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The third annual "Extreme
Performance Rocket Ships" (XPRS) launch was held on September 24-26, 2004
at the Black Rock desert in northwestern Nevada. It is run by Aero-Pac the
Association of
Experimental Rocketry of the Pacific. As usual the launch was
huge! The weather was great and there were lots and lots of exciting
flights. The AeroPac folks did a great job hosting such a big launch.
I had a wonderful time meeting old friends, watching rockets fly, flying a
few of my own and helping to ground crew for some others. It was good to
see everyone again. I'm already looking forward to next year!
This page is a small
collection of photos from the launch. Mostly photos I took, but a
few others too. More information can also be found at the
XPRS web site.
Click on any photo to see a
larger version of it! |
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Flight line panorama at XPRS 2004 |
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Photo by Richie Boltizar |
Starfire on a M2200 Skidmark
motor!
I am standing next to
Starfire just prior to launch. Starfire was flown on the
AMW M2200 Skidmark
motor at XPRS 2004. It also carried two J420 redline air-starts and
two I218 redline air-starts. As planned, the J420's ignited just after
main motor burn out. The I218's were supposed to ignite just after the
J420's burned-out but never did. Cause is still being investigated.
Starfire carried a mini-DV camcorder in the lower payload bay.
The video from it is posted here. This was the fourth flight of Starfire and
it reached 5,768 feet. Starfire weighed 72.5 pounds on the pad.
The video for this
flight is available here!
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Liftoff photos by Vern Knowles |
Liftoff on the M2200 Skidmark
What a great motor!
These photos just don't do it justice. You really have to
experience one of these motors. And once you do, it will become an
instant favorite. They are very loud and produce lots of smoke and
lots of sparks! They are very exciting to watch.
The video for this
flight is available here!
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Photo by Rick Clapp |
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| Greg Fannin fly's "Optimator" to Mach
2.4 and 33,713 feet! |
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Photo by Vern Knowles |
Photo by Vern Knowles |
Next stop 33,713 feet! |
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Photo by Vern Knowles |
Greg Fannin (also from
Idaho) launched his 3"
diameter all carbon fiber rocket called "Optimator" on an
AMW M2500 Green
Gorilla motor at XPRS 2004. It went 33,713 feet
high and hit 2653 feet per sec (Mach 2.4). This set a new Tripoli
M-class altitude record. The flight was perfect except for the paint that was removed from the leading edges of the fins and in patches
from the nose cone.
In this photo Optimator is about two thirds the way up the stainless steel launch tower
that Greg built for it.
Optimator uses a CO2 gas cartridge
from Rouse-Tech to
break it apart at apogee. It then drops "drogue-less" to 1500 feet
where the main chute is deployed. It touched down about 1.5 miles
away. |
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After the flight the
leading edges of the fins were scrubbed completely clean of paint. |
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Paint photos by Vern Knowles |
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Large patches of paint were
also missing from the nose cone after the Mach 2.4 flight. |
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Photo by Vern Knowles |
Greg was interviewed by
Tech TV after his flight. |
Photo by John P. Roberts |
Rick Clapp's Cherokee
Rick Clapp (from
Washington) launched his
beautiful upscale Cherokee on an M1939 motor on Friday, Sept. 24, 2004 at
the XPRS launch. It was an awesome flight that was flawless and reached 8,145 feet!
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| "Retrograde Motion" on a K1000 Skidmark motor!
Rich and Richie Boltizar (from Idaho) launched their
newest, all fiberglass rocket, called Retrograde Motion on the 54mm K1000
Skidmark motor from
Animal Motor Works. Another awesome flight!! |
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Photo by Vern Knowles |
Photo by Vern Knowles |
Installing the igniter. |
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Photos by Vern Knowles |
The conical nose cone was
stuck in the ground and standing up at the landing site.
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Nozzle failure on an N2000! |
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Photo by Vern Knowles |
Photo by Vern Knowles |
It has only just left the
launch rail and already things are starting to go badly! |
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Greg Spohn (also from
Idaho) launched his
rocket on an Aerotech N2000 at XPRS 2004. Unfortunately, the nozzle
failed at liftoff and the rocket tumbled out of control due to the off
axis thrust. The rocket impacted the ground and became a "land
shark" moving along the ground for about 50 feet before the motor finally
burned out. |
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Nike Dart ready to fly from pad 26
I also flew my Nike Dart
at XPRS 2004 on a K185 to an altitude of 10,431 feet. This
effort captured first place in the Economax contest for K-class motors. (This
rocket also took first place last year.) The rocket is 4.5 feet
long and weighs in at 8.4 pounds with the K185 installed. It is 2.6
inches in diameter.
View Nike Dart construction details here.
See more photos of Nike Dart here. |
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Nike Dart photos by Vern Knowles |
Nike Dart as it landed on
the playa. It sure is easy to recover rockets at Black Rock. They
can be seen from a long ways away and you can drive straight to them.
This was the 15th
flight of my Nike Dart. They have all been very successful flights. |
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