Colorado Model Rocketry Championships I – November 23rd, 1991

By Bruce Markielewski


    Our first annual Colorado Model Rocketry
Championships was held on November 23rd, 1991. While the
air was a chilly 35 degrees, and the snow cover made
recovery a challenge, it was an otherwise beautiful day!
The sun was out throughout the contest, there was
virtually no wind, and not a cloud in the sky. You
couldn’t have asked for a better November day for flying!
Seven hardy competitors braved the cold to contend for
the state rocketry title. From the Colorado Springs
Rocket Society, members attending were Dave Nauer, Nathan
Dodge, Mark Jilson, Mike Frazier, and Todd Schneider.
Representing the Colorado Rocketry Association of Space
Hobbyists were Ron Wilson and Bruce Markielewski. Mike
Hellmund directed the event, but was unable to compete
due to an overload of personal business preventing any
preparation for the contest. Tommy Billings, Richard
Speck, Ed Schneider and Chris Brickley came to view
the competition, and were instrumental in it success,
assisting in timing and tracking.

    It was suggested
that we save the COSROCS members the effort of competing
by just mailing the trophies to them, but Ron and Bruce
had other ideas. We decided to fly the “1/2A” Super-roc
Altitude event last, as we weren’t sure how long the calm
air would hold out. The contest began with the two glider
events. Bruce won the “1/4A” Rocket Glider event
with a single 38 second flight. Dave was a distant second
place with 14 seconds. “1/2A” Boost Glider was won by “B”
Divisoner Todd Schneider, barely beating Dave by nine
seconds. Ron Wilson was a close third. “1/4A” Parachute
Duration was captured easily by Dave, over 35 seconds ahead of
Bruce. Todd was a solid third at 34 seconds.

    Up to this point it
appeared that Dave had the title wrapped up, but the next
event would settle the issue. Special thanks go to Tommy,
who graciously volunteered to calculate the altitude
results, and in fact, had entered and debugged the
required program on his laptop computer during the
previous events! “1/2A” Super-roc Altitude appeared to be
the most popular, maybe because of the closeness of this
competition, the involvement of this type of event,
or possibly because it was the last and everyone was
anxious to leave! In this event, points are calculated by
taking three times the model’s length in centimeters (up
to 100 cm.) and adding this to twice the altitude in
meters. The best result of two flights is used, not the
total as in the previous events, although most were
satisfied with a single attempt. Since everyone had
models at or near the 100 centimeter limit, only the
altitudes were a deciding factor. Somehow, Bruce managed
to edge Dave by only three meters to take first in the
event, while Mike and Mark battled closely to decide
third and fourth places. Mike’s second flight was 7
meters better than Mark’s to decide the issue.

    After packing and
cleaning up the launch site, several contestants met at a
local McDonald’s to determine the all-important overall
standings. These are calculated as follows – each event
has a weighing factor that represents the difficulty of
the event. For each place in an event the following
competition points are awarded: First (10), second (6),
third (4), fourth (2), and 1 point for having a qualified
flight in an event in fifth or lower places.The weighing
factors are multiplied by the competition points and
totaled for each competitor.

“1/4A” Parachute Duration (WF 3)
Pl.
Contestant
Flight 1
Flight 2
   Total
Pl. Pnts.
NAR Points
1
David J. Nauer
16
109
125
10
30
2
Bruce Markielewski  
40
49
89
6
18
3
Todd J. Schneider
27
7
34
4
12
4
Mark D. Jilson
9
11
20
2
6
5
Ron Wilson
6
5
11
1
3
6
Nathan Dodge
8
DNF
8
1
3
7

Mike Frazier
DQ
DQ
0
0
0
“1/2A” Rocket Glider Duration (WF 9)
Pl.
Contestant
Flight 1
Flight 2
Total
Pl. Pnts.
NAR Points
1
Bruce Markielewski
38
NF
38
10
90
2
David J. Nauer
14
DQ
14
6
54
3

Mike Frazier
6
4
10
4
36
“1/2A” Boost Glider Duration (WF 7)
Pl.
Contestant
Flight 1
Flight 2
Total
Pl. Pnts.
NAR Points
1
Todd J. Schneider
31
34
65
10
70
2
David J. Nauer
56
DQ
56
6
42
3
Ron Wilson
39
13
51
4
28
4
Mike Frazier
DQ
DQ
0
0
0
5

Bruce Markielewski
DQ
NF
0
0
0
“1/2A” Super-Roc Altitude (WF 6)
Pl.
Contestant
Flight 1
Flight 2
Best
Pl. Pnts.
NAR Points
1
Bruce Markielewski
130
NF
130
10
60
2
David J. Nauer
127
NF
127
6
36
3
Mike Frazier
97
114
114
4
24
4
Mark D. Jilson
107
NF
107
2
12
5

Todd J. Schneider
42
50
50
1
6
Pl.
Overall Points
1/2A PD
1/2A RG
1/2A BG
1/2A SRA
Total
1
Bruce Markielewski
18
90
0
60
168
2
David J. Nauer
30
54
42
36
162
3
Todd J. Schneider
12
—-
70
6
88
4
Mike Frazier
0
36
0
24
60
5
Ron Wilson
3
—-
28
—-
31
6
Mark D. Jilson
6
—-
—-
12
18
7

Nathan Dodge
3
—-
—-
—-
3
Pl.
Section
Points
1
COSROCS
331
2
C.R.A.S.H.
199