The last rocket launch for 2013 provided great weather with 28C no wind and a little cloud.  There were 31 launches for the day ranging from ½A to J motors.

Young Max displayed his talents by designing and building perhaps the smallest rocket seen at the LA2 site and launching it on a ½A motor.

Warren launched his 4” scratchbuilt Total Recall on a J motor sparky.  It had a fantastic flight, deployed perfectly and landed about 30m from the launch site – it can’t get any better than that!

Ari reached his 250 launch milestone with his Ariel.  Unfortunately, it drifted off to the dreaded cornfield and was swallowed up.  It could not be retrieved.  Hopefully it can be discovered by the farmer before the harvester gets it.

‘Spaceman’ Matt achieved his level 1 TRA certification with his Flying Dutchman – well done, Matt.

The launch marks the end of the 2013 launch season.  There were 499 launches throughout the year.  Hopefully, this can be increased in the 2014 season.

Well, the predicted inclement weather didn’t transpire.  We were greeted with clear skies and a top temperature of 31 degrees. The cows were back at our launch site so there was no shortage of flies.  Petar did a great job of heading them off at one stage as they stampeded towards the open gate with freedom in mind.

There were 31 launches, some of them great and some of them ‘interesting’.

George’s Red Dog was a little off course and had to be rescued from a dam on the other side of Cedar Grove Road.

Jeff flew his two stage Quantum Leap on I motors.  Unfortunately, the electronics popped the chutes as soon as the second stage ignited.  The second stage became a ‘sky writer’ for some seconds before returning to earth safely.  The booster electronics battery disconnected itself and it came in hard, taking a core sample.

Larry flew his great looking 7.5” V2 on K power on its maiden flight.  Both chutes popped out at apogee instead the normal dual deploy.  It was a slow but safe descent.

We actually had a quite good turn up considering the heat.  There were many new members enthusiastically launching.

Launch morning greeted us with clear skies and it was going to be a tad hot.  We felt that already at 6.30am a few early birds turned up to set up.

Final set up of all the launch gear took place and special thanks to Dean and Larry for bringing in their trailers for the larger motor launches.

As always, Andrew had maintained the launch leads so we wouldn’t have any problems with them today.

With the impending hot conditions and the fact that the Bathurst races on that day, there was an anticipation that the expected crowds would be reduced.  Approximately 150 arrived for the event so it probably wasn’t too bad.

Warren reported from the gate that about 80% of visitors were there for the first time.  This was a great result.
The wind had picked up for the start of the launches but it didn’t stop the launch program.

Even with the small crowd,we were entertained with some great launches including many new rocketeers launching for the first time.

47 rockets were launched with the largest being Dean’s Dark Star lifting off on a K360.  Dean, Larry and Matt launched some bigger rockets using J and K power, always a crowd pleasers. Matt had what is called an ‘interesting’ flight trying to launch his cluster (3xH motors) rocket.  Only one motor ignited but thanks to perfectly working electronics the rocket was saved with a low level recovery.
Noel’s Level 1 certification flight attempt had some problems on the launch pad.  The motor failed to perform properly.  However, he had a later attempt which performed as per design and he achieved his certification – well done, Noel.

Many thanks go to all the volunteers again for helping all this happen. It was a hot but great day of rocketry.

It was a magnificent day for launching.  There was no wind, the temperature was pleasant and there was little cloud.  Rockets could be tracked easily by eye and there was little drift.  One might say it was ‘rocket heaven’.  Early on, the balloons were seen landing on the fields just about a kilometre away after their morning flights.

A relatively small crowd of members assembled for the day’s activities.  There was an even spread between low and high power rocket launches.  There were only 21 launches for the day but there were some interesting rockets and motors on display and there were a few maiden flights.  Ian launched his scratch built ‘micro’ (1:40 scale) V2.  It only weighed 600 grams but lifted to 600ft.  George launched his two-stage Red Dog.  These are complex rockets to prepare but it launched flawlessly.  Blake introduced us to his Cobra with pink propellant exhaust flame.  This is a first of pink colour motor exhaust to be launched in Australia.  Matt entertained everyone by introducing his flying Tardis (of Dr Who fame), complete with sound track.   Despite the poor aerodynamics, it lifted off and sailed to a creditable height much to the entertainment of the crowd.

The largest motor launched was a K360.  It lifted Larry’s Talon 3 to 4,200ft.  The sight and sound of the rockets with the larger motors is always thrilling.

We now have our sights set on the most important event on the calendar.  This is the ‘October Skies’ public launch on 13 October.  We hope to see as many members and visitors there as possible.

The day started off with heavy fog at the launch site (all over South East Queensland, for that matter).  We couldn’t even see the site just 50 metres in from the main road.  It was calm and cool.  The foggy conditions may have contributed to the reduced number of rocketeers for the day.

We set up and waited!  In the meantime, the opportunity was taken to discuss QRS matters with the members.

About 1.5 hours after the normal start time, the fog had lifted enough to commence launching.  The day turned out to be perfect for launching with clear blue skies and no wind.  Only rocketeers could appreciate the beautiful sight of a rocket’s smoke trail against a crystal blue sky.  The low wind conditions meant that no one had to walk any great distance for retrieval (another benefit for rocketeers).

Everyone made up for the lost time with 41 rockets launched in the remaining hours.  There were many LPR launches with scratch built and kit models.  It was great to see the younger rocketeers showing off their rockets and returning many times to relaunch them.

Whilst an ‘I’ motor was the highest power to be presented, there were eight of them launched.

So, after a rather dreary start, the day turned out to be a great experience for all.

The morning started quite gloomy with quite a bit if cloud hanging around.  The cloud remained for the entire launch schedule, with some light drizzle.  This was not enough to deter the launchers or the crowds.

We were able to maintain a full launch program despite the fact that cloud restricted our launch ceiling to about 1500ft for a short time.  Approximately 800 spectators turned up for the morning.

Ross from Victoria, Asher from WA and Craig from New Zealand attended as welcome guests.  Despite the gloomy and cool conditions, Craig commented that it was still warmer then back home.

It was also nice to catch up with Brian, one of the QRS founding members.

53 rockets took to the skies ranging from A to M motors.  It was great to see so many of the members involved in multiple launches.  There were even a few trial members who joined and launched for the first time.

Dean and Larry launched a couple of J and K power rockets which provided great entertainment for the crowd.

One of the feature events for the day was the drag race of the blue (Wildboy) and pink (Majestic) ‘crayon’ rockets on G76 motors. After an entertaining build-up of the boys verses girls race, the rockets were launched jointly by Shannon and Greg.  Both rockets launched almost simultaneously and descended under pink/blue parachutes (as you would expect).  We’re not too sure who won the race but it was supported with great enthusiasm from the crowd.

We ran a raffle also with a LPR kit and packet of motors including a free launch with QRS as a prize.  About 200 tickets were sold thanks to the efforts of Shirley and Garry.  Gemma won the raffle and was truly ecstatic to receive the prize.  We’re hoping to see her at the August launch to try out her new rocket.

The highlight of the day was the launch of Ari’s Oz Thunder rocket on a M1297 motor.  The rocket had to be set up further away than normal due to the motor size.  Even with the threatening skies, we’re happy to report that the rocket had a text book launch and recovery.  The roar, exhaust colour, smoke and slow lift off had the crowd gasping.  There was a quite a walk involved to retrieve it but it came back without a scratch.