Launch!

This post will have information on the next upcoming launch.

Our next launch is scheduled for 31 May in Acton. This post is being written one week ahead of the launch so we'll have to wait to see what the weather will be that day. If our streak continues or not, I'll make the call by Thursday night.

Whether we fly on the 31st or have to push out to a launch after that, we will dedicate our next Acton launch and our next Amesbury launch to the late John Harland. Some years ago, John distributed the bulk of his rockets to anyone who wanted them at a few of our launches. If you have one of these rockets, I'd ask that you bring it to the launch and, when you fly it, mention on the flight card that you got it from John. We'll do this at both locations so we can honor his low-, mid- and high-power builds.

Mother Nature strikes again. The late afternoon may be getting better; the Bandits may try it late in the day. Keep an eye on the Member Launches in the Private section of the Forum on the club website.

Eight days out from our next launch and the Weather Channel forecast doesn't look bad.

Stay tuned for further developments.

It’s because I’ll be out of town. You’re welcome ☺️

Don't worry Sam, WeatherBug forecast now shows 40% chance of rain Saturday

(#13 in a row!!) AND Sunday!

In honor of Father's Day, Linda will bring cake to the Sunday, June 15th launch. You don't have to be a Father in order to have cake.

I've created a shared photo album in the Gallery named 2025/06/15 (under the Acton Launches category). If you have photos that you want to appear there, create a member photo album, and contact either John Petrakis or webmaster to copy those photos to the shared album (note you want your member album to persist after the copy).

Unfortunately, the Club Express model doesn't allow for multiple members to upload to a single, shared album. The above is the workaround for that. More details here.

Sunday, June 15th was a Super Great launch. It was nice seeing everyone again.

As Todd stated, there is a new dated gallery for the last launch. I've linked Casey's and Rob's photos there. As a reminder, to make it EASIER for me or another coordinator to find the photos you've uploaded into a personal gallery (see: Uploading-Your-Photos) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE add a tag to your photo uploads that is some form of the date and your name... suggested forms are in the document linked here, and in the FAQ (FAQ -> navigating the website -> how do I post my photos to the gallery). The document is somewhat lengthy I'll admit, but it's not terribly difficult. There is no quick and easy way like the old days to do it, so simply adding proper tags to your photos on upload *would help immensely* when consolidating photos.

As Windy is forecasting winds out of the South and blowing towards Rte 2, I plan to set up near the South side of the field. I have printed out the Season Passes that I have a record of. Lanyards and clear plastic card holders are also available if you need them. Please pick them up at the RSO table. See you all tomorrow for a day of fun and safe flying!

Guy.

If you'll be attending the launch, please consider signing up* for a slot as LCO, safety check, pad assist, or setup/teardown to help spread the load.

If any of these opportunities are new to you, experienced folks are happy to show you the ropes (you must be a senior NAR member for LCO or safety).

A father and his two children contacted me to say that they are planning to fly their first rockets - they'll need a hand at the pads.

(*Some have experienced errors trying to signup for a slot, e.g. being returned to the home page with a popup "Error loading page". I'm currently chasing this down with ClubExpress, so please let me - webmaster@cmass.org - know if this happens to you, and I'll try and sign you up to the slot of your choice).

I've created a shared photo album in the Gallery named 2025/07/12 (under the Acton Launches category).

If you have photos that you want to appear there, create a member photo album by going to your profile (dropdown next to your name in the upper right corner!) and scroll ALL THE WAY to the bottom to "Your Website Functions". Click on "Photo Albums" to access your personal photo album manager. There are functions to create the album and from there you'll be able to upload photos by clicking on the pencil icon to the right of the newly created album name.

If you leave the photo album in a visible state, that's fine... if not please send me or the webmaster the album name, and if you'd like to to stay visible. (if I hear nothing I will remove the visibility after linking the photos to the share one mentioned above).

Contact me or the webmaster to link your uploaded photos to the shared gallery....

