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

All pictures

These are all my pictures from AeroPAC's MudRoc 2003 on June 20-22.

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(1536x1002 976K) (500x326 37K) All the parts are out in the side yard to build a new Firestorm 54 rocket kit. This will eventually become "Mr Mach."

(1536x1002 853K) (500x326 35K) During the construction, I stopped what I was doing to set the camera tripod to catch a bit of it. In this case, I'm sanding the fiberglass body in preparation to epoxy the fin canister to it.

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(1002x1536 760K) (500x766 63K) Using bungees and a paper plate to hold it up, I'm now painting a primer coat on the rocket. Note that painter's tape covers the nose cone (which got its coat separately earlier so that it could hold the rocket in place now), launch lugs, and motor retainer.
(Anyone wondering about my t-shirt, it says "Apache: Trillions and Trillions Served".)

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(1002x1536 749K) (500x766 60K) Using bungees and a paper plate to hold it up, the primer coat is now drying.

(1536x1002 884K) (500x326 28K) The transport containers have been built from 4-inch diameter Schedule 40 PVC pipe and end caps. Holes were cut with a Dremel tool for the fins and for bungee ports.

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(1536x1002 877K) (500x326 24K) Now we're running out of time for painting. Slap some paint on the fins to prevent it from being a completely white rocket. A coat of white gloss was already dry on the body tube before this. But the nose cone remained primer-only.

(1536x1002 802K) (500x326 38K) Putting up Matt's tent.

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(1536x1002 795K) (500x326 37K) Putting up Matt's tent. We put the cones out to claim enough room to put up all our tents. At the time of this photo, we've put up the "social tent" (an area to eat as a group while sheltered from the Black Rock winds) and Matt's tent. I still had to put up my own personal tent. Bryan decided not to put up his tent since there would be a clear sky full of stars to look at.

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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.

(1536x1002 647K) (500x326 18K) Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Here's another view with other kites in the background.

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(1536x1002 658K) (500x326 18K) Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Here's a high-speed low pass.

(1536x1002 736K) (500x326 29K) Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Here's a side shot getting some perspective on the effort that goes into controlling this kite.

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(1536x1002 762K) (500x326 26K) Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Another shot showing the effort to control the kite.

(1536x1002 720K) (500x326 26K) Well, I was hoping to get the rocket launching in this picture too. But it was also supposed to be another picture from the "what it was like to be there" dept. This shows how the LCO (launch control officer) table is the center of all electronics placed on the playa at a launch. The PA system speakers face the flight line while cables also go from the LCO table to every launch pad. You can also monitor 99.9 FM on your car radio for updates on launches and heads-up alerts.

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(1536x1002 864K) (500x326 35K) As we're tearing down the camp, Bryan just picks a spot on the flat playa surface to watch a rocket flight with binoculars. He got quite adept at following the flights, determining whether a chute had deployed and telling launch control when they asked for help with that.

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(1536x1002 808K) (500x326 26K) A view of the MudRoc 2003 flight line shortly before the end of the event at mid-day Sunday. I couldn't stick around to help with cleanup because I had to bring my nephew back to my brother.

Back to the AeroPAC Mudroc 2003 Pictures

(1536x1002 976K) (500x326 37K)	All the parts are out in the side yard to build a new Firestorm 54 rocket kit. This will eventually become "Mr Mach."
(1536x1002 853K) (500x326 35K)	During the construction, I stopped what I was doing to set the camera tripod to catch a bit of it. In this case, I'm sanding the fiberglass body in preparation to epoxy the fin canister to it.
(1002x1536 760K) (500x766 63K)	Using bungees and a paper plate to hold it up, I'm now painting a primer coat on the rocket. Note that painter's tape covers the nose cone (which got its coat separately earlier so that it could hold the rocket in place now), launch lugs, and motor retainer. (Anyone wondering about my t-shirt, it says "Apache: Trillions and Trillions Served".)
(1002x1536 749K) (500x766 60K)	Using bungees and a paper plate to hold it up, the primer coat is now drying.
(1536x1002 884K) (500x326 28K)	The transport containers have been built from 4-inch diameter Schedule 40 PVC pipe and end caps. Holes were cut with a Dremel tool for the fins and for bungee ports.
(1536x1002 877K) (500x326 24K)	Now we're running out of time for painting. Slap some paint on the fins to prevent it from being a completely white rocket. A coat of white gloss was already dry on the body tube before this. But the nose cone remained primer-only.
(1536x1002 802K) (500x326 38K)	Putting up Matt's tent.
(1536x1002 795K) (500x326 37K)	Putting up Matt's tent. We put the cones out to claim enough room to put up all our tents. At the time of this photo, we've put up the "social tent" (an area to eat as a group while sheltered from the Black Rock winds) and Matt's tent. I still had to put up my own personal tent. Bryan decided not to put up his tent since there would be a clear sky full of stars to look at.
(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.
(1536x1002 647K) (500x326 18K)	Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Here's another view with other kites in the background.
(1536x1002 658K) (500x326 18K)	Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Here's a high-speed low pass.
(1536x1002 736K) (500x326 29K)	Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Here's a side shot getting some perspective on the effort that goes into controlling this kite.
(1536x1002 762K) (500x326 26K)	Bryan asked me to take more pictures of the kite flying from different angles. Another shot showing the effort to control the kite.
(1536x1002 720K) (500x326 26K)	Well, I was hoping to get the rocket launching in this picture too. But it was also supposed to be another picture from the "what it was like to be there" dept. This shows how the LCO (launch control officer) table is the center of all electronics placed on the playa at a launch. The PA system speakers face the flight line while cables also go from the LCO table to every launch pad. You can also monitor 99.9 FM on your car radio for updates on launches and heads-up alerts.
(1536x1002 864K) (500x326 35K)	As we're tearing down the camp, Bryan just picks a spot on the flat playa surface to watch a rocket flight with binoculars. He got quite adept at following the flights, determining whether a chute had deployed and telling launch control when they asked for help with that.
(1536x1002 808K) (500x326 26K)	A view of the MudRoc 2003 flight line shortly before the end of the event at mid-day Sunday. I couldn't stick around to help with cleanup because I had to bring my nephew back to my brother.

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