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TRIPOLI Pittsburgh

Launch Report May 19-21, 2023

Flyers:

Flights:

"Tiny Earth" shot from the L1 on Sunday.

Can you find the Dragon's Fire Field?

Saturday saw rain early and for much of the day. The skies did clear however and the Boy Scouts and TRIPOLI Pittsburgh members were able to fly rockets.

Sunday's weather was beautiful and many rockets took to the sky.

Saturday

The Boy Scouts, Troop 180 out of Dunbar, PA had numerous attendees, many of who flew their rockets to attain a "Space Command" badge.

The Boy Scout troop had over 50 launches and nearly all were recovered ready to fly again.

Great job guys!

Sunday

TRIPOLI Pittsburgh veteran and president Joe Pscolka helps out the scouts as they prepare their birds for flight.

Ken Good

In May, Ken Good and his family members came out to fly a few off the low power pads and this beauty called Excalibur. While Ken is the official flyer, his grandson Rigel is the real brains behind the rocket.

According to Ken, "Of course I did the construction but he (Rigel) conceptualized much of the design and color scheme/name/graphics."

Scott Kissenger

Scott Kissenger brings out some great rockets to fly at the Dragon's Fire Field and May was no exception.

For his Level 2 re-certification flight, Scott chose the Guardian pictured here.

According to Scott: "It is one of our upscale kits. It is a 4" diameter upscale of the Estes Guardian. It is 60" tall with a 54mm motor mount and is dual deployment. I flew it on an Aerotech J-420R motor and it went 2760'."

Nice work Scott and congrats on your successful L2 re-flight!

Scott Kissenger's Guardian returns under parachute for an easy recovery within the infield.

Dave Ratliff

Dave Ratliff is one of the elite veterans of TRIPOLI Pittsburgh certified Level 3. Dave is a regular flier and brought out a couple of his Red Max fleet of rockets for action in May.

Dave watches one of his smaller Red Max rockets lift off of the low power pads.

The larger Red Max in the series is pictured here.

According to Dave, "It's made frome 7.5" LOC tubing and it has a 54mm motor mount. The fins are 1/2" Lowes plywood, glassed tip to tip. It's a simple top-popper with a Jolly Logic chute release to keep it a little closer during recovery. It will hit about 3000' on a K1100."

Nice work Dave and we'll look forward to seeing more from the fleet!

The Big Red Max goes off of the high power pads.

Ken Good and family members Melanie and Rigel hold the Excalibur.

Photos courtesy Dr. Melanie Good and Francis G. Graham (TRA00001)

Dan Heinlen does RSO duty for the whole day in May.

Thanks Dan!

The Excalibur consists of 4" LOC fiber and Quantum tubing with dual PerfectFlite altimeters.

The Excalibur lifts off on an Aerotech J-350.

Ken Good and his grandkids recover the Excalibur about 20' behind the high power pads after flying to an altitude of about 1900'.

John Haught's big rocket lift off on an M motor.

An interesting side note: While at the field flying rockets, Ken Good received a phone call from Astronaut and TRIPOLI Pittsburgh member Woody Hoburg from the International Space Station.

Ken was unavailable and Woody left him a message.