2006 was another "year of the M" for me. I made a total of 21 flights and 12 of them were on M-motors.  In fact, this year I made my 35^th M-motor flight!  Furthermore, the total installed impulse on several of my flights this year were in the "N" impulse class which is a new record high for me. 

Aside from all the M-motors, the other main focus this year was to fly Starfire on a full complement of air-start motors.  I had some trouble early in the year with getting all the air-starts to light.  This turned out to be due to ESD (electrostatic discharge) problems created by the trailing break wire I was using to sense liftoff.  Once the break wire system was replaced with a connector system, things all came together and I had two successful flights, each with a total of seven motors. A central M-motor and six J-motors.

I attended ten different launches in 2006.  Six of them were the local Tripoli Idaho launches and two of them were OROC launches in Oregon.  My adventures at the OROC Summer Skies launch in June are presented here.   The OROC Desert Heat launch in July is here.  However, the real highlights this year for me were the FITS launch near Mansfield Washington and the XPRS launch at Black Rock desert in Nevada.  Both were outstanding events!

Starfire made six flights this year.  All six on a central AMW M-motor.  Five of those flights also including up to six additional Aerotech J-motor air-starts.  Starfire reached "sweet 16" this year acheiving a total of 16 flights since it was built.  Angelfire made a total of five flights this year with one being my highest flight of the year to 15,576 feet on an M1939.  Wildfire "came of age" this year with four nice flights pushing its total to 21.

I think by any standards it was another great year! 

2005 was the "Year of the M-motor". I made 22 flights and eight of them were on M-motors. More than in any previous year, and in fact, more M-motors this year than any other size motor period.  The eight M-motors included five from Animal Motor Works, two from Aerotech and one from Cesaroni.  There are certainly lots of choices these days!  

This year I made my 200^th high power flight!  I also set a new personal altitude record reaching 16,146 feet.  I was also fortunate enough not to crash anything this year and hopefully that luck will continue next year.

I attended 12 different launches in 2005.  Eight of them were the local Tripoli Idaho launches but the highlights for me were the two OROC launches in June and July, LDRS in July and XPRS in September.  At one point in July I was flying rockets on three consecutive weekends in three totally different places.  Oregon, Idaho and Canada. 

LDRS as a ton of fun, although being in Canada this year, it was also small by LDRS standards.  Attendance was good but not huge, which is too bad because it was a great venue!   My complete story of LDRS is presented here.

XPRS was also unique this year in that it was the first time I have been there when it rained.  Nevertheless, there were still several days of outstanding flying.  See all the details here.

The OROC launches near Brothers Oregon in June and July have become a real favorite of mine as well.  Not too far to travel and lots of friendships to renew each year.  My adventures at the OROC Summer Skies launch in June are presented here.   And the OROC Desert Heat launch in July is here.

Our local Tripoli Idaho launches are smaller and more informal but we have a lot of them. The biggest one this year was the SpudRoc-10 event.  Photos from that launch can be seen here on the TIR web site.

My new rocket this year was Angelfire.  Construction started in February and it first flew at LDRS in July on the Cesaroni  M1450 to 16,146 feet.  It also made three other flights during the year including a nice boost on the Aerotech M1939 at XPRS.  That flight also carried my new GPS radio downlink system for the first time.

Starfire made five flights this year, all on AMW M-motors.  Two were on the "very cool" M2200 Skidmark motor with lots of smoke, fire, sparks and noise!!  Wildfire only flew twice this year bringing its total to 17 flights.  Both the Vulcan and the Nike Dart made four nice flights this year.

I think by any standards it was a great year!

My motor usage for 2005 was as follows:

2004 was a very busy year for me!  I had a total of 26 high power rocket flights during the year, plus four low power flights.  But what really made it a busy year was the fifteen different launches that I attended.   Some of those were two day or three day events, so in total I had 20 flight days this year! That's got to be a new record for me.  Most of those days were at Tripoli Idaho club launches and the weather in Idaho seemed to be very cooperative this year.  Tripoli Idaho had very few days cancelled due to bad weather. 

In all those launches I burned a total of 38 motors, 34 of them being HPR motors, and two of those being hybrid motors.   I got to fly a total of five M-motors this year!  More than any previous year and it brings my lifetime total to 15 M-motors.  That means I have now flown exactly the same total number of M-motors as I have H-motors.   I would have never guessed that would be the case a couple of years ago, but the rockets just seem to keep getting bigger.

The new rocket this year was Starfire.  It made a total of five flights and all on M-motors.  I also burned eight J-motors this year as air-started motors in Starfire.   Wildfire flew six times this year bringing its total to 15 flights.  Nike Dart also made six flights this year and also now has a flight total of 15.  

My motor usage for 2004 was as follows:

2003 was a very good year for me!  I had a total of 32 high power rocket flights during that year and that's more than in any previous year.  I also had a personal best of five high power flights in one day.   I reached a total of 162 high power flights since I started in 1995.  I also passed a mark of having launched a total of 10 M-motors.  In 2003 I also past the 100 mile mark for the total of all my rockets that have flown with altimeters.  In other words, if I add the altitudes of all those flights together it now reaches 104.31 miles!

I attended and flew rockets at the FITS launch in May, the Brothers Oregon launches in June and July and the XPRS launch at Black Rock Nevada in September.  All that in addition to flying rockets at eight Tripoli Idaho launches.  By the end of 2003, Wildfire had flown a total of nine times and each new flight was just as much fun and as exciting as the previous one.  All of its flights have been very successful.

My motor usage for 2003 was as follows: