Pictures from AeroPAC's MudRoc 2003 launch
June 20-22, 2003
Black Rock Desert, Nevada

Saturday June 21 pictures

These are my pictures from Saturday June 21 at AeroPAC's MudRoc 2003.

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(1536x1002 585K) (500x326 21K) First photo Saturday morning... A rocket launches from a far pad which was a straight view in front of our camp.

(1536x1002 661K) (500x326 19K) This is a shot from the "what it was like to be there" dept. It's a view of the motor homes which made the second row of camps behind the flight line. The mountains in the background nearly in the scattered clouds are the Granite Range west of the playa.

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(1536x1002 814K) (500x326 37K) Here's our camp Saturday morning. Soon after this we took the cones away from the front of the camp and placed them over the stakes holding down the guy lines for the big tent. It helped prevent people (namely us) from tripping over them.

(1002x1536 761K) (500x766 63K) My rockets have been removed from their shipping containers. The taller mostly-white one on the left is Mr Mach, which had not yet been flown at the time of this picture. The shorter, colorful one on the right is One-Two Punch, which had flown twice before for my L1 and L2 certification flights.

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(1536x1002 822K) (500x326 39K) My "Mr Mach" rocket is being prepped for its first flight in the bed of my truck.

(1536x1002 781K) (500x326 31K) Mr Mach is loaded and ready, with igniter installed, on Pad 24.

(1536x1002 779K) (500x326 31K) Mr Mach is on Pad 24. The high-power pads are full and the range is closed. (i.e. no one can go out to the pads to put more rockets on them until these are launched.)

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(1536x1002 811K) (500x326 36K) Bryan stands at the crash site of Mr Mach. (Since Bryan is the same height as this rocket when it's nose cone is on, he stood in the picture for scale.) As far as we could tell, the parachute deployed on impact. Note that the rocket body and parachute line are not in a straight line, as they usually would be after a normal descent under parachute. It lost the nose cone in flight and came down in a flat spin which slowed it enough to survive the impact. We didn't find the nose cone - but someone else turned it in at the launch control officer (LCO) table. From now on I'll write my contact info on the nose cones too.

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(1536x1002 1119K) (500x326 55K) Another view of the Mr Mach crash site.

(1536x1002 642K) (500x326 25K) One of several stops looking for the nose cone.

(1536x1002 1353K) (500x326 60K) This is the crash site of a rocket that lawn-darted (no parachute deployment, flew straight into the ground) on the open playa south of the flight line. We rode our bikes out to it. The wind started to pick up a moment later and everyone started a frenzied pace to pick up all the "rocket chips" off the ground so they wouldn't become litter. One bystander quickly finished off the last of a back of potato chips so we could throw the rocket chips in it.

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(1002x1536 1113K) (500x766 104K) The rocket's owner arrives and sees the remains of all his work.

(1536x1002 910K) (500x326 41K) The rocket's owner smiles with the largest remaining piece. (Someone please tell me his name so I can properly attribute this picture.)

(1536x1002 579K) (500x326 22K) An out-of-focus attempt to photograph the remains of the rocket up-close.

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(1536x1002 637K) (500x326 28K) Time to remove the motor casing from Mr Mach to clean it up after its flight. I parked the truck into the wind to give us some protection for our work area. But you can see the dust blowing around in the background and the wind seems to have inflated my T-shirt, which looks a little silly. (photo by Bryan Klofas)

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(1536x1002 821K) (500x326 37K) One-Two Punch is on Pad 24, ready to go. We got the same pad as before because it had a 3/8" rod, which is the size of the launch lugs that came with the Firestorm 54 kit, since it's designed to fly L1 and L2 motors. They couldn't have us use the front row with a J350 motor. But this is an uncommon configuration on the 2nd-row pads so Pad 24 remained the only 3/8" rod on the 2nd-row high-power pads. (This gives a little insight into some things the Launch Control Officer "LCO" has to deal with.)

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(1536x1002 540K) (500x326 11K) Missed it! The One-Two Punch flew off the pad too quickly for me to photograph. (And I don't have photos of the landing site because Owen drove out there to pick it up. We could see it so we hopped on our bicycles and rode toward it, to point out the direction to him. Owen said it looked like a normal successful landing site. :-)

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(1536x1002 661K) (500x326 22K) After the launch window closed and we cleaned up the motor casing from One-Two Punch's flight, Bryan flies a kite in the evening wind.

