Colorado Rocketry Team Championships – April 15, 1995

Colorado Rocketry Team Championships
By Kevin
Kuczek

    On Saturday, April
15, 1995, both C.R.A.S.H. of Denver and COSROCS of
Colorado Springs convened for the first annual Colorado
Rocketry Team Championships held at Bear Creek Lake Park.
The weather remained fair for most of the day, with the
prevailing winds blowing towards the foothills and away
from Bear Creek Lake to the south. Around 16 total
competitors were present. The contest was designed so
that winning it was truly a team effort. A single
individual could not enter more than two events, and each
team could have no more than two entries in an event. For
most of the duration events, the two best times on each
team were averaged to give a “team average”.

    Most of the six
events were customized and unique to NAR competition.
This gave everyone an equal chance at winning a
particular event. Not surprisingly, the veteran
competition flyers were able to use their experience to
take the top places in events never before flown. Team
camaraderie was very high. COSROCS came and readily
handed out buttons that read “COSROCS Rules, C.R.A.S.H.
Drools”. Kevin Kuczek donned the first one, covering the
middle section (“Rules” and “C.R.A.S.H.”) with a piece of
electrical tape. Many boos and hisses could be heard when
an opposing team made a good flight, and my, there were
many!

CRTC Logo


   
The Two Stage Difference event consisted
of launching a two stage rocket and then timing the
difference between landings of the first and second
stages, regardless of which landed first. The lowest time
wins. Jim Simpson of C.R.A.S.H. clearly led the pack with
what had to be the most incredible flight of the day –
there were many high fives and congrats afterwards. Jim’s
model consisted to two pods on the upper stage that each
held parachutes attached to the lower stage. After
posting a respectable 11.5 second first flight, Jim
became a “rocket god” and made a 1.56 second flight. His
first stage seemed to catch a small thermal about 10′ off
the ground which definitely helped his score.

    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.

    Many of you out
there have probably launched a single egg and maybe even
two. Six eggs sounded scary and challenging at the same
time, and I had my doubts that anyone would qualify.
Prior to the “F” Half Dozen Eggloft Duration event, it was
decided that 15 seconds would be subtracted from the
total time for every egg that came back broken. COSROCS
was first up, with David Nauer using an AeroTech Arreaux
riding on an F50-4. Dave used paper towel (Viva?) as
cushioning between eggs. He had a superb flight of 36.1
seconds but did manage to break one of his eggs. Next up,
also from COSROCS was Don Fent with an Estes Broad Sword.
He also used an F50-4 and posted a 39.86 second time.
Amazingly, all his eggs survived and his flight was
entirely successful! Ed O’Neill of C.R.A.S.H. flew a very
UGLY custom rocket of his own design with all sorts of
#$%@$%^ written in black marker on it. Ed’s model
squirted propellant and chirped on the pad for a few
seconds like a baby bird does when it’s mother pushes it
out of the nest for the first time and then rose high
into the sky.

    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.

COSROCS Drools!

    The final event of the meet was
the Omloid
Build and Fly
event. The rules of this event stated
that an Estes Omloid kit had to be built and flown
successfully with an egg. Each team’s entry was timed
until it was ready to be prepped. The timer then started
again after the model lifted off and stopped when the
competitor brought his model back to the range safety
officer for inspection of the egg. At the time this event
was being held, a cold front moved in and there were many
cold and blue fingers. Super glue, the glue of champions,
also doesn’t seem to set up as fast in cold weather.
Representing C.R.A.S.H. in their first contest ever were
Jeff Boyd and Michael Geck. Although their parachute
stripped and the egg splashed yolk all over inside the
capsule, they posted a time of 15 minutes. COSROCS’
participants included Warren Layfield and Ben Hill. They
took a little longer but did manage a successful flight
and netted a 23 minute score. The original rules required
that a team must fly again, and the time added to re-prep
or repair their rocket should be added to their previous
time. However, these rules were suspended due to the cold
weather as COSROCS graciously awarded the event to
C.R.A.S.H.

    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!

