Explorer Post 1010: Rocketry Project 2016

Our Teams

Team 16-1639

Joe Camobreco
Malini Balachandran
Matthew McCallum
Vivek Uppoor

Team 16-1640

Bhavesh Kemburu
Steven Mendley
Tony Guardado

Team 16-1641

David Hoddinott
Dillon D'Rozario
Gabe Schroeder

Support

Bob Ekman
Samantha Steckel

New Horizons Cargo Unit

Rocket Launch
New Horizons Launch

Explorer Post 1010 is registered in the 2016 Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). The main web site is http://www.rocketcontest.org/. This is a year-round activity. We started with experiments focused on the challenge in the summer and the fall. We recruited new members in the fall and started to design and build our competition rockets. During the winter and into the spring we will test launch our rockets at least once a month. We needed to conduct three qualification flights for each team by April 4, 2016.

We didn't make it to the national finals in May, but we did learn some lessons for next year. The cutoff score for making it to the finals (based on the sum of the best two qualification flights) was 37.20. Here are the results from the national finals on May 14.

Teams

This year we started with six members from last year. We recruited new members in October and now have three teams. To be on a team you must be a dues paying member of Post 1010 and have your parents sign the TARC permission form (Word format). Members may switch teams until the first qualification flight. Members must participate in designing, building, and launching to remain on a team.

Launches

We meet during normal Exploring Program meetings on Wednesdays for work sessions and on Saturdays and Sundays for launches. Each team is building several rockets, including test rockets and backups for their best models. We document our activities and results on these web pages.

Possible launch sites:

MD - Old National Pike Park, east of New Market, in Frederick county Maryland (directions, picture). NARHAMS runs the launch. Their launch calendar and other information is at http://www.narhams.org/.

MDw - Heritage Farm Park in Walkersville, Maryland (map, picture). Park information at http://walkersville-md.com/parks-recreation/heritage-farm-park/. (39.49n,-77.34w,307a)

VA - Great Meadow (directions, map, picture), near The Plains, Virginia, off I66, west of Manassas. NOVAAR runs the launch. Their calendar is at http://www.novaar.org. This is the site of the National Fly-off. (38.83n,-77.81w,587a)

WV - Charles Town West Virginia, Oakland Church Field, west of Harpers Ferry (picture). The site is run by the Blue Ridge Rocketeers.

When we launch in strong wind, our biggest concern is the loss of our rocket in the trees. We have plotted out launch limit maps for Maryland and Virginia launch sites.

Launches

Saturday, Oct 19, (MD)
(no flights)
Monday, Nov 2, (MDw)
Saturday, Nov 21, (VA)
Saturday, Dec 12, (VA)
Monday, Dec 28, (MDw)
Saturday, Feb 6, (MDw)
Saturday, Mar 5, (MDw)
Qualification
Saturday, Mar 12, (VA)
Saturday, Mar 26 (WV)
Saturday, Apr 2, (VA)
National Fly-Off
Fri/Sat, May 13/14, (VA)
Results

Demonstrations

We conducted static launches at our open house (September 12, September 13) and Silver Spring Maker Faire (September 20).

Qualification Flights

All teams completed the challenge with at least two successful qualification flights.
Team 1639 (Q1, Q2, Q3)
Team 1640 (Q1, Q2, Q3)
Team 1641 (Q1, Q2, DQ)

We always need parents to drive to the launch sites. Participants should bring money for lunch or bring food when we are out all day. Wear appropriate clothing. Schedules can change at the last minute due to weather, so keep watching this web site, Facebook, your email, and call if unsure.

Resources

Wind speed is a big problem for our rockets, so we check http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi (Manassas, Frederick) before we launch. The Weather Channel is another source for weather at the Virginia Site and Maryland Site.

The Internet and email are a very important resource for our teams. Each member should sign up for the TARC Yahoo Group and review the recent emails and files.

We have a Post 1010 Rocketry Project Facebook Group where we post information on launches and related activities. We also have a Post 1010 Facebook Group. Post 1010 members and parents in the rocketry project should join both.

2016 TARC Information

Our Team Information

Past Years