Back to the AeroPAC Mudroc 2003 Pictures

(1536x1002 585K) (500x326 21K)	First photo Saturday morning... A rocket launches from a far pad which was a straight view in front of our camp.
(1536x1002 661K) (500x326 19K)	This is a shot from the "what it was like to be there" dept. It's a view of the motor homes which made the second row of camps behind the flight line. The mountains in the background nearly in the scattered clouds are the Granite Range west of the playa.
(1536x1002 814K) (500x326 37K)	Here's our camp Saturday morning. Soon after this we took the cones away from the front of the camp and placed them over the stakes holding down the guy lines for the big tent. It helped prevent people (namely us) from tripping over them.
(1002x1536 761K) (500x766 63K)	My rockets have been removed from their shipping containers. The taller mostly-white one on the left is Mr Mach, which had not yet been flown at the time of this picture. The shorter, colorful one on the right is One-Two Punch, which had flown twice before for my L1 and L2 certification flights.
(1536x1002 822K) (500x326 39K)	My "Mr Mach" rocket is being prepped for its first flight in the bed of my truck.
(1536x1002 781K) (500x326 31K)	Mr Mach is loaded and ready, with igniter installed, on Pad 24.
(1536x1002 779K) (500x326 31K)	Mr Mach is on Pad 24. The high-power pads are full and the range is closed. (i.e. no one can go out to the pads to put more rockets on them until these are launched.)
(1536x1002 811K) (500x326 36K)	Bryan stands at the crash site of Mr Mach. (Since Bryan is the same height as this rocket when it's nose cone is on, he stood in the picture for scale.) As far as we could tell, the parachute deployed on impact. Note that the rocket body and parachute line are not in a straight line, as they usually would be after a normal descent under parachute. It lost the nose cone in flight and came down in a flat spin which slowed it enough to survive the impact. We didn't find the nose cone - but someone else turned it in at the launch control officer (LCO) table. From now on I'll write my contact info on the nose cones too.
(1536x1002 1119K) (500x326 55K)	Another view of the Mr Mach crash site.
(1536x1002 642K) (500x326 25K)	One of several stops looking for the nose cone.
(1536x1002 1353K) (500x326 60K)	This is the crash site of a rocket that lawn-darted (no parachute deployment, flew straight into the ground) on the open playa south of the flight line. We rode our bikes out to it. The wind started to pick up a moment later and everyone started a frenzied pace to pick up all the "rocket chips" off the ground so they wouldn't become litter. One bystander quickly finished off the last of a back of potato chips so we could throw the rocket chips in it.
(1002x1536 1113K) (500x766 104K)	The rocket's owner arrives and sees the remains of all his work.
(1536x1002 910K) (500x326 41K)	The rocket's owner smiles with the largest remaining piece. (Someone please tell me his name so I can properly attribute this picture.)
(1536x1002 579K) (500x326 22K)	An out-of-focus attempt to photograph the remains of the rocket up-close.
(1536x1002 637K) (500x326 28K)	Time to remove the motor casing from Mr Mach to clean it up after its flight. I parked the truck into the wind to give us some protection for our work area. But you can see the dust blowing around in the background and the wind seems to have inflated my T-shirt, which looks a little silly. (photo by Bryan Klofas)
(1536x1002 821K) (500x326 37K)	One-Two Punch is on Pad 24, ready to go. We got the same pad as before because it had a 3/8" rod, which is the size of the launch lugs that came with the Firestorm 54 kit, since it's designed to fly L1 and L2 motors. They couldn't have us use the front row with a J350 motor. But this is an uncommon configuration on the 2nd-row pads so Pad 24 remained the only 3/8" rod on the 2nd-row high-power pads. (This gives a little insight into some things the Launch Control Officer "LCO" has to deal with.)
(1536x1002 540K) (500x326 11K)	Missed it! The One-Two Punch flew off the pad too quickly for me to photograph. (And I don't have photos of the landing site because Owen drove out there to pick it up. We could see it so we hopped on our bicycles and rode toward it, to point out the direction to him. Owen said it looked like a normal successful landing site. :-)
(1536x1002 661K) (500x326 22K)	After the launch window closed and we cleaned up the motor casing from One-Two Punch's flight, Bryan flies a kite in the evening wind.

Pictures from AeroPAC's MudRoc 2003 launch June 20-22, 2003 Black Rock Desert, Nevada

Pictures from AeroPAC's MudRoc 2003 launch
June 20-22, 2003
Black Rock Desert, Nevada