We begin the night before Day 1. Day 0, as it were, arriving at the hotel late at night after a gruling 15 hour drive. We find Carl Tulanko in his room building and preping rockets using tools and materials I have *never* associated with rocketry!
Carl befor his morning coffee
The annual TRF breakfast at Denny's
The flight line at the Whitaker's field. It was actually a very nice weekend, but with some stiff winds.
Carl unpacking. These are the two main components of the upscale Tres.
Carl poses with the assembled model. Incredible!
The FlisKits vendor booth. We kept it to a very simple setup as the wind was very strong at times.
Looking down the other end of the flight line. We had a very large turnout for this launch.
Carl let me keep the upscale Tres on display. We kept it here with a kit Tres and a packaged Tres along side it. Comment of the day: "LOOK! Carl's 38mm Tres! Oh! And look, there's a mini-tres!"
Doug Gardei shows off his scratchbuilt using a FlisKits 5 motor cluster engine mount kit.
Profile of this rocket. Very cool!
Jim Flis poses with a member of the Deuce's Wild! fan club! (Can anyone help me out with the name of this young boy?)
That Deuce along with my 13mm down-scale Deuce of Hazzard on the low power pad. For the first day, this was referred to as the "Estes Pad". There after, it was properly referred to as the "FlisKits pad"!
A beautiful boost off of hi-power pad #1. Can anyone help ID this model?
The debut launch of the Freedom Forge Missle, the FlisKits Design of the Year winner from Darren Humphries slated for release in May.
A Midnight Express and CAUTION! Rocket Launch In Progress kit on the pad. These are free download kits from FlisKits. I can not recall the name of the owner...
A Deuce's Wild! and a Super Big Bertha on the pad.
Jason Toft (one of the founders of the Tour de Deuce) poses with his Super Big Bertha. We also see the purple Deuce's Wild! along with the Freedom Forge Missile, Midnight Express and CAUTION rocket. A lot of FlisKits kits in one place!
Doug Gardei with Eugenio Cebollero and his dad mug for the camera.
A nice crowd at the launch contoller table was a welcome sight thoughout the two day sport launch
Deuce's Wild! takes to the air. It looks like only one motor lit as this is taken from the side. Both motors lit for a perfect flight and recovery!
Jason Toft's Super Big Bertha off on a perfect flight...
...and recovery!
The debut launch of the Freedom Forge Missile is picture perfect, start...
...to finish. This launch caught a lot of attention.
The launch of the CAUTION! Rocket Launch In Progress started out well, but an instability (due to a bent fin) caused...
...a less than perfect landing...
Another Caution rocket was quickly loaded.
and turned in a perfect flight, start to finish!
Eugenio Cebollero after preping his upscale of the Estes Gyroc on Pad 3
FlisKits U.S.S. Grissom on the lower power pads while Ken Parkers R/C rocket glider waits for a turn in the air.
Also on this rack is the FlisKits Pheord X150, redneck pickup saucer.
The U.S.S. Grissom shoots into the air on an A10-3T motor to a perfect flight. The 'chute snarled on deployment, but the soft ground provided for a safe recovery without damage.
The Pheord X150 hauls into the air looking for a place to go 4-thrustering
Ken Parker's R/C rocket glider into a perfect boost and piloted by his able son Kent.
Eugenio replaces a faulty ignitor and prepares for a second attempt at launching his upscale Estes Gyroc
Into the air it goes! Perfect launch, perfect blade deployment and perfect gyro recovery!
The FlisKits newly announced Stingray (official commemorative kit of NSL-2004) sits on the pad waiting for the launch codes.
An upscale of the Bull Pup on the high power pads. I beleive that this is Eugenio's
Without question, the prettiest picture I took all weekend. Can someone help me identify this rocket and its owner so that I can send him/her a high res version of this picture?
Ken and Kent Parker send up another R/C rocket glider for a very interesting controlled boost...
...and simply beautiful controlled landing
Another beautiful high power flight (help! need names...)
Carl, with the help of Randy Trotter and Jason, prep
Carl poses with the '38 Special. Bar none, the COOLEST high power rocket ever, in my humble opinion
The Stingray takes to the air on a B6-4 motor for a perfect flight with a Deuce's Wild! waiting her turn.
Beautiful deployment...
...and perfect landing.
Carl gets the upscale Deuce's Wild onto the rail with the help of Jason Toft. Phil Gerringer and Randy Trotter look on.
Jason and Carl get the '38 Special on the rail...
...then Carl prepairs the ignitor
Meanwhile, back at Aunt Effie's farm, Doug Gardei preps his high power monster with a cluster (Doug, help me with details!)
This is an interesting shot of Doug's rocket.
One last pose before we turn this over to the LCO
Carl's '38-Special cuts a very gracefull line against the blue sky.
I didn't get a launch photo as I took a short movie (that I hope to have posted soon), but here is the recovery pic after a perfect boost on dual 38mm smokey motors!
Jim and Carl pose with the upscale Tres and Deuce's Wild!
One more pose
Jim and Carl (SEMROC) chat about everything under the sun, including rockets.
Ken and Kent Parker take a rest between flights.
Jason Toft preping his FlisKits Richter Recker with E9 motors. You can see the top of the model (orange) in the bottom of the picture.
And off she goes! The Richter Recker is a sight to behold, especially on E9 motors!
Eugenio poses in the hotel parking lot with his 29mm upscale of the Deuce's Wild! This design has now been up and down scaled to MMX, 13mm, 18mm (kit), 24mm, 29mm, 38mm and 54mm and I am aware of a 98mm being built. Simply incredible!
The TRF crew hangs out in the parking lot telling tall tales about rockets before going to bed at the end of Day 1.