Pictures from JP Aerospace's DSS3/Oklahoma flight

Day 4: Thursday, March 21, 2002

Thursday was our first full day on site in Oklahoma. It was supposedly the first day of Spring. But the previous day's t-shirt weather gave way to sub-freezing temperatures and wind chill levels down to 19F. Since our team is all from California, some weren't ready for this. I was ready for it - but I used to live in the Cascade Mountains of far-northern California.

Most of the JPA team arrived Thursday so some of the people were shuttling them in from the airport. Natalie got her own rental car because she intended to participate in the tracking and recovery mission - she's the coordinator.

There was a lot of setup to do. While others were working on setting up DSS and repairing the transport damage, I did whatever my truck was needed for. I had unpacked my luggage and cargo so that I could let down the back seat to carry more passengers. First I took all 4 of the folding chairs and a folding table that had been packed in my truck's toolbox and put them in one of the rooms in the mini-building inside the back of the hangar. That set up a break room for our crew.

My truck was also called upon to bring the transponder and altimeter from Bill Khourie of the Spaceport Authority, the propane heaters from CS Aviation, and to fill up the propane tanks over in the nearby town of Canute. When the transponder on loan from another company failed to arrive, Bill loaned us the transponder out of his own personal plane. (This is one of a long list of very helpful things Bill did to help our efforts succeed.) Thanks also to Jeff of CS Aviation for showing me the way to Kilhoffer Propane in Canute. (They gave us residential rates to show their support.) The two large and two small heaters made a huge difference for those of us working in the hangar, and keeping the break room and offices warm. Temperatures were freezing in the hangar before the heaters arrived.

During the middle of that, some of us realized we still needed lunch. Ralph, Tracy, Phoenix and I stopped at Rudy's Superette, a combination of a gas station, store and restaurant. We noticed they had signs on all the tables advertising the "Lift-off Special" effective on Saturday morning. We realized they were promoting our flight. For the four of us, this was the first experience we had with the hospitality of the community in Burns Flat. Everyone on the JPA team had similar experiences to tell no matter whom in the community they met first.

Of course, the staff at Rudy's immediately recognized the JP Aerospace logos on our t-shirts as soon as we took our jackets off. I probably can't adequately describe how well they treated us. But for starters, we arrived just after 2PM - though they usually shut down their grill at that time, they restarted it to make our lunches. They were so interested in what we were doing and we tried to answer all their questions. By 3PM we were pretty sure the crew back at the hangar would be wondering where we were. Fortunately everyone at Rudy's understood and gave us their best wishes.

By evening the broken struts were replaced from spares. Every piece of DSS had been checked and double-checked. Fiberglass repairs on the main spars were nearly done and just needed some heat to help them cure. A propane heater and reflective blanket were moved into place to provide that. Those of us who supervised that were the last ones back to the motel that evening.

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(1536x1024 1708K) (500x333 21K) Thursday morning, the van is parked in the hangar.

(1536x1024 2227K) (500x333 28K) Parts of DSS are placed on the floor for inspection, repairs (if needed from transport damage) and assembly. People in the photo from left to right: Dave and JP (near the exit sign and door), Cindy and Al (near the tools behind the DSS core)

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(1536x1024 1643K) (500x333 19K) DSS sections sit where they were unloaded from the trailer.

(1536x1024 2161K) (500x333 26K) The ML rocket is put on display. We had to bring this to point out we're more than just a balloon group. The ML series rockets have been tested via launches from the ground at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Later this year, we intend to launch it from DSS in an attempt to put the first "amateur rocket" (non-government, home-built) into space.

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(1536x1024 2015K) (500x333 25K) The trailer is now empty.

(1536x1024 1998K) (500x333 30K) The DSS arms are put into place on the sawhorses in preparation for assembly.

(1536x1024 2262K) (500x333 30K) Equipment bins and antennas are lined up along the south wall.

(1536x1024 1935K) (500x333 25K) Everyone is wearing heavy coats - it's freezing even inside the hangar but it's still shelter from the howling winds outside.

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(1488x992 586K) (500x333 29K) The liquid Helium truck arrives from Amarillo and brings Helium tanks. (I know some people will ask why we didn't get the Helium from Oklahoma. I only heard part of the explanation but it had to do with availability of the highest grade of Helium, with no compressed air mixed in. For any future flights, we were given some additional contacts to check in Oklahoma whom we had not been able to locate when making our arrangements from California.)

