Many Flyers mark NSL as THE Launch they save that special flight for whether it be their Certification flight or that crazy kit they bought on a Black Friday Special. Share your Story, giving us as Many Detail as you Can!

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Dan Michael’s 3/4 scale Patriot Missile

This will be the 11th flight of my 3/4 scale Patriot. This flight will utilize the 1st booster section. As many of you know Normally this rocket flies on a Cluster of 1 N and 4 M motors. This flight will feature a VERY SPECIAL Commercial/certified SINGLE MOTOR, PROVIDED BY A VERY SPECIAL FRIEND!!!

A 10′ drogue will be deployed at apogee, and a 28′ main @ 1100′ with a back-up at 900′

Dan Michael’s RedMax

First flown in Geneseo at NYPOWER 13 in 2008, this flight was the featured article in Extreme Rocketry that year. At NSL RedMax will fly on an Aerotech Mohave Green to 4500″ or so. Deployment will be handled by a pair a PerfectFlight Altimeters.
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 Dan Michael’s Amy baby Doll

Scratch built. Rocket weighs 60 lbs. and will be flown on an Aerotech M1550R. @ – Perfectflite Altimeters will deploy the drogue @ apogee and a 16′ main at 700′, backup at 500′

Dan’s L3 Amageddon

My Level 3 Rocket, a Scratch built ALL G10 L3 Armageddon. Rocket weighs 83 lbs. and will be flown on an Aerotech M1850W. 2 Perfectflite altimeters will deploy a drogue @ apogee and a 12′ main at 700′, backup at 500′

If you have been to a large East Coast Launch you know Dan Michael. He is the Aerotech vendor rep for the east coast and flies some really HUGE BFR’s. He has published many articles in the NAR’s own “Sport Rocketry”, “Extreme Rocketry and “Rockets Magazine”. Dan is a wealth of knowledge and is always willing to help, stop by his encampment. Look for the HUGE Rockets! (just leave him alone if his is packing a parachute)

Neil Brown’s Saturn V

Neil is the builder and flyer of some really cool and Really LARGE rockets.

Neil’s Mighty Saturn V is a 10″ Polecat Aerospace kit, made from fiberglass rapped phenolic tube. Neil plans to fly his Saturn V on an Aerotech M1297 to approx 3,000″. Deployment will be handled by a pair of Perfect Flight altimeters.

Tim and Erich Bookwalter’s AIM-54 Phoenix

This was Tim’s level 3 project. The paint and custom decal set was done by Erich. Mainly Blue Tube and Plywood, the 7.5 inch diameter 1/2 scale Phoenix weighs 50 pounds on the pad and will fly to 1 mile on an Aerotech M1315W. Altimeters are an Entacore AIM USB and a Missile Works RRC2+. Recovery is a custom made 14 foot main by Spherachutes.

This will be the 5th overall flight and the 3rd at the MARS Geneseo field.

Evan Brown’s RUFUS

Named after the Ohio University Mascot, Rufus is a Rocketry Warehouse Terminator. All fiberglass, Rufus has a 120 inch main and a 58 inch drogue chute. Electronics are two Adept 22’s. It can hold two small HD Cameras. Rufus was built to go past Mach 1, but has never done it before. I think it’s time.

Evan Brown’s Big @$$ Alpha

Back in 1970 an Estes Alpha started my life-long passion for amateur rocketry. I finished third out of 30 junior high students in a rocketry competition (would have won if I tapered my fins), and from that moment forward, I was hooked.

In 2017 the Alpha turned 50. In 2018, Estes Rockets turns 60, as does the NAR. What better way to honor this rocket that has been such an integral part of my personal rocketry history than to make a really really big version of it.

The project is underway. It is an 8x upscale. The photo here is the dry fit of parts. Notice in the photo that to the left there is an actual-sized Alpha to give you an idea of scale.

It is built on a 7.5″, FG-wrapped LOC airframe. FG nose cone, and FG-coated 1/2″ birch ply fins. Electronics are the Adept 22 altimeter and its sister the DDC 22. A beeline tracker will help me locate it, and there will be onboard cameras. Just haven’t figured out how many and what type yet. To be true, this will be painted according to the 1967 markings as it first appeared in the Estes Catalog. Stickershock 23 has designed the decals. An Aerotech L900 Dark Matter is going to give this bird a great show. It should hit 5,000′ with lots of sparks and noise on its way up. Vern Estes will be in attendance at NSL when it goes up so I can use this as a way to say “thanks” for all he has done for amateur rocketry and for me personally with my life-long passion.

Bill Clune’s Not a Threaded Rod

This is My L3 rocket finally flown at LDRS-36. “NaTR” is an AMW 6″ BlackBrandtII kit. Made from filament wound fiberglass from the bottom of the tailcone to the top of the nose cone, well it has an aluminum tip. At NSL it will fly again on an Aerotech M1939 to 11,998″! On board electronics include a Marsa54 and a first generation “MARS” altimeter. 12″ rocketman chute makes sure everything lands softly….

