Matt Boyd, also of C.R.A.S.H., had
some stability problems, and unfortunately was
disqualified. Greg Elder of COSROCS had a pair of
consistent flights with 6 second and 9.75 second times.
His model looked a lot like Jim’s; great minds think
alike! Ron Krenzin chose to parallel stage his entry for
flight scores of 18.23 and 5.95 seconds. COSROCS won this
event, as it was decided that if an entry DQ’d, he/she would
be given a maximum flight score of 30 seconds.

    It appeared at first
as a trademark O’Neill flight, but then something wrong
happened. The rocket proceeded to streamline in and
finally impacted, with shards of egg guts raining in
every direction! Even from about 100 yards away, it
looked spectacular, and is one prang I would have
definitely been proud of. According to Ed, there was
about a 15′ swath of egg around the crash site. So, the
pressure was on for Bruce Markielewski of C.R.A.S.H.
Bruce’s model consisted of AeroTech tubing with a
separate egg compartment that contained all the eggs.
Unique to this design was that each egg had it’s own
cushioned compartment. He used a 4 foot diameter
Spherachute cloth parachute to net the best time of the
event, 65 seconds with no broken eggs. It had been
decided that the best team duration would be used as the
“team time” and thus C.R.A.S.H. won this one hands
down.

    Both Ben Hays and Jeff Proffitt were
representing COSROCS for the “D” Streamer Duration event.
Each chose to use an AeroTech 18mm D21-7 for their first
flights. Ben’s model chose to do some sky writing after
loosing some fins during boost and unfortunately DQ’d
(too bad, Ben!). It should be noted here that Ben was at
the forefront of a COSROCS movement to try to disqualify
almost every C.R.A.S.H. flight even for such things as
“that streamers too bright – DQ!” He flew again, this
time with a D12-7 in an Estes Maniac. But good things
come to those who wait – his second and last model for
the event catoed into lots of pieces! Jeff did manage to
get one of his flights to work for 1 minute 18 seconds.
C.R.A.S.H. competitor veterans Kevin Kuczek and Ed
O’Neill had made a few test flights before the contest
and knew that 4+ minutes could be attained in dead air.
Ed flew a model with a triangular fin platform and a
micafilm streamer folded accordion style to 3 minutes 4
seconds. Kevin flew a similar model with clipped delta
fins and a 1 mil silver mylar streamer folded accordion
style and other secret styles to 4 minutes 37 seconds.
Both C.R.A.S.H. members used D12-7’s.

    The Altimeter Altitude
event required an Adept ALTIM1 altimeter payload to
record the altitude. Bruce Markielewski of C.R.A.S.H. had
the most advanced model for this event. His model was a
boat-tailed fiberglass bird of minimum diameter (.875″),
and used a 13mm Apogee B7. Although it oscillated slightly on
boost due possibly to an uneven thrust alignment, it
tracked straight and true during coast to post an altitude of
1,274 feet. Ron Krenzin flew a B4-6 in a blue model of his own
design and it coasted to 868 feet. Ron’s model was unique
in that everything on it was fabricated himself, the tube
was a rolled paper one and the nose cone was a conical
shape which he also rolled. Josh Hays had his Dad, Ben,
proxy fly his to 707 feet.

      “B” Paper Airplane
Duration – the rules of this event were simple, build a
paper airplane out of a standard sheet of 8-1/2″ x 11″
paper 20-120 lb. weight and fly it using a B class motor.
Both Kevin Kuczek and Dean LeBet flew a Kuczek design
which consisted of a trimmed dart shaped paper airplane
strapped to 36″ of 18mm tubing in such as way so that the
dorsal fin on the glider also doubled as the third fin on
the booster needed for booster stability. Kevin had a
couple of amazing flights of 67 and 85 seconds while Dean
posted a flight of 50 seconds and a second flight which
sailed away never to be found. To qualify, both the
booster and the airplane had to be returned. Ben Hays
found out during the contest that he’d be flying the
event, and he configured a crude but deadly entry that
netted a 42 second time. Jeff Proffitt flew a unique
yellow plane with lots of folds in it on a booster
stabilized by a ring at the bottom for times of 11.8 and
52.6 seconds.

    Without a doubt,
C.R.A.S.H. ruled with 56 total points over COSROCS
(drooling!) who finished with 40 points. All of us had a
great deal of fun, and can’t wait to continue the
Colorado Rocketry Team Championships next year, with a
new set of events and tentatively scheduled for the
COSROCS launch site. There is now a traveling trophy that
will display each year’s winning club name. See you there
next year!

