Quote from Eric Becher on June 2, 2025, 11:05 pm

June 2025 Launch Report

Finally, a pleasant day outside! The wind was up a bit, but after too many months of frustration and lousy weather, a good crowd showed up ready to fly! And they did!!

Engine totals:

1 – 1/2A Engines
9 – A Engines
28 – B Engines
28 – C Engines
9 – D Engines
7 – E Engines
2 – F Engines
2 – G Engines
Total of 86 engines on 80 flights. Numbers that are back up where they belong!
View Launch Statistics

So, while the wind kept some folks from going too high, we saw plenty of interesting rockets (mostly built by Brian C.). But one of the first orders of business was to congratulate Diptanshu and his teammates of “Mach Lightspeed.” They showed off their award-winning rocket, fresh from the waters of Lake Michigan, where they took 2^nd place in the Rockets 4 Schools competition, Class II division. They followed that up by qualifying for the ARC finals in Virginia (top 100 from the 1001 registered teams) where they took 9^th place. Well done Team!! They prove what we implore all teams to do – fly early and often in the ARC season to have the best chance of success. And they are already working on the 2025-2026 season. They flew a new rocket designed for the new season’s altitude and time targets.

A wide variety of rockets flew. There were boosters & clusters, including Brian C’s 2xD22 powered “Flame Thrower”, Konstantine’s “Silver Bird” and Pano’s “Comanche 3”. Undeterred by a lawn dart of the Comanche, there was a quick reengineering program that got it up and flying a second time within minutes. That flight proved to be more… “entertaining” than the first one.

There “things that spin” all day long! Joe’s Mega scale “Quinstar” flew 3 times. Eric had his “Tasmanian Spiny Thing” and the smaller “Red, White, and Blue Spiny Thing” both flew 3 times, using very suspect Estes C11, D12, & E12 engines. (no CATO’s so far) And Konstantine flew his “Rotater” a couple of times with its pretty cool helicopter recovery. Even Michael’s “Blue Beam Jr” carried its space shuttle up where it rotated around in circles on its way down.

It was good to see Jim back with his double extra long streamers in the sky. Brian C also had a couple of other interesting creations, including a cool green multi-tube thing with lots of fins. I don’t know what he calls it, but it flew well! Ken also made a couple of flights of his Estes Saturn V (1:200 RTF version). (Hold that Saturn V thought for a bit) Theodore, perhaps inspired by Team Mach Lightspeed, made a nice-looking “Olympus” that carried an egg aloft. No word on how the omelet turned out.

And then there was Star Wars.

Chomping at the bit since April, Joe Z couldn’t restrain himself and his camera any longer. Joe wrote, produced, directed and starred in his latest epic video celebrating Star Wars Day, including special Star Trek guest stars. Tune in to the Gallery for his video, coming soon. (Cinematographer, wardrobe, key grip and prop master by Joan – a woman with a LOT of patience!)

In a very rare event, the dreaded “corner trees” gave up some of its victims from previous months. Manav got one soggy, naked rocket body back, and Jo Ann saw her “Red Flare” returned (sans parachute), after months in the trees and having apparently been violated by the lawn mower.

And finally, we welcomed Joe K and Rocketship Games back to the field. Sch a luxury having him right there to replace motors and lost rockets! Joe won’t make it to our July launch, but look for him in August. Browse his website and if you let him know what you need (by email or by order) he can bring it next time.

Calling all NASA rockets! At July’s launch we hope to celebrate NASA’s space program by flying anything you have from NASA. Bring out that Saturn V – of any scale you like! Got a Redstone (who doesn’t?) that hasn’t flown recently? What about that silver Gemini? Feeling lucky with your Saturn 1B and all its fins? Bring them all out for the day as we mark the anniversary of Apollo 11, among other milestones. And yes – Space Shuttles (aka “Blue Beam Jr”) and SLS rockets are welcome too. (Please leave your Blue Origin “New Shepard” at home.) Next launch is scheduled for the Sunday of July 4^th weekend – July 6^th to be exact. Come on out for some patriotic fun. (red, white and blue rockets are welcome too!)