Dubious start Saturday morning. A good three to four inches of moisture on the ground, heavy cloud cover and only about 20 degrees. But incredibly, a fair number of folks believing conditions would improve. Lots of time standing around, reviewing options and discussing a little bit of everything before we started to unload the trailer and get the range set up. By 11:30, we we’re flying high into clear skies and with slightly warmer temps. 20 different flyers launched a total of 40 flights ( 16 Class One, 24 Class Two), including the Team from CSU testing air brakes for their ESRA IREC (Experimental Sounding Rockets Association’s Intercollegiate Rocketry Engineering Competition) Spaceport America Cup launch in June, a Team from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga attempting to set a new I class multi-staged altitude record (great flight but well short of current record), two members seeking High Power Certification flights, John Jamieson’s all time best altitude flight to 14, 334′ and there were even calm enough winds for Vic to launch his RC controlled rocket boosted glider for a marvelous flight and beautifully executed soft landing.
Category: Photos
2017 Mayhem Recap
In case you were wondering –
Despite the normal amount of un-certainty regarding the weather and vegetation conditions on the Pawnee National Grassland, Mile High Mayhem was another epic weekend for rocketry hobbyists. A slow start, 8 to 10 mile an hour winds and a short afternoon rain shower Friday afternoon didn’t hinder the efforts of 24 different flyers from launching 57 flights – 44 Class One and 13 Class Two. Much of the day was spent making final preparations for Saturday and Sunday’s flights.
Waiver opened on Saturday at 8 AM and our safety briefing was held around 10 AM to ensure most fliers were present and registered. For the weekend, we had a total of 67 signed in flyers, not including an additional 18 kids flying with parental guidance. One flyer made the visit from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, while the Yehle family came to fly from Salt Lake City. There were some flyers from Wyoming but the majority of flyers were from the State of Colorado – from the western slope (Delta and Grand Junction) and from down south (Pueblo and Colorado Springs) and from all over the front range population centers. 80 different fliers lofted a total of 215 flights – 148 Class One and 67 Class Two, including the highest flight of the weekend – 24,359’ and 2 newly Certified Level Three fliers. The Steve Frazier Memorial Drag Race and Memorial Tribute flights to Scott Corliss and Jeff Layne were also very special moments during the perfect day. Clear skies and plenty of sunshine helped make the afterglow events of the day all the better. While many folks packed in it after the glorious day, lots stayed for the stars and campfire.
Waiver opened again at 8 AM on Sunday but folks were a little slow to take to the skies. Still, 52 different fliers put up 104 flights -72 Class One and 32 Class Two before the heat of the day took its’ toll and we started breaking down the range. Waiver closed at 2:30 and cleanup was mostly completed by 4.
A grand total of 376 flights for the weekend. Not a new record number of fights but easily a launch event that will long be remembered.
We are all hoping the spotty rain showers continue and the grass stays green long enough for our next scheduled event – High Skies in July. I wouldn’t expect nearly the same number of fliers or flights but one never knows what’s going to happen until we have clear skies and permission to “push the button”. Huge thanks to all involved.