LUNAR’clips 2001                      Volume 8, Number 1

Copyright © 2001 by LUNAR, All rights reserved.

Jack Hagerty, LUNAR #002

Hello all, and welcome to the 21st Century!

JANUARY MEETING

This month's meeting is on Wednesday, January 15 at the usual time (7:30) and place (the Carnegie Building). The only serious thing we have to do is elect the board of directors for this year. Ron Baskett has recently informed me that he is stepping down as VP, which leaves one space open on the board. There's not a lot of work involved, so anyone interested please feel free to step forward. The nominations will be open until we actually vote. I promise we won't have to wait six weeks for the results!

I also have the "Section Survey" from NAR HQ which I have to return soon. We'll go over the items they want input on so I can sent it back. If you have any gripes for the national, this is the time.

Also from the NAR is the announcement of their new NAR Scholarship, which is a thousand dollar scholarship for NAR members in good standing between the ages of 17 and 22 who are currently enrolled, or planning to enroll in a college, university or technical school. I'll have the application with me if you're interested.

JANUARY LAUNCH

Just a heads-up that our January launch on Saturday the 20th, may be unwaivered. I've gotten our schedule down with LARPD and the fire permit for the year from the Fire Marshal, but the paper mill at the FAA is still cranking as I type this. I'll be sure to put the status of the waiver on the hotline message, so if in doubt, call (925) 443-8705 before coming out.

HPR VENDOR

Since Andrew Pohlman announced he was closing Suborbital Flying Machines last year, our HP fliers were all in a bit of distress on how to get "H" motors on site. I've since heard from Bill Granger, who will be supporting us with HP motors and other items at the launches this year and for the foreseeable future. Here's his message, which is certainly good news:

"It is my intention to attend all of the LUNAR launches and support this club as a vender of rocket kits, motors and supplies. I currently stock Vaughn Brothers, Public Missiles, Aerotech, and Estes kits. I have access to RDS kits on a special order basis at this time. As far as parachutes go, I stock Top Flight and Sky Angel. In terms of supplies I have shock cord material, wadding, Igniters and a few other common items. I am currently negotiating with Blacksky to carry their rail guides and electric matches.

"In the motor category I currently carry most Estes A-D and Aerotech 18mm D motors and reloads through 29mm G motors and reloads. I am in the process of applying for my Class III pyrotechnic license. I still need a few more references from other Class III holders, if anyone can help me please let me know so I can support the club with larger motors.

"I also do custom vinyl (stickers) for rockets or anything else you might need. If you need product information or merchandise outside of the launches please feel free to contact me by phone (510) 799-7144, evenings after 6 or weekends are best, or email me at G0Gsales@aol.com.

Thanks, Bill Granger G&G Sales

This is great news, but note that we still have to wait for the permit wheels to grind a bit before Bill can start bringing out "H" motors. He really needs to get three more references from Class III license holders before he can get the license of his own. If you are, or know a Class III holder, please contact Bill immediately.

LEVEL 2 EXAMS NOW AVAILABLE

Last issue I mentioned that Bryan Chuck (LUNAR 885) is willing to administer the written test for Level 2 certification to any LUNAR members who want to advance to this next step of High Power.

He's now received the exams from Steve Lubliner (national HP coordinator) so anyone wanting to take the test (you can take it up to six months before the certification flight), contact Bryan at bryan@neteze.com and make arrangements. This is the time to do it, but he probably won't make every launch in the winter.

LOGO RESULTS

We got the results of our new logo vote and it isn't even close! The version with the words wrapping all around the moon (#16 on Tony's web site) got more votes that all the other versions put together! The only problem is that for small applications (like at the top of each of these newsletter pages) that sort of detail can disappear and look all muddled. I've suggested, therefore, that we use that version for the T-shirts, hat, mugs and other logo items, and use the "minimalist" version designed by club members Mitch Kahn and Mark Perry (a professional graphic artist) for small applications (like membership cards).

Tom is trying out this simple version at the top of this issue, and will do the complex one next time to see what looks better.

T-SHIRTS AGAIN

Speaking of T-shirts, Doug Blasco has been trying to get the first batch of them ready for this month's launch, but the debate and decision making on the logo went on so long that we missed the deadline. The art work is all ready now, so if you want a T-shirt, catch him at the launch and place your order for delivery in February. This isn't just on a pre-order basis. He'll have plenty of shirts based on the survey he did at the end of last year.