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(1488x992 515K) (500x333 28K) The liquid Helium truck arrives from Amarillo and brings Helium tanks.

(1488x992 538K) (500x333 23K) The arms of DSS have been removed from the trailer and placed in position. The arms were not attached on Thursday because two of them needed repairs from damage in transport. (We had brought the supplies to perform those repairs because it was almost inevitable to get some on the long drive.)

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(1488x992 722K) (500x333 32K) DSS core and arms unpacked but not yet attached.

(1488x992 464K) (500x333 21K) The "Spaceplanes" paper airplanes container at the Clinton-Sherman airport tower building. The container which will fly the planes to their release altitude in the Stratosphere was being filled when this photo was taken.

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(1488x992 730K) (500x333 25K) Children from Burns Flat schools perform the unpacking of spaceplanes which had been shipped flat with re-folding instructions. At the time of this photo, several JP Aerospace team members (myself included) visited the room to say hello and see how things were going.

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(1488x992 720K) (500x333 38K) Thursday night, one of the propane heaters (loaned by CS Aviation in the next-door hangar at the airport) is placed under the fiberglass repairs to help it cure for less than an hour. Without the heaters, the temperature in the hangar would be below freezing. So the heater needed to be near the fiberglass repairs in order to get them to cure.

Back to Ian's Pictures of DSS3

(1536x1024 1708K) (500x333 21K)	Thursday morning, the van is parked in the hangar.
(1536x1024 2227K) (500x333 28K)	Parts of DSS are placed on the floor for inspection, repairs (if needed from transport damage) and assembly. People in the photo from left to right: Dave and JP (near the exit sign and door), Cindy and Al (near the tools behind the DSS core)
(1536x1024 1643K) (500x333 19K)	DSS sections sit where they were unloaded from the trailer.
(1536x1024 2161K) (500x333 26K)	The ML rocket is put on display. We had to bring this to point out we're more than just a balloon group. The ML series rockets have been tested via launches from the ground at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Later this year, we intend to launch it from DSS in an attempt to put the first "amateur rocket" (non-government, home-built) into space.
(1536x1024 2015K) (500x333 25K)	The trailer is now empty.
(1536x1024 1998K) (500x333 30K)	The DSS arms are put into place on the sawhorses in preparation for assembly.
(1536x1024 2262K) (500x333 30K)	Equipment bins and antennas are lined up along the south wall.
(1536x1024 1935K) (500x333 25K)	Everyone is wearing heavy coats - it's freezing even inside the hangar but it's still shelter from the howling winds outside.
(1488x992 586K) (500x333 29K)	The liquid Helium truck arrives from Amarillo and brings Helium tanks. (I know some people will ask why we didn't get the Helium from Oklahoma. I only heard part of the explanation but it had to do with availability of the highest grade of Helium, with no compressed air mixed in. For any future flights, we were given some additional contacts to check in Oklahoma whom we had not been able to locate when making our arrangements from California.)
(1488x992 515K) (500x333 28K)	The liquid Helium truck arrives from Amarillo and brings Helium tanks.
(1488x992 538K) (500x333 23K)	The arms of DSS have been removed from the trailer and placed in position. The arms were not attached on Thursday because two of them needed repairs from damage in transport. (We had brought the supplies to perform those repairs because it was almost inevitable to get some on the long drive.)
(1488x992 722K) (500x333 32K)	DSS core and arms unpacked but not yet attached.
(1488x992 464K) (500x333 21K)	The "Spaceplanes" paper airplanes container at the Clinton-Sherman airport tower building. The container which will fly the planes to their release altitude in the Stratosphere was being filled when this photo was taken.
(1488x992 730K) (500x333 25K)	Children from Burns Flat schools perform the unpacking of spaceplanes which had been shipped flat with re-folding instructions. At the time of this photo, several JP Aerospace team members (myself included) visited the room to say hello and see how things were going.
(1488x992 720K) (500x333 38K)	Thursday night, one of the propane heaters (loaned by CS Aviation in the next-door hangar at the airport) is placed under the fiberglass repairs to help it cure for less than an hour. Without the heaters, the temperature in the hangar would be below freezing. So the heater needed to be near the fiberglass repairs in order to get them to cure.