Explorer Post 1010
Lockheed Martin Exploring Program
National Flyoff, May 16/17, 2008
 
Team 1 (TARC 6129) and Team 3 (TARC 6161) competed at the National TARC Flyoff in Virginia on Saturday, May 17.  And they did great!.  They were invited to participate back in April based on their qualification flights.  Information on the lead up to the flyoff is here.

Team 3 flew first, a little after 8:30am, early in the launch window.  They made some last minute changes based on a perception of wind.  They had a beautiful flight, but it was a little long in their decent.

Team 1 flew second in the 10:30-11:30am launch window.  They had all kinds of problems getting their rocket on the launch pad.  They finally launched with seven minutes left in the launch window -- the last team to launch.

Team 1 was 13th after the first launch which put them in the top 18 and gave them a second launch to show consistency. Their second launch window was from 3:00-400pm and again they were late, but only second to last.  This time the rocket went down wind a little, but they did better than some of the other second flights.

Team 1 ended up 7th over all and Team 3 ended up 27th. Here are the scores for all the teams.  Here is all the flight data.

Here is a video from around the launch site.

Launches (Excel Graph of Altimeter Data)

Rocket Weight Engine Electronics Chutes Results Comments
Red Rocket
(Team 3)
487g F24-4W Altimeter D
(data)
18in/spill
X-12in
766ft
49.72sec
Nice, straight flight,
Score
25.44 -- video
Orange Rocket
Flight 1 (Team 1)
490g F24-4W Altimeter E
(data)
18in/spill 759ft
40.91sec
Nice flight, went up wind,
Score
17.18 -- video
Orange Rocket
Flight 2 (Team 1)
480g F24-4W Altimeter E
(data)
18in/spill 734ft
41.06sec
Nice flight, but went down wind,
Score 2
3.88 -- video

Pictures

Rocket preparation
Engineers at work?
Team 1
Team 3
Loading rocket
Ready to launch
What?
Posting scores
B2 flyover
Spectators
Home base

Final
launch
Team 1
Team 3
Lockheed Martin sign

Waiting
for
awards
 
Awards
Trophy!
Copyright 2008 Lockheed Martin Exploring Program
Updated: June 2 2008