WEB SITE UPDATE

As I mentioned in the last issue, we have to move our web site off of the Compaq host where it has been since the beginning. We have selected an ISP and the board has approved the move. Bill Orvis (our new site administrator) is currently in the process of moving it. With any luck, it will be all done by the time you read this. That means that all of the newsletter archive will be incorporated with everything else in one spot. Actually, if we do it right, you shouldn't notice any change at all.

ON THE MAP

Craig Saunders was cruising the NAR website (notice how all the items are in pairs in this column?) and saw that his son, Paul, is listed in the Top 10 competitors in A Division in the current contest year. As of December 1, he was #7, in the whole country. Congratulations, Paul!

Even though that will slip as sections around the country hold more contests, it's great to have any sort of notoriety in competition west of the Rockies. Thanks, too, to Carl Resinger of BayNAR for setting up last August's contest that put Paul on the map. With two per year, we might even get a mention in the nationals next summer.

COMMERCIAL PLUG

If you don't have a copy of Ron Miller's book "Dream Machines," or if you know someone who would like one, the publisher, Krieger Publications, is selling it for half price. Their toll-free phone number to order is (800) 724-0025. However, if you can only afford one big rocket book purchase this year (Warning! Shameless self promoting plug ahead!) you might want to wait a couple of months since my book will be out (fingers crossed) in March. It's regular price will be about what "Dream Machines" is at half off, and LUNAR members will get an additional 20% off. That's about $40 for a really cool 400 page, all color book on all the neat rocket designs of the 20th Century. Stay tuned!

CLOSING OUT THE MILLENNIUM

I totaled up the flight cards for the December launch and thought you'd like to see the results. Our totals set new records for the club in both total number of flights, total impulse and average impulse. The number of HP flights (F through H) keeps increasing while the 1/4A through E flights are staying flat or even decreased a little (I noticed that in the "C" and "D" motors).

Speaking of decrease, I noticed an interesting reverse-trend in these numbers the second half of the year. Even though our totals for the year were up, all of the increase was in the first part of the year. Through July, our average launch had more than 250 flights! If you recall, it was the big crush in March and April (259 and 264 respectively) that spurred us on to building the new launch equipment that debuted in November.

Since July, though, we never broke 200 flights again the rest of the year. August is traditionally light with everyone on vacation, but it usually picks up again in September and peaks with the night launch in October. This year September had 192 flights (held down, I think, by our silent auction which kept lots of people busy other than flying) and October was canceled due to winds. Moving the night launch to November meant a lower number of flights since we called "night rules" earlier and all of the regular flying (which is nearly 90% of a "night" launch) had to stop, thus holding us down to 155 flights. December launches, despite what you might think, have always been very popular. Every one of them the past three years have broken 200 flights (1996 was rained out) but last month we only had 187.

I mention all this only out of academic curiosity. If this were a business, I might be disturbed by the trend, but in our case it doesn't really matter. If it weren't for the fact that I count the flight cards every month, I probably wouldn't even have noticed.

Speaking of counting, I compile these stats on an Excel spreadsheet that has all the launch stats for the past four years. There are also sporadic entries for 1994 (our first full year of operation) and 1996. There's nothing for 1995 If anyone knows where the earlier flight cards are stashed, if they still exist, let me know and I'll included them as well. If you'd like to look at the whole spreadsheet, send me a note and I'll mail it to you.

I've added a new line to this year's summary at the suggestion of Lynn Kissel (LUNAR #009) which gives the equivalent mass that we could have boosted to four different altitudes (Low Earth Orbit, Geosynchronous Earth Orbit, Lunar Orbit and a Lunar Landing) on that amount of impulse. I've retrofitted it to the earlier years as well.

Summary, 2000		 
Total Flights:	2160 
Total Motors consumed:	2264 
Total Impulse expended:	84,035 N-sec. 
Average Impulse:	37.1 N-sec.	A high range "E"
Motor Use Breakdown:
1/4A	1/2A	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
34	60	276	400	526	310	179	147	171	161

Equivalent Mass Lofted (Based on Total Impulse):
To LEO: 9.77 Kg
To GEO	: 6.78 Kg
To Lunar Orbit: 6.62 Kg
To Lunar Surface: 5.64 Kg

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