    Our COSROCS team
would intimidate most clubs. President Ben Hays was ready
for competition, bringing son Josh Hays’ altitude entry
for proxy flight. David Nauer was ready to help run the
event and compete in the egglofting competition. Greg
Elder, ever present, was well prepared for his entries.
Jeff Proffitt brought his innovative solutions to two
events, and Ron Krenzin’s superior modeling capabilities
were brought to bear on some unique approaches to both of
his events. New comer rocketeer Mike Hill was teamed with
old timer Warren Layfield for the truest of the team
competition. COSROCS arrived in the best of moods,
sporting buttons reading “C.R.A.S.H. DROOLS, COSROCS
RULES”. C.R.A.S.H. members were immediately seen sporting
these buttons with tape over the “C.R.A.S.H.” and
“RULES”, thus reading “COSROCS DROOLS”. C.R.A.S.H. also
supplied buttons designed to commemorate the occasion.
The day was cool with a biting low velocity wind, but a
light cloud cover never formed into a winter storm as
predicted by the local seer sayers (weathermen). Access
to Ben Hays’ mini-motor home made a real difference in
tolerating the weather.

    The “F” 6-egglofting
duration contest required the competitor to fly 6 eggs
under F power for the longest duration. Each broken egg
counted for minus 15 seconds, and a competitor was
disqualified if he broke all 6 eggs. Dave Nauer broke one
of his 6 eggs, losing 15 seconds and flying a 21 second
flight. Don Fent bested Dave’s effort with a 40 second
flight using a modified Broadsword. C.R.A.S.H.’s Ed
O’Neill had very bad luck as his custom entry never
separated and formed a cold omelet on the unforgiving
Colorado plain. Bruce Markielewski took top honors with a
custom built model which featured separate cavities for
each egg. Bruce flew a 65 second flight for team honors.
In this event the best single flight won — C.R.A.S.H.
10, COSROCS 6.

    “D” Streamer
duration flew under pink book rules — use a “D” engine
with a streamer recovery. Two flight durations are added
for a total, and one of the two flights must be returned.
Ben Hays immediately met disaster with a D21-7 flight
which was DQ’ed due to a separated streamer. Ben then met
further disaster when his backup flight using a D12-7 met
instant destruction as the motor violently CATOed. Jeff
Proffitt started similarly with a separation under D21-7
power and a disqualified flight. Jeff then achieved the
only good flight from COSROCS, successfully flying a
D12-7 for a 78 second flight. C.R.A.S.H. brought out the
big guns for this event, using Kevin and Ed (#1 and #9 in
the nation respectively), each flying flights over 180
seconds (Kevin flew a 277 second flight, Ed flew a 184
second flight). Needless to say — C.R.A.S.H. 20, COSROCS
12.

    “B” Paper Airplane
brought several surprises, including the announcement
that Warren was not ready to fly. Ben Hays took his open
slot and represented the club with an entry prepared in
less than 30 minutes. He successfully flew his entry with
a 42 second flight. Jeff Proffitt came prepared and had
two good flights of 52 and 11 seconds. C.R.A.S.H. had two
renown competitors — Kevin Kuczek and Dean Lebet — fly
with similar designs using 120 pound weight paper, the
maximum allowed under the rules. Kevin achieved flights
of 67 and 85 seconds. Dean flew flights of 50 and 75
seconds. Again, C.R.A.S.H. dominated the event:
C.R.A.S.H. 30, COSROCS 18.

    “B” Altitude was
unusual in that Adept altimeters were utilized inside of
a custom rocket whose altitude was measured by the
altimeter. COSROCS was represented by “A” divisioner Josh
Hays and Ron Krenzin. Josh had to attend a hockey event
and was unable to personally attend; his rocket was proxy
flown by David Nauer. Josh’s rocket flew with a B4-6 and
attained an altitude of 707 feet. Ron’s custom beauty
achieved 868 feet. In this event, only the highest flight
by the club counted (there was no averaging in this one).
Bruce Markielewski sported a custom fiberglass job
typical of his “heads up” line of competition rockets.
Nervously everyone readied for the likely results when
Bruce managed to assemble a fantastic flight of 1274 feet
using an Apogee B7 motor. Again, C.R.A.S.H. 40, COSROCS
24.

    Two stage difference
was an event flown at Pikes Peak or BLAST III, way back
in 1992. The idea was to fly a two stage rocket with the
least time between the landing of the first and second
stages. Ron Krenzin designed a “parallel staged” rocket
first suggested by G. Harry Stine. His design was
graciously allowed by Kevin Kuczek, keeping in the spirit
of the contest. Ron’s flights included differences of 6
and 10 seconds. He would have done better, but Dave Nauer
talked him out of a parachute recovery for his second
flight. Greg Elder had a cluster/staged design for his
entry, flying excellent flights of 6 and 18 seconds.
Thus, COSROCS had a “best time” average of 6 seconds for
the team time. C.R.A.S.H. immediately shattered our
concepts of winning anything when James Simpson flew a 2
second entry (and also an 11 second flight which would be
discarded). Unfortunately for C.R.A.S.H., Matt Boyd’s
unique design didn’t work as he suffered dual DQ’s in his
flight, suffering a 30 second penalty. COSROCS was
finally victorious in one event: C.R.A.S.H. 46, COSROCS
34.