Grandma Goodard’s High Power But Somewhat Less Than Exceptional Extreme Altitude Model Rocket Extravaganza and Chili Cookoff October 21st, 1989

Grandma Goodard’s High
Power But Somewhat Less Than Exceptional Extreme
Altitude Model Rocket Extravaganza and Chili Cookoff
October 21st, 1989

By Larry Weber

    October 21, 1989
dawned crisp as a snap of the fingers when you remember
what you’ve forgotten. At 8:30 AM as we were setting up,
the sun was warming Highlands Ranch Heritage Park. A
sudden decision by the park officials to try to beat the
next snow by finishing and testing the sprinkler system
made our normal flight area into a swamp. By 10:00 we had
moved north, were set up, had our warning flags out, and
the first bird of Grandma Goodard’s High Power But
Somewhat Less Than Exceptional Extreme Altitude Model
Rocket Extravaganza And Chili Cookoff was in the
air.
Glider Trimming Contest Preparation
    After two snows this
fall, we had the finest flying weather I’ve seen this
year. The 45 or so spectators applauded, basked in the
sun in, and complimented the members of C.R.A.S.H. and
COSROCS on their High Power Rocketry. Five potential new
members gave us their addresses and asked about the
meetings. I guarantee that yours truly will never again
be at a shoot or at GGHPBSLTEEAMREACC without at least
20-30 brochures. However, even with all of the help in
timing and officiating I was lucky to get a grand total
of five flights into the air. I managed to get 5-6 photos
so I hope someone else got lots of pictures. All
C.R.A.S.H. and COSROCS members were awfully busy. We
wouldn’t have traded it for a day on the beach in
Jamaica.

    Half the launch
complex broke down. Even so we managed to get enough
spectator and junior C.R.A.S.H. member’s rockets up so
that the longest break in the day was 45 minutes at
lunch. During that time Beth and I redid the plumbing on
our field stove to heat up the chili and then warmed up
both our entry and Danita Hellmund’s. We tasted chili for
15 or so minutes and then started shooting again. All
during the early afternoon contestants and spectators
watched and ate. Kevin McKinney managed to drop some
wadding into Danita’s chili from 1200 or so feet, giving
an authentic composite flavor to the stew. You should
have seen the look on Danita’s face as she was fishing
out the soggy wadding!
CompetitorsCompetition models

    The chili tasting was
a bash. Beth Weber had the best Santa Fe Red. Danita
Hellmund had the best Green. Bruce Markielewski had the
most unique presentation (served directly from a cooler).
Hirrel Weber had a BBQ Bean dish that wasn’t quite chili,
and there were a couple of offerings from others that we
didn’t get names from. No one could agree on the best and
everyone went home full. Thank You all.

    Beth Weber got the
DQ award with a CATO on her Lasersonic 1.2. Her Aerotech
F20-8 blew up on ignition. We recovered all pieces and
the propellent was scorched but had not ignited. You
figure it.

    Bruce Markielewski
got the Rainbow Parachutes ‘chute as he rebuilt and flew
his glider entry 4 times. He flew it into the ground four
times on two F’s and two D’s. We figured he should stick
to parachutes.

    Jason Muehls got a
Flat Cat Kit for persistence. First for coming all of the
way down from Cheyenne, Wyoming and then for getting 8
flights from the same bird before loosing the nose cone.
We stopped flying at 4:30 pm and tore down the Launch
Pad. At 5:20 when I walked into the house it hit me that
I never had made it to the men’s room. What a
day!

      The competition
results are as follows:

Senior “F”
Boost Glide  

First
place
Second place
Mike Hellmund
Larry Weber
Glider Flight
Senior “F” Streamer
Duration
First place
Second place
Third place
Larry
Weber
Mike Hellmund
David Nauer
Junior “F”
Streamer
First place

Todd Schneider
Senior Olde Tyme
Boost Glide
First place
Second place
Kevin
Kuczek
Kevin McKinney
Junior Olde
Tyme
Boost Glide
First place Ricky Wood