Liberty Launch Systems ~ Rockets Magazine

The Official Magazine of Tripoli Rocketry Association

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ThunderStruck 2010
April 10-11, 2010

ThunderStruck 2010 was Tripoli Indiana's first journey into the uncharted territory of running a regional launch. The launch site as Ash Grove near West Lafayette is big, LDRS-capable big. The launch took place during the weekend of April 10 and 11, 2010. The launch site is a working farm where the remnants of the last corn crop were clearly evident, with over a thousand acres still covered in dry, brown corn stalks. The corn was scheduled to be disked under to make way for this year's crop of soybeans, but Mother Nature made sure the ground stayed wet and muddy right up until the launch window opened.

Browse over 5,200 Photos...

LDRS 29
June 10-15, 2010

ROC President Wedge Oldham, a veteran of many LDRS and Balls Launches, had steered the ship intro safe harbors after what could be considered a stressful week. Wedge led his teams through wind storms, dumpster fires, the Discovery Science Channel controlling the pace of the launch and too many special requests to count.
Like all LDRS launches, there were challenges. The key is how prepared you are to meet those challenges. There are very few clubs in the country that will stand up and put on an event of this magnitude. It isn't for lack of launch and recovery area. There are many locations around the country where an LDRS could be supported. It Requires the sheer willingness and most important the confidence to sponsor an LDRS. Wedge Oldham and the entire team at ROC stood up to be counted as some of the few who take on the task so others could benefit. Wedge Oldham, Melinda Oldham, john Van Norman, Veni Van Norman, Rick Dickinson, Rick McGee, Ian Walberg, Rick O'Neil and Greg Lyzenga are to be applauded for their efforts. LDRS 29 was all about the rockets, and that made it an unparalleled success by any standard.

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Phoenix Missile Works 2010
March 27-28, 2010

The weather was cold, by Alabama standards, 50 degrees with brisk winds out of the east. Everyone had their job to do, and the range was quickly and efficiently set up with low-power, mid-power, high-power, and away cells placed, wired, and ready to rock. Bob Haas, the PMW Club President, Pad Manager, and Multi-Tasking Maniac, gave the morning safety address, the weather report, and the authorization for flying Skid Mark motors. Hope Hicks gave the attending crowd an update on recent Tripoli news, confirming that the 23,000-foot AGL waiver had been called into the FAA by her husband, Carl Hicks, and with that, the launch was announced open.

Cool and Really Cool Flights 2

ROCKETS Magazine has been traveling across the country to the biggest and the best rocket launches. In four years ROCKETS Magazine has produced more than 30 DVD's, which exhibit more white knuckle, fast action excitement than anyone could stand to watch. This latest DVD from ROCKETS Magazine picks up where "Cool and Really Cool Flights" stops: Pulling from 16 titles from "Three Oaks" to "BALLS 18", 200 video clips including the never before seen annual MDRA Xmas tree launch.
This is the second volume in a ROCKETS Magazine series called "Cool and Really Cool Flights". Sit back, turn up the volume and watch in amazement with what your fellow rocketeers have come up with. You'll cheer when you see how well the project worked. You'll groan out loud when they fail. You'll cringe as you anticipate the outcome. Will it be a perfect chute recovery or a ground capture? Will the project be displayed in a museum after the flight or will it be reduced back to kit form and taken home in trash bags? Over six hours of video action on this 4 DVD set. Dolby digital 5.1 Surround sound.

Browse over 3,600 Photos...

BALLS 18
October 2-4, 2009

The morning light cast long shadows as the sun climbed behind the eastern mountains. The sky was clear, and winds were light to nonexistent. Rumors were spreading this would be the only good day to fly. The remainder of the weekend was forecast to progressively deteriorate. Fliers were starting to prep their projects in earnest, as all the major fliers wanted to get in the air while the getting was still good.

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Freedom 2009
August Rush 2009

Tripoli South Carolina has been the site of many memorable lanuches, including LDRS 15 and LDRS 19, as well as the National Sport Launch in 2008. The rumor of something big coming to ICBM in Orangeburg, South Carolina, started around January 2009. Burl Finkelstein and Matt Butler had stumbled across an irresistible artifact, and it had big project written all over it.

VAST gets its name and launches from a secluded valley in the rolling foot hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of the unique aspexts of the surrounding hills is the option to climb them and watch the launch from hundreds of feet above the flight line. From this vantage point, you can watch the rocket fly up past you and witness motor burnouts or recoveries, up close and personal.

Midwest Power VII
A.I.R.Fest 15

The Kansas Kloudbusters prefecture professionally and fluidly executed Airfest 15 over Labor Day weekend, 2009. Airfest annually draws large crowds, ambitious projects, and the steady stream of high altitude and high speed mach busters! Airfest 15 would not disappoint even the most seasoned high power fliers with and endless stream of rockets taking to the skies. Countless Commercial and Research M and N motors were kicking up Kansas dirt in addition to multi stage and complex rockets.

Lucky Midwest Power 7 is in the books! This 7th annual fall rocket ritual is set in the open expansive countryside of north central Illinois northwest of Princeton. Tripoli Quad Cities (TQC) and the Wisconsin Organization of Space Modeling Hobbyists (WOOSH) once again, team together to bring you THE premiere High Power Rocketry launch the Midwest can offer. More than 100 pre-registered fliers and an impressive project list of fire belching rockets were sure to turns heads November 27th through 29th, 2009.

Justin Farrand
Video Productions

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Southern Thunder
June 19-21, 2009

Southern Thunder is hosted by the Music City Missile Club (MC²) and the Huntsville Area Rocketry Association (HARA). Southern Thunder is the annual gathering of fliers from Phoenix Missile Works, BluesRocks, Southeast Alabama Rocketry Society, and Team Ohio Rocketry. Southern Thunder is an event on the move, growing each and every year.

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Mile High Mayhem
May 22-25, 2009

The launch site for Mile High Mayhem is on the Pawnee National Grasslands, which are under the authority of the Bureau of Land Management. The launch site is approximately 6,000 feet ASL. Contained within the 30-by-60 mile area are the 193,060 acres of the Pawnee National Grassland. The recovery area is considered unlimited, given the NCR's 20,000' AGL waiver. The local roads can accommodate vehicle traffic, but there is no off-road driving allowed.If you pop a chute at apogee, you might be in for a long walk.

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Steve Eves Saturn V
April 25, 2009

On the morning of April 25, 2009, at the Higgs Farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, there stood in the middle of a corn field a perfect replica of the Apollo 11 shaceship, weighing nearly 1,650 pounds and towering almost four stories in the air, anchored to a giant red gantry. And in the early afternoon on that spring day, in front of thousands of spectators who came from all over the country, Eves would push a launch button to bring his vision to life - not only recreating a big piece of history, but also making some of his own. All in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.