Gloria Robinson’s 8′ AGM Pike

Gloria’s Pike is 8″ diameter and nearly 12′ tall. Made from filament wound G12 glass this beast weighs 50LBs Before you put a motor in it!! Flying on an M1790 SkidMark this will be a show! A pair of PICO-AA2 flight computers will control deployment of the drogue main parachute. Gloria’s Pike was the first one off the production line….

Greg Young’s Ultimate Darkstar

Darkstar is a Fiberglass kit from Wildman hobbies, its 12 feet tall and is 6 inches in diameter, weighing in at 59lbs. An M3100 will lift it to approx 6,000 feet. A 2 foot drogue chute will deploy at apogee with a 16foor rocketman chute depolying at 700 feet. Deployment will be controlled by a MARS54 and prefectflight.

John Krichbaums’ Upscale Snarky

4 inch fully glassed Blue tube upscale of the Dynastar Snarky (slightly modified) 67.5 inches long, 54mm motor, dual deploy with a MARSA54HD altimeter.

This will be her second flight.

John Krichbaums’ “The Boss”

5.5 inch diameter upscale Estes vindicator (one of my favorites). Just over 9 feet tall, 75mm motor tube with a thrust plate. Fuselage is G10, fins (wings) are aircraft plywood laminated with carbon fiber cloth and fine weave glass cloth. Nose cone is a 5.5 inch conical cone with a hand sculptured cockpit. flight weight (everything but the motor) is 35 lbs. E-Bay will contain 2-MARSA 54-HD altimeters and a tracker. Primary chute is a 144″ ultra Iris with deployment bag, deployed at 800′ using a stand-alone pilot chute for the nosecone.
Drogue chute will be at apogee. First flight will be on a Loki M-1200 spitfire or a Loki M1882 white. (Altitude range from 5200′ to 6000′ depending on motor)

Trip Barbers’ Thumper

Thumper made its first flight as Trip’s Level 3 qualification flight at this field in 2012. It has flown at several NSL’s since then and is coming back to NSL 2018 for an encore with an Aerotech M2400. This 10-inch diameter 60-pound rocket will be going up to 5400 feet in a hurry.

Bill Davidson is one of the East Coast Flyers who just builds Big Rockets… Stop by his encampment and “Gaze in Wide Wonder”

Bill Davidson’s Maxi Estes Swift

This is an Upscale Estes Swift 220 built from PML 11.675″ diameter glassed phenolic tube. Weighing in at almost 90 lbs. loaded with an Aerotech M1419 White Lightning motor expected altitude is 3500′ AGL.

Recovery will be handled by 2 x Missile Works RRCS2+ altimeters and a Rocket Man 24′ chute.

Bill Davidson’s Mean Machine XL

Keeping with our upscale theme for this years NSL we will be bringing this 4″ diameter fully fiberglass Estes Mean Machine upscale. Weighing in at 27 lbs. and standing at just under 17′ tall expected altitude is to be 1800′ AGL on an Aerotech K1103 Propellant X motor.

Bill Davidsons’s Bertha XL

This Big Bertha is built from Public Missiles 11.675″ diameter fiberglassed phenolic tubing.

The cone is simply a modified PML 11.675″ Harpoon Nose cone so keep that in mind for other large Estes upscales!

Fins are manufactured from 3/4″ thickness Euro Birch laminated with phenolic sheet and were custom cut on a gantry style Water Jet CNC machine.

Liftoff weight for this flight will be 145 lbs. and the motor of choice is an Aerotech Redline N3300 98mm motor. Recovery will be handled by 2x Missile Works RRCS2+ altimeters and 2x Rocketman recovery chutes. Expected altitude is 3800′-4000′ AGL.

Bill Davidson’s BullPup

The BullDog 12D is an upscale of the Public Missiles BullDog rocket kit. Scaling up to 12″ diameter makes the rocket very close in size to the Bull Pup 12D AGM missile (the airframe the BullDog is loosely based on). So we call this one the BullDog 12D. We will be flying on a Aerotech M2100 Mojave Green motor to approx. 3000′ AGL with recovery being provided by a 20′ Rocketman chute at Apogee!

Bill Davidson’s Black BrantX

This Black Brant X is a full fiberglass 8″ diameter airframe. Weighing in at 120 lbs. boost will be provided by an Aerotech N2220 Dark Matter motor with an expected max altitude of 4500′ AGL. Recovery will be provided by a rocketman 24′ chute on dual deployment.

James Helman’s Der NSL Max 2017

Saved my level 1 cert flight for NSL….Used a slightly modified Mega Der Red Max from Estes.

Jim Scarpine’s Starleopard

85 pound 14 ft 7.5inch all fiberglass monster. Flying on a Loki M1969 Spitfire. 2 Adept alts  will fire a 4 foot drogue at appogee and a 25 foot main. It won’t good for more than 3K, but will make a lot of noise getting there. I did my L3 cert on an earlier version of this way back in 95.