Hey John - I uploaded pix from the latest launch. Please feel free to stuff 'em in the existing launch gallery. Thanks!

Same for me John. My album is named 'Acton7-12-25Launch'.

Thanks.

The weather seems to be holding up for Saturday's launch on the 26th of July. There have been hints of possible thunderstorms. Keep an eye on the website for any updates.

Bruce Strong has very nicely taken over trailer duty while Guy is away this weekend. Without Guy there, we'll need lots of help in getting things out and set up; Tony and Scott can direct that part of the day. We will especially need lots of help at the end of the day to get everything back into the tailer in a semi-correct way. With the heat, humidity and chance for a storm, the pack out may happen sooner rather than later.

There are also 23 other volunteer positions still open as of this writing. The Pad Assistance spots worked out really well at the last launch. Helping out the new flyers really keeps things moving along.

Deb and I slinked outlast time because we were sun-wasted. But in all fairness, EVERYONE was similarly suffering. We doth suck. But we'll make the effort this Sat. to help out w/ breakdown...and if Bruce agrees to come along for post-launch chow, Deb and I will cover his tab... for being the hero du jour.

Spin-a-nator Drag Race!

We have our long-lived Frick-N-Frack Drag Race started by Jim Flis many years ago, and recently added Mega Mosquito Drag Race started by Deb and Rob. I'd like to add a third - Spin-a-nator. A few of us have them, so it should be a decent showing. And if you have a Spin-a-nator kit and haven't built it yet, now's the time.

If you want to take part, find me in the morning and I'll put a list together and try to get them launched in the mid afternoon.

Thanks.

I'm all-in on the spin-a-nator drag race...

Mosquito too.

We did Skeeters at the last launch. I was thinking of holding the next one at the Amesbury christening launch, in Sept.

If anyone needs a spin-a-nator kit, LMK. Special prices for CMASS members, and you if give me some notice I can engrave your name on it. Curtis

I will be unable to make the July 26 launch due to a family event. Mike S, I see from your FB post you are hoping to fly some events.

If you could forward to me your flight cards and those of an any other flights, I would be happy to enter the results. Alternately, you can post the results directly. Let me know what is easiest for you.

Regards,

Stephen

Spin-a-nator Drag Race.

I'll bring 3 built Spin-a-nators, donated by Curtis, to the launch tomorrow. Two small ones (18mm and 24mm motor mounts, $10) and one large Spin-a-nator (24mm motor mount, $20). The Spin-a-nators are ready-to-fly. So get yours and be part of the fun!!

With 20 volunteer positions still open, including set and teardown, we may have to have a shortened launch tomorrow.

Sign up to help out; without Guy there to work and direct, we'll need all the help we can get for the equipment and safety check.

I'll be arriving around noon today. I'm going to be at work from 6 to 11 this morning.

I can help with breakdown and I'm willing to take a turn at pad assistance also.

Rick

I'm planning on being there between 9:00 9:30 and I'll set up at the midpoint. It's going to be an interesting day.

I've created a shared photo album in the Gallery named 2025/07/26 (under the Acton Launches category). I have also created a global tag, which will be accessible via the photo upload sheet dropdown labeled "Tags" (oddly enough) named "2025-07-26 Launch"... by all means please add this to the parameters on the upload sheet and it will make it super simple to link your photos into the club 7/26 album.

As always please be sure to include in the data the name of the photographer (presumably you) and the date etc. Please be extra diligent when using the multi photo upload because it will let you leave all that info off and it won't make the person linking your photos into the gallery very happy if that's the case! ;-)

There is a link to the comprehensive guide to uploading photos under FAQ->Navigating The Website->How do I post my photos to the gallery.

JPP

I've dropped off the club flag at a local seamstress for repair; I couldn't find the right material in the exact right color but I'm hoping it will add character to the flag. Bad news is, it won't be ready for our launch on the 17th.

If anyone has a windsock or even a streamer with a grommet they can bring to the launch, please let us know here so we can have a wind indicator on our center post.

