Tripoli Houston #002 Launch Reports

BALLS 25 - Day 1

Ok, most Tripoli rocketeers have not attended BALLS.  So I wanted to help provide them a bit of the feel of what this launch is like.  This is the first trip to BALLS for Chris Harris, Randy Marek and I and the 2nd for Eric Smedstad. 

"Overview of what BALLS is:  BALLS is THE premier Experimental Rocket Launch in the Continental US for the past 26 years.BALLS is held in the Black Rock Desert, North of Reno, near Gerlach, Nevada.   BALLS brings dedicated rocketry enthusiasts devoted to the leading edge of non-professional rocketry activities together for the best demonstration of experimental motor design using today's best technologies, and probably the largest non-professional rockets seen anywhere.  BALLS 25 is a venue for projects that should NOT be flown publicly due to safety and legal restrictions. This may include, but is not limited to, LARGE rockets, complex staging or clustering, metal rockets, self designed and/or fabricated rocket motors and new technologies being developed or proven. Black Rock Dry Lake has always been the site of large rocket launches. Its wide open vastness is unprecedented for its high altitude recovery record. Through the years BALLS has grown into non-professional rocketry's show place of the best there is. The quality, craftsmanship, shear size, power and technology edge cannot be compared to any other launch anywhere. The best thing is the exchange of new thoughts and methods that are presented openly to anyone who asks. This launch will be primarily for Research Motors and/or Dangerous projects. BALLS is not open to the public and unless you are directly involved in flight activities, a Pre-Approved Experimental Project or invited by persons active in such ventures, you will not be allowed to attend."   Waivers at Black Rock regularly exceed 100k.  Commercial motor flights below K, unless they are extreme altitude record attempts, are declined.  Launch days are Friday-Sunday.


Departed Houston on Monday afternoon and arrived on the playa on Wednesday afternoon after several hard days of driving.  The scenery here and the mountains are simply awesome.

Todays activities - Thursday:   Today is all about set up and final preparations for your rockets.  The weather changes rapidly here as we started the morning in the low 40s with mild winds.  Around 2pm, a fairly strong windstorm came in and attempted to destroy our canopy cluster. Temps are still in the 50s with windchill dipping into the 40s.  Yup, NOT HOUSTON.  Throughout the day, more and more rocketeers arrived.  Unlike a TH002 launch, BALLS attendees show up in large RVs, trailers and LOTS of GEAR.  You likely will need to provide your own launch equipment here.  This year is specials as the organizers have set up some general use pads.  Chris and Eric have feverishly been working on the pad and launch control systems. Eric's 2-stage goal is 80k' so our launch site is a mere 2,500' away from LCO.  That would be halfway down the runway in Hearne...  Jim Jarvis and Stu Barrett (from AARG) will be aiming for 150k' this year so they have the launch site which is a mere 2.5 miles away (that would be the Dixie Diner in Hearne).

The good news is that all appears to be doing well.  Eric Smedstad will be trying again to loft his 2-stage N-N to 80k'.  Chris Harris has a minimum diameter 75mm flying on an M3700 to 25k'. Randy has a a Chris Harris-built minimum diameter 98mm rocket flying a long burn 98mm M1720 AMW flying to 24k'.  I have pulled out my trusty L3 bird and slammed in a much bigger M2088 research motor that I am hoping will break 20k'.

Half of the fun at BALLS is flying your rockets. The other is watching the other HUGE PROJECTS.  Many of our rocketeers have never seen a truly large motor such as an N or O motor.  Over the next three days there will be a signficant number of N, O and P motors and clusters.  There will likely be a few even larger projects.

That's enough for now!   Talk to you all tomorrow!

-Andy and the rest of the crazies representing Tripoli Houston (freezing our butts off in NW Nevada)