George MacAleese’s Queen Mya

Scratch built 4.5″Dia.x 91″Tall 22.6 Lb. All Fiberglass Rocket. Adept22 and Perfect Flight Stratologger altimeters. Flying on an L1150 7200 Feet Predicted

George MacAleese’s Red Arrow

Scratch built fantasy design plywood bulkheads,spruce stingers,balsa strip planked, and fiberglassed. Four chutes with motor ejection.

45.5″ Long 8Lbs. 1100 Feet predicted on Aerotech I-300T

George MacAleese’s ISLA

Dual altimeters Adept 22 and Perfect Flight Stratologger. 4565 Feet Predicted on an Aerotech K513F

Mike Pleban’s RIM-24 TARTAR

This all fiberglass model is a 4 inch dia. Just over 6 feet tall 54mm motor. This is the first prototype from dragontailrockets.
Have not got the finished weight yet, but will fly on a K 650 Smokey Sam, first flight. Will have on board two high alt. Perfect flight alt. And a telemetry gps.
I hope to have a 84 inch chute for the mains. This model can be flown as a single or dual deploy.

John Derimiggio’s Honest John

The 7.5″ HoJo will make its second flight at Geneseo on a CTI M1400 to around 8000 feet. The rocket is a 1-break design featuring a main CO2 chute cannon in the nose. Electronics are dual Marsa54 running MarsaNet to wirelessly fire the nose cone chute at 700 feet.

Greg Parent’s Speed of Tupperware (popcorn Bowl)

Made from a Tupperware® bowl and hopefully flying on a CTI J530.

Bill Dauphin’s Hyperions

I built my 50% scale (3 in. diameter; 10 ft long) model of Korey Kline’s Hyperion experimental hybrid sounding rocket almost 20 years ago (not long after the original’s 1997 Wallops Island flight) for a high-power Sport Scale contest run based on NAR competition rules.

Originally designed for and flown on HyperTek motors (mission points for scale propulsion!), it’s flown several times on Aerotech J350 RMS motors, most recently at LDRS 36 in Maryland.

At NSL, I plan to fly it on an Aerotech K535W DMS motor… not a super big flight by most standards, but big for me: It’ll be my first K motor, and my first proper 54 mm motor!

“Rocket Rick” Harrison’s Hatteras

Rick Harrison will be flying an original LOC kit PK-24 “Viper-IV” with a unique paint scheme modeled after a favorite lighthouse destination in NC.

This rocket stands at 47.5″ with a 2.63″ diameter.

The Hatteras’ maiden flight at NSL will be on a low-power cluster of 4

E9-6 motors, utilizing a x4 clip-whip.

The top range of low-power rocketry can be just as fun and exciting as the big rockets that will be flying.

Christopher Jezewicz’s AGM-33 Pike

Madcow 1.6″ AGM-33 Pike rocket. Cardboard tube, plywood fins and plastic nosecone recovered by an 18″ nylon parachute with nomex chute protector. Launched with Aerotech G64-10W composite motor. Projected altitude of 3300 feet, confirmed with onboard altimeter. Possible onboard camera, to be determined later.

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Paul Stutzman’s standoff scale BBII

Scratch built, 4 inch dia. pretend-scale Black Brant II, (almost) all fiberglass, Hawk Mt. Tubing, Scott Glass Nosecone, ‘glassed aircraft birch fins, Aero Pack tailcone retainer, designed for J-K impulse 54mm motors. StratologgerCF altimeter and key fob video camera on board.

Jack Sweeney’s Big Bertha

K-23 Astron Big Bertha was first offered in the Estes catalog in 1966.

I built mine in 1967.

Fred Wallace’s Aerobee 150

The airframe is constructed from fiberglass laminated phenolic tube , birch plywood centering rings, and the fins are constructed from 3/8″thick Baltic Burch and fiberglass laminated fins.

Two altimeters, Adept ALTS-2 and Missleworks RRC 2+, one backing up the other are used to deploy a thirty four inch (34″), drogue @ apogee. A 132″ free bagged Spear Main chute is set to deploy at 750′, backup deployment at 600’… Nose cone will come down separately under the 62″ free bag extraction chute Motor for the flight is a Loki M2550, Blue Flight planned for Saturday afternoon or sometime Sunday. Expected Altitude 4500′ to 5000′. Rocket was last flown in 2001. As a result, electronics have been updated/replaced.

Michael Rangitsch

This is an attempt for the lowest altitude at NSL. The saucer will fly on the mighty MicroMaxx II motor and is anticipated to reach an altitude somewhere between 15 and 20 feet.

Susan Picinich’s Rookie Raptor

Susan Picinich hand-painted an Estes Rookie rocket to look like a bird of prey, and thus she named it a Rookie Raptor. She used alternating light and dark purple — with dark purple for the wings — and she painted the nose cone yellow to suggest a bird’s beak. She included the Estes Booster-60 as part of the paint job. The Estes Rookie has a length of 59.2 cm (not including the booster stage) and a 42 mm diameter.

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