I'll bring a gromet kit in case someone has a streamer.

I've created a new photo album named 2025/08/17. It won't be visible until photos get added to it. Upload your photos into your own personal album and ensure it is visible. Please tag all photos with the following master tag (should show up in the dropdown list of tags): 2025-08-17 Launch

Please be sure to fill in as much info as possible eg. YOUR name (for proper credit!), date taken (easy to do) and any comments you wish to make (For multi uploads this comment will attach to all but you can go in an edit individual ones to your liking).

Once posted to your photo album we'll sweep them into the new club shared album. See my prior post here to navigate to the "how to" page for uploads and albums.

Heee's Baaack!!

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For those who missed the opportunity to shop in CT Wildman's Trailer of Goodies at our earlier launch, you've got another chance. Rick will be at our launch this Sunday. This may be his final visit to us this year so if there's anything you need, come on out and get it.

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Oh yeah, we're going to try to have a launch, too. Of course, to do this, we need lots of volunteers. Click on the launch in the Upcoming Events section of the club home page and log in, then click on the Volunteer button on that page and the next; pick the task(s) you'd like to do and follow the instructions to complete the sign-up. For LCO Duty and Rocket Check In, you need to be a Senior NAR member and have been trained for the task. All other opportunities can be performed by anyone, the more the merrier.

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The weather looks great, clear skies and light winds with better temperatures and low humidity. At the last launch, the weather got to lots of us; with participation waning early in the afternoon and a lack of volunteer signing up, we stopped flying at about 2:30. We'll see how it goes this time.

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The Acton field cannot support high-power flights and, as always at CMASS launches, no sparky motors! See you Sunday.

There is now a new photo album named 2025/08/31. It won't be visible until photos get added to it. As before, upload your photos into your own personal album and ensure it is is visible. Please tag all photos with the following master tag (should show up in the dropdown list of tags): 2025-08-31 Launch

Please be sure to fill in as much info as possible eg. YOUR name (for proper credit!), date taken (easy to do) and any comments you wish to make (For multi uploads this comment will attach to all but you can go in an edit individual ones to your liking).

Once posted to your photo album we'll sweep them into the new club shared album.

Check out the "How do I post my photos to the gallery" FAQ post for additional info,

or email webmaster if you need help.

I'm getting an error when I try to select image files to upload...

You don't want to use "select". That's for photos already uploaded. Add is the way to go.

I really hate to be a buzzkill, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE refrain from uploading movie-sequence level series of photos. We really don't want our launch galleries to be an alternative to dropbox. If you take a vast number of photos, curate them down as much as possible... i.e. lets try for fewer than fifty :-) at a shot! If you tag a massive number of photos, they'll have to have the tag changed, and then subsequently curated individually ! The alternative might be for me to whack the entire upload and start over and NOBODY wants that!

I'm really sorry to be a pain but IF you've uploaded a hundred or more photos showing sequences (for example), I'll have to re-tag them using a holding tag and then have you re-tag a vastly smaller subset.

We return to Amesbury. The rain scrubbed our Spring launch at Woodsom Farm, but now, we are GO for this Saturday...only partially, though.

The Amesbury Fire Department gave us the okay to fly on the 20th; with the ongoing lack of rain, permission wouldn't be granted next week. We need to hope for a few good days of rain to ensure our 04 October 40th Anniversary launch. The bad news is, the wind forecast is going to prevent us from offering high-power flights or any low- and mid-power flights over 1000 feet. For any new members, this is an agreement we made with National Grid and the AFD some years back in an effort to stay off the wires and not lose the use of the field.

The two big events will be the Mega Mosquito and Frick-n-Frack drag races. In addition to our usual need for volunteers (still plenty of spots available) we'll need special help swapping rods out for each of the drag races. The ongoing event of hosting NRC flights will be happening for those who wish to compete.

