Launch Event Volunteers – new topic name

[AdrianParticipant]

Ken, thanks for your yeoman’s job as pad manager on Saturday afternoon, and taking over LCO when I had to help with the family. Good idea about the launch rod cards.

Another relatively simple improvement would be to make the card holder configuration for the left range match the pad configuration, or vice versa. The pad 7/9 switcheroo didn’t help either.

[Greg RappParticipant]

Just want to say thanks to all the guys who ran the event so slackers like me could come out and just launch rockets. My family had a blast. The UFFO has been repaired and is ready for more flights – I love that little thing!

BTW, to all who watched my Phobos take a digger after a perfect lift off on an AMW I220 skidmark (and thanks to the guys on fire duty – sorry, if I’d known it would be such a hassle I’d hove gone w/something different!), Tim helped me figure out what happened. Classic newbie error – forgot the BP. Doh!

Anyway we did find the remains and managed to dig it out and recover most of the pieces, including Tim’s casing. The section w/Homer Hickams signature was undamaged – the rocket gods must have been smiling- so all I lost for my dumb mistake was an $80 rocket and the sadness of seeing my first HPR in pieces. Oh, it was buried about 2 feet deep – based on the projected altitude w/that motor I figure is was going around 325mph when it hit – yikes!

Next time I promise I’ll help run things – tho sadly I won’t be back til August. Hope we aren’t under fire ban by then, but it doesn’t look good, does it?

Greg

PS If anyone has pix of the Phobos last flight I’d love to have ’em – it was yellow on top, red on bottom, on a skidmark.

[slipstick]

Becky was very impressed at how well everything moved along and was managed, so the folks feeling the most stress are the ones that worked. Thanks to everyone who put in extra time so that others could play.

If possible, the club could consider how racing organizations, like the SCCA and NCCC plan weekend activities, like autocrosses, are managed when it comes to getting full participation. At an SCCA event with 140 drivers, everyone has to select a job assignment from an online list at pre-registration or be assigned a job at registration, before they are allowed to compete. When everyone shows up they are given their assignment and time block to work. Similar jobs are registration, safety inspection (RCO) course set up, timing and audit (same as LCO), cone chasers, corner captains, radio operatrs, announcers, runners, course tear down, as well as driving the equipment truck. In essence, EVERYONE has a job assignment, during the day, and because they have four heats, there is plenty of time to work on your car, drive your heat, and work another. For this privilage we pay $35 and race for a total of 3 minutes. (3 runs 1 minute long).

The NCR rocketry structure may be a lot looser and more flexible, especially if you find yourself out in the field longer than expected recoverying your rocket, but I think we could make work assignments mandantory for event participation. The scouts could do a “walk through” to clean up any trash before they leave.

For all you workers, especially those who set up and tore down the launch pads, a heartfelt THANK YOU!

I also don’t want to forget Tim and Sarah for all the hard work and logistics in supplying us all with the means to fly these rockets. They make this possible.

[Warren B. MusselmanModerator]

Mike, I definitely lean in the direction you speak of. “You want to fly then you’re gonna work.” Up until a couple years ago, the completely lassaiz faire method of management worked just fine. It no longer does. Having a line with 50+ people standing in it to get out on a pad is tiresome in the extreme.

I’m working up a plan to put to the rest of the exec comm.

W

[Jeffrey Joe HintonModerator]

Lots of great feedback on how to improve a work in process. Unfortunately due to breezy weather, range set up was somewhat rushed Saturday morning and so a range map was not created letting folks know what was where. Then when other folks started moving things around, wires and different rod sizes, short term memory failed and chaos tries to follow Everyone working did a supreb job of keeping the range safe and the rockets flying – a volunteer stint to fly is a good idea but there are plenty of other launches during the year that also fit that possibility of assisting everyone else. Everyone does their part at one time or another – we are all volunteers. Huge thanks to all!!!!

[SCOTT EVANS]

I thought it went well. There was more propellant cramed into a shorter period of time. There was a bit of a line Saterday, but it wasnt that bad.
I was in it and I didnt mind! 🙂
It seamed to me, the ranges were always being closed, with some open pads. No Rockets to fit them probably. It probably be faster to close a range and fire than it is to wait to fill that one rod or rail. And it takes time to change out that rod or rail. We are not in the “Rocket Marines” and every one flying has not had “Rocket Marine training”. So you can only be so efficient. Thats the way it is.
Hell, I still dont know what size my launch lug is, till I get up there, and Joe tells me. 😳
So the newbys RSOs LSOs And Flyers will be better next time. And there will be a few more newbys in the mix, next time.
It was all good, and it will all be good next time. 🙂

Scott e

[Bruce R. Schaefer]

I also want to say a few more things. First of all, this is NO indictment on our Volunteer Coordinator, Ed Dawson. All one can do is ASK for volunteers, which he did. And, Warren Musselman, like Joe does, did a long stint at LCO/RSO and probably pad manager(s) during that same time in the morning. We really do need to give these guys a break. That being said, there were A LOT of new club members stepping up, as Scott said. I’d also like to thank Glen, the guy who built our launch systems, who helped me out during my stint, as well as the Billings. Dennis and his wife have ALWAYS stepped up and done far more than their share. Saturday wasn’t my first time, so I’m not a newbie. It just was more difficult than usual. I also put myself in the flyer’s place, and I do apologize to any who felt they had to wait too long. We really did our best under the circumstances. It’s all good. 😉

[Jeffrey Joe HintonModerator]

Ohtay, I’ll get to posting in a bit. By rough count, 290 flights on Sat, 69 on Sunday. Lots of un-identifiable LCO markings, 7 or 8 Certs, including two L3’s – Jon Skuba and Cliff Hohenstein, a number of two’s and a few ones. Most popular motor on Saturday was a C class, followed by G class, too many clusters and staged flights and the wonder of it all! Highest flight of the weekend goes to John Bixler at 18,984 (sweet!!!!)
Thanks again to everyone that takes such good care of me and all of the rest of our rocketry family. Without the U in volunteer, it just doesn’t happen.

[new2hprParticipant]

If the unidentifiable LCO markings were from Saturday afternoon to evening, that would be either Adrian or myself. We both tended to have a typical engineer’s scrawl. No offense Adrian! 8)

Ken (KF on LCO or RSO boxes)

[AdrianParticipant]

Yeah, I’m working on being a doctor. Something that has some resemblance to AA is probably mine.

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