I'm a BAR and have been flyin' again since 2003.
I'm a member o' Tripoli Central Virginia #25. Our launch site is called BattlePark since it is located on t' Cedar Mountain Battlefield near Culpeper Virginia.
I earned me Level 1 certification in 2008 with a scratch built, dual deployment rocket on an Loki I110 moonburner motor t' and altitude of 4,200 ft.
My level 2 certification flight in 2009 was with a K695R t' 6,828 ft. T' nose cone was lost so I put one on from another rocket and flew it again an hour later to get t' cert. As o' 1/18/19 that rocket, called GrapeShot, has flown 46 times now, reached 9,559 ft and Mach 1.2. It's t' workhorse o' me fleet and has taken a lot o' punishment over t' years. It has been solid and never needed a repair, knock on wood! ;-) 12/8/12 zippered t' payload tube on GrapeShot. Don't know how. Avast! T' apogee deploy worked, it was fallin' and t' main RC controlled chute deployed but never opened.
Had me first motor CATOs in January 2014. Both Hobbyline G64W-10 motors had blow-by past t' delay grain and used t' powder well as a second nozzle. Ahoy! T' fwd closures were toast, as was t' rocket DNA. Well, blow me down! I believe t' delay insulator was too small, t' delay grain would fall out o' t' fwd closure. Aerotech was great with smartly sendin' two new forward closures and replacement reloads.
I got me Level 3 certification on 3/29/2015 at BattlePark. Begad! I flew a Performance Hobbies Performer 150 kit on a Loki M1882LW motor. Aye aye! T' rocket weighed 54.4 lbs at launch. Arrr! Unfortunately it was t' first rocket in 12 years that I landed on Cedar Mountain. Begad! It hung up in a pine tree about 90 ft up. I got me certification though. Well, blow me down! A Chainsaw recovery about 4 days later was successful. Arrr! Flew it again at LDRS34 on me first EX motor. About a M1700 at 5,300 Ns and a White Lightnin' type mix.
I flew me last launch at BattlePark on 3/23/2025. T' first flight at t' first launch I did at BattlePark in 2003 was me Public Missiles Callisto. After 22 years, it was flown again at me last launch at BattlePark and be t' flight that broke t' 1 Million foot mark o' recorded flight here on EMRR.