If you are looking to take the test required for your L2 or Junior L1 cert attempt, they can be administered on the field. Set up will begin at 9:30 or earlier so be early and help out.

At the October 4th launch, CMASS will be celebrating 40 years as a NAR section. That is quite an accomplishment. We are fortunate to be able to fly with such a safe and well organized club. We are fortunate to have two nice fields to fly at on a consistant and regular basis. As Kenn would say, "There will be cake"

Ah, but will there be ENOUGH cake?! 🥳

Linda never cheaps out on cake.

Looks like Windy shows the prevailing wind for this weekend's launch will be toward the power lines. Assuming/will there be a 1000' AGL limit for the launch?

Looking at it now, Windy shows wind direction AWAY from the powerlines 'til at least 2pm. I've been monitoring Windy and Weather Underground. Windy's direction for Sat. has been volatile. Yesterday it showed it going towards the powerlines. Today it seems to be synching with Weather Underground's prediction, which showed the wind moving away from lines for most of the day, then switching direction sometime late afternoon.

I don't usually see this much discrepancy between those two site's forecast, so I'm guessing there's just something squirrely in the data that's making the winds hard to pin down.... but the trend seems favorable (read: away from the lines for most of our flying day). If you set Windy to display at 3pm on Sat., you can see where Amesbury is sitting in a collision zone of diametrically opposed wind fronts.... so which one we get probably depends on how that zone drifts with time. It might just be one of those days where we just won't know 'til we know 😜

I like what I see as far as the wind forecast. If all is a go, I will have to fly early to avoid the wind changing on me.

NAR# 86455

L3

We have a launch scheduled for 04 October in Amesbury. The forecast has been switching around but, as we get closer to the date, the wind looks to be a little more cooperative for at least part of the day. We will likely be able to get in some high-power flights as long as the wind stays in a good direction. Up the hill and toward the white houses are not good directions and any HPR flights should be done low and slow in those cases.

We've gotten permission from the AFD to hold our launch this weekend. We'll need to be extra careful about any CATOs or flights that come down hot. Safety is our first concern, as always, but fire prevention/suppression is next on our list this weekend.

We will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the founding of our club. Let's make sure we can celebrate future anniversaries.

Be sure to go to the website and sign up for a volunteer slot for the launch. If we don't have people to run the launch, help set up and tear down, we won't be able to have much a launch.

Hey all - aside from tomorrow being the CMASS 40th, it's also the anniversary of the Sputnik launch... so maybe if you have a Sputnik in your fleet, it'd be a good time to give it some air?!

I have repaired the two broken low power pad heads so we should be back to 11 plus one spare.

I have lubed the slide pumps on the three Indian cans that we have and they are full of water. If you use them, try not to pump to either extreme motion of the slide pump, they tend to bind slightly. Short or medium strokes seem to work just fine. We also have the two metal pressure driven water extinguishers. They are full and pressurized to 100 psi. Finally, there is a blue plastic can also full of water. My hope is we do not need to use any of them.

Thanks for the timely upgrades and repairs, Guy!

If anyone finds a Jolly Logic chute release on the field, I lost mine at the last launch. It's probably somewhere between the rail pads setup and the road to the east (my guess is closer to the road than the pad). If anyone comes across one tomorrow, please let me or Deb know. I bought a replacement last week (ouch!), so if this turns up it'll be our emergency unit.

I also lost an Astrocam and (separately) an Estes Athena rocket where the stream meets the road.

I may have found your Athena. I found a rocket in that area and I recall it being Athena-like. Check the lost and found, tomorrow.

Thank you Rob, I've since learned I need to put my name and phone number in every rocket!

This is the last time I'll be posting here regarding anything OTHER than launch status issues (such as photo gallery availability and tag). All future posts, by me at least, regarding gallery issues will be made in the "website" forum heading where it feels more like the proper place for such info. Specifically here where it seems to belong:

https://www.cmass.org/content.aspx?page_id=2155&club_id=693092&item_id=1712072