Archive for Launches

Everyone Knows It’s Windy

After monthly launch cancellations from rain, cold, and rain again the wind was not going to deter HARA from getting out to the field February 24 on a mild sunny day. The brisk 10-15 mph breeze was challenging but flyable with a lot of fun, successful flights. The crowd was only a fair number attending and the range was done by early afternoon. The biggest motor flown of the day was the ‘L’ from UAH and then all the letters of the alphabet on down with everyone else. The next launch is scheduled for March 9 and may be the last of the season.

Photos by Drew Brackett, Patrick Morrison, Keith Nyman, and Greg Zsidisin.

More photos on the HARA facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064693116419

Veteran’s Day Launch

HARA’s November launch was a full day with 74 flights. An overcast sky hung over the range to discourage reaching for high altitudes but many flyers reached for and got their HPR certification. The day was treated by at least a half dozen rocketeers from the Birmingham Rocket Boys section who pilgrimmed up to fly. Families and student teams also enjoyed the mild temps and light winds with their flighs. Besides the big rockets there were scale models, odd rocs, gliders and gadgets. Pictures by Nick Boone, Debra Cook, Vince Huegele and Patrick Morrison. See more pictures at the HARA facebook page and the BRB page.https://www.facebook.com/BRB665

12 L1 Cert Flights    1 L2 Cert Flight

Class Motor

No. Flown

1/2A

2

A

3

B

0

C

11

D

10

E

3

F

8

G

4

H

19

I

9

J

3

K

2

 

HARA Launches for Blue Origin

 

The employees of Huntsville’s Blue Origin Engine Production facility had a family space day with HARA launching their rockets. It was a prodigious honor to provide the launch services for a local professional rocket company, or rather, their children. Blue Origin made the field arrangements at Research Park, got the motors and kits for their kids to build at home with their parents and then brought them out for HARA to launch on the club’s range equipment. The kits were mostly Wizards and Alphas on “A” motors so a single rack pad handled all the flights. About 60 rockets were launched by the seven club members supporting the event, including some of our own spooky Halloween models because it was late October and that’s when those fly. The warmer than average temps and light wind made the afternoon flying great. Although Jeff Bezos was reportedly in Huntsville that week he did not stay for the HARA launch. From the favorable family response this event may be held again next year. For more pictures go to the HARA facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064693116419

UAH wins 2023 NASA Student Launch Competition

The local rocket team from UAH outscored dozens of other schools to win the NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI.) Multiyear champion Vanderbilt was third. The results were announced a month after the April launch day. To be number one UAH consistently scored well in the sub categories: first in payload design, second in safety, third in vehicle design, altitude and outreach. The UAH team were regular flyers at HARA launches this year testing their rocket and certifying their team members. Congratulations!

 

Not Our First Rocket Rodeo

The program that started with HARA launching three school rockets in 2001 has continued to a celebration of 48 launches this April 2023. Although 27 flights occurred last year in Huntsville, the rocket fair, normal RSO inspection schedules and group assemblies of NASA’s Student Launch were back for the first time since covid 19. The weather turned out perfect 4/15 for student teams to launch a rocket with the NASA challenge of taking panoramic video on landing mimicking a probe reaching another planet. The ensemble of high school and college teams flew J, K and L motors to altitudes not over a mile above Bragg farm on a range operated by NAR.

March Certification Madness

After three scrubbed launches in a row the earth and sky were finally dry enough for HARA to get out and fly. With them came a ton of people wanting to be certified to fly high power. There were plenty from the UAH Space Hardware Club, but the real blitz was added by a new sport rocketry club of employees at Huntsville’s Blue Origin plant. A likely headline for this story could be, “HARA certifies Blue Origin for HPR,” but that would be too cool. Twenty-two fliers got level 1 with two more achieving level 2 keeping the officers busy all day with paperwork. Sixty four rockets flew and most of them were high power. The light winds kept all the models landing nearby. Pictures by Pat, Doug and Vince.

First 2023 Launch

HARA got out on the field on day one of 2023 with an impromptu small model launch unable to resist the unseasonable 70 degree sunny day. See more photos, videos and notes at the HARA facebook page-

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064693116419

The next launch is scheduled for 1/14/23 at Woodville.

Novemburr Air

The scheduled launch day on 11/12 was rained out by a hurricane, but by the next weekend the November air was mostly clear, calm, cold, but good enough to fly. There were 38 flights in a fairly even distribution of motors from ‘A’ to ‘J.’ Several ever present school teams brought their birds and other club members brought theirs. As the sky went overcast in the afternoon, the rocket flames showed even up brighter.

Nice October Sky

HARA’s launch season began well with a two day launch on October 15 and 16,2022. Weather was a little breezy on Saturday and lower winds on Sunday and clear skies both days.  There were 62 recorded launches with a CTI K360 being the largest size flown. Sunday attendance was very light with only about two dozen flights. Models of all types tested the air landing in the freshly cut field.

Student Launch Returns

It was only a month before the annual April launch of 2020 when covid came and NASA froze the Student Launch program and any flying. The next year the program was all virtual and this year it was still mostly remote, but half the registered teams decided to come and fly in Huntsville. The weather was great at Bragg’s farm on April 23 as high school and college teams revived the 22 year old tradition of launching level two motors on a NAR range. There was no rocket fair or NASA tours or awards banquet this time but the 27 flights encouraged everyone that the program was coming back.