bryan, Jim Filler, and other international competitors in the Maryland area. This year I decided it was time to take my shot at it. I selected four events: S3A, S4A, S6A, and S2P. With DaveO as my guide and mentor, I built a bunch of tube models, a flock of rocket gliders, and re-purposed an old TARC rocket that I had built as a demo for a middle school team. The day before the start of the events we decided to test fly some models. My flock of rocket gliders was quickly reduced to a box of broken parts. Lesson learned: some test flying before you get to the event isn't a bad idea! Luckily I managed to glue enough pieces together to build three good models for the event. My S2P model, which was once dialed in for 300 meters, wasn't com- ing anywhere close to that altitude, and there was no weight left to remove. First event up was S2P. OK I admit it…I had never seen an Adrel altimeter before. In fact I didn't know which piece was the actu- al altimeter. Thanks to Matt Steele for help- ing me through the set up. The first flight did not log an altitude for some reason that was probably my fault. I was informed that I could fly it again if there was still time. With one minute left in the round, it wasn't go- ing to happen. Lesson learned: when flying altitude events in rounds, it's best to get your flights off early in case you need to re-fly. Al- though I was still having issues with the al- timeter, I eventually managed to put up two decent flights. Without the penalty for the track loss I could have had a great score… coulda, shoulda, woulda. Lesson learned: know your equipment before you fly! Monday morning began with S3A para- chute duration. On my first flight, one of the shroud lines tangled resulting in a slightly deformed canopy. But not to worry, the thermal gods ignored it and carried it away for a fairly a decent time. Paying more at- tention to the shroud lines on the second and third flights resulted in more success- ful deployments. At the end of the second day of flying, to my complete amazement, people started telling me that I was in third place. The next day, with the final round to fly, I decided I'd better talk to people about thermal detection and pay attention to the weather conditions. My third and last flight was pretty decent. Although there wasn't a max in the bunch, with three decent flights I somehow managed to take first place! As I was taking the long hike back to the field after retrieving my model in the soybeans, one of the nitro helicopter guys offered me a ride back to the range. Since it was their last day on the field, they we're planning a knock-down, drag-out party that night and my new pal Gus invited me to the party. Even though I had to decline due to previous plans, Gus still brought me some samples of their Thai and Indian curry! You gotta love these model aviation folks! S4A was nothing to write home about. One poorly trimmed glider, one decent flight, and one wing tip that didn't deploy for a DQ. Not a spectacular total but still not that far out of the money. More testing and maybe using these torsion spring thingies might help in the future. Years ago I was an avid boost/rocket glider competitor so I def- initely want to refine my skills in this event. As for S6A streamer duration, I managed to put up a couple of average flights the first day. But on the third day it was amazing to see my bird hanging from a streamer almost motionless in the air as it caught a thermal near the sanitary facilities! Enough for me to get 2nd place! All-in-all, not a bad showing for a rusty old rocketeer from the 1970s. Thanks to the FAI spacemodeling community for their help and support and to DaveO for his one- on-one instruction and materials. http://v-serv.com/usr/ • info@usrockets.com (orders/Paypal) • PO Box 1242, Claremont, CA 91711 Starlight • 7x29mm Pillar of Fire 29mm $149.95 • OOP Semroc Saturn 1B $129.95 • 4x29mm The Quad $109.95 • 2.7 inch Starlight $119.95 INSTASHIP INSTASHIP E-mail today, get it next week info@usrockets.com

• Cover