That’s rocketry jargon for Ground Support Equipment. In my enthusiasm last spring I acquired a bunch of it. It’s going to turn out not to be needed. I’m still working on what to do with the surplus, but I do know what’s staying:
(more…)
When I was young, I was famous (or infamous) for not challenging myself. Those days it was because I was really good and didn’t need to challenge myself to get satisfactory results — in other words, lazy. These days it’s because I’m lazy but also because I have a fuller understanding of my abilities and limitations.
And so, yet another change of gears on my rocketry projects. Once I thought I was going to do [A]. Then I said, “Oooh! I can do [B] instead!” and purchased the resources for [B]. And once I saw [B] for real, and began looking into the details, I knew it was right at the limit of my abilities and resources.
[B] now goes by the wayside (don’t worry, I have a good use in mind for it) in favor of [C]. The change of direction will now cost me a bit more money, but it will be well worth it. [C] is a project in which I have complete confidence in myself to finish well. It’s something I can be cheerful about, instead of stressed — a good thing for a hobby activity.
[A], [B] and [C] refer to different models to be built to satisfy the “scale model” requirement for my Silver achievement level. The implicit goal of the scale model requirement is to demonstrate a finicky level of craftsmanship. I can do finicky to a certain point, but then I have to give it up as a lost job — I’m just too ill-coordinated and time-strapped. [C] is going to be a good looking scale model that’s doable inside the envelope.
Make of that what you will.
Yesterday’s 45-minute auto service turned into 2 full hours. Bleah. That and finding some Valentine gifts for the Lady of the Manor ate a substantial part of the morning. But I did get to run by the dry lake launch site to see that it ain’t even remotely dry right now. It is usable — I saw RC flyers out there. But I’m not comfortable with the amount of available space. The Sieron-3 will fly to nearly 2000 feet on the second flight — prudently I should have 1000 feet of safe range to work with. Not sure that’s the case.
So I’ll try an alternate location on public land. Weather is still looking good — in fact, weather is looking brilliant with a forecast of no wind for 12 hours starting at 2:30 AM. I won’t be out quite THAT early … but just after sun-up, it’s flyin’ time again.
So it turns out I do have the motor supplies on hand to get some project flying done this weekend. And the weather is still looking to be favorable, both for painting on Saturday and flying on Monday.
But I’m not sure where I’m flying. Middle school field is too small. BLM field is a bit bigger, but not much. I could go further up the road and pick an alternate BLM field… and I might. Or I could try the dry lake, which may not be dry enough after the recent weather.
So, sometime last year, I declared here that I was definitely not going to pursue certification in high power rocketry.
I’m pleased to report today that I’m … definitely not going to pursue certification in high power rocketry.
(more…)
The upcoming holiday weekend looked to be the first I could actually relax. Since such things aren’t allowed, I had planned to rush through some model construction this week and go flying on the weekend — the weather looks to be perfect.
But it turns out I don’t have the motors to support the planned flight missions, and I won’t be able to get them here in time for the weekend. So … no flying this weekend. Going to do the construction, though. Order the motors on Friday, so they get here eventually. A bit of spray-painting, probably, since it’ll be warm enough.