Colorado Rocketry Team Championships
By David J. Nauer

    It was the best of
times, it was the worse of times. So the saying goes, it
definitely applied to COSROCS for the first try at a
Colorado club to club competition. This contest featured
six different events which were flown by teams of two
representing each club. COSROCS entered this contest
knowing our work was cut out for us – we were facing the
#4 competition club in the country. We were facing the C
Division National Champion who had also won A and Team
Division national championships in his earlier days
(Kevin Kuczek). Kevin is also the president of the
Colorado Rocketry Association of Space Hobbyists
(C.R.A.S.H.). We were facing Ed O’Neill, a NAR competitor
finishing ninth in the country without attending NARAM.
We were facing Bruce “killer” Markielewski, the maker of
the most ingenious competition rockets which sometimes
work. We were competing on C.R.A.S.H.’s home site, and we
faced a collection of new and motivated C.R.A.S.H.
members thirsting for their first victory.

    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.

COSROCS Rules /
             CRASH Drools

   
The final event couldn’t decide the contest — C.R.A.S.H.
had already won. However, it was the most unique of the
events. In “C” Omloid Construction a team of two members
for each club jointly constructed a single Omloid which
then was flown. The construction and flight times were added
together, and the lowest time would win. Time outs were taken
during flight preparation, range safety checks, and
launch preparation as safety measures — these parts of
the event mustn’t be rushed! Warren Layfield and Mike
Hill competed for COSROCS, and were beat by 8 full
minutes during the construction phase. COSROCS’ flight
successfully flew after a single flight, sporting an
unbroken egg and undamaged rocket. C.R.A.S.H.’s entry met
a less fortunate fate, losing the parachute and suffering
a broken egg. Since time was short and the weather was
turning for the worse, it was decided to award this one
to C.R.A.S.H. with the assumption that another flight
could be made under eight minutes. Final score C.R.A.S.H. 56,
COSROCS 40. This was a really fun concept with unique and
enjoyable events. An excellent traveling trophy will be
displayed for the coming year by C.R.A.S.H. — the first
winners of the Colorado Rocketry Team Championships!

Team
Name
Event
Name
Contestant
Name
Score 1

Score 2

Team
Score
Team
Points
C.R.A.S.H. “F” 6 Eggloft
     Duration
Ed O’Neill
Bruce Markielewski
DQ
1:05.68
N/A
N/A
1:05.68

10






“D” Streamer

   Duration
Kevin Kuczek
Ed O’Neill
4:37.13
3:04.00
DNF
DNF
3:48.08

10

“B” Paper Airplane
     Duration 
Kevin Kuczek
Deane LeBet
1:07.68
0:49.82
1:25.04
NR (DQ)
1:07.42

10

“B” Altimeter
     Altitude
Bruce Markielewski
Deane LeBet
1274
DNF
N/A
N/A
1274

10

2 Stage Difference

James Simpson
Matt Boyd
0:11.49
DQ
0:01.56
DQ
0:14.22

6

Omloid Building

Michael Geck
Jeff Boyd
15:00.00

N/A

15:00.00

10

Team
Name
Event
Name
Contestant
Name

Score 1

   Score 2

  Team
Score
  Team
Points
COSROCS
 
“F” 6 Eggloft
     Duration
David Nauer
Don Fent
0:36.10 – 0:15
0:39.86
N/A

0:39.86

6

>


“D” Streamer

   Duration
Ben Hays
Jeff Proffitt
DQ
1:18.19
CATO
DQ
0:39.20

6

“B” Paper Airplane
     Duration
Ben Hays
Jeff Proffitt
0:52.67
0:42.05
0:11.82
DNF
0:47.44

6

“B” Altimeter
     Altitude
Ron Krenzin
Josh Hays
868
707
N/A
N/A
868

6

2 Stage Difference

Greg Elder
Ron Krenzin
0:06.03
0:18.23
0:09.75
0:05.95
0:05.99

10

Omloid Building

Warren Layfield
Ben Hill
23:02.00

N/A

23:02.00

6

Team Totals

C.R.A.S.H.
COSROCS
56
40