LDRS 26 brought both friends and soon to be friends from across the country and even the world to Jean dry lake bed. Such a unforgiving location is rarely the location for such a joyous reunion, but such is our hobby. We had the opportunity to meet up with friends we get to see once a year at best as well as make some new friends from as far away as England.

Beyond all of the great people, LDRS is the premier launch in the world and it was for that reason that we chose to launch our 14x Estes GeminiDC there. After the long trek from Tucson, Az we checked into our lovely hotel room in Jean and headed out to the launch site. As you can see we had a lot of rocket and a lot of stuff to get unpacked and ready for the weekend. We met up with Roy Polmanteer and Chris Williams who had staked out a camp site for us.

After we unloaded the trailer, preparations for the launch were able to begin. It was only thursday, but as Jay made clear we needed to get moving if we wanted the launch to go smoothly. Of course as it turned out he was right, the prep was spread out and made for a much more enjoyable process.

GeminiDC Flight Preparation:

We started prepping for the flight on Thursday by setting up the launch pad. The pad belongs to Ken Sparks, one of our good friends. He was unfortunately unable to make it to the launch for reasons that were weighing on all of our minds throughout the weekend. He was with us in spirit, as well as being nice enough to let us borrow his lunch pad. The pad originally had 18 feet of launch tower with 16 feet of rail. We added another 8 foot of tower and 6 foot of rail to give us 22 total feet of rail. The pad had square steel legs which extended out 10 feet on all four corners, to which we secured 12 foot 2x4's to give us a huge 45 foot span. The legs were staked down with 2 foot long rebar in 4 places per leg and we put caution tape around the whole assembly. This set up took as a couple of hours, and by the end of the process we were all very tired and hot.

Thursday night we headed out on the lake bed in the evening hours to continue the preparation. Working in the evening allowed us a much needed break from the sun and heat not to mention the wind and dust. We started by folding the 11 Susan parachutes that would bring the rocket safely down to earth. There were six 20 foot parachutes, six 10 foot parachutes, and one 16 foot parachute. All of the parachutes were folded on Thursday night with a fresh layer of Jean dust to act as a lubricant. The six 20 foot parachutes were folded with the shroud lines inside the parachute and were placed into deployment bags two per bag and set aside to be loaded into the rocket the next day. After sorting out all of the recovery components it was back to the hotel room to get some sleep and worry about the next day.

Friday morning started bright and early. We arrived at the field and were welcomed with some familiar faces, Larry and Joanna Foster had made the trek from Safford, Az to help us with the project. We started the day by pulling the rocket out of the trailer and getting ready for the long prep process. We set up the rocket under the combined shade from all over the state of Arizona, and once again wondered what we were thinking when we started this project.

We decided the best place to start the prep was at the bottom. Since the fins have to be installed before anything else we started there. Grandpa Dennis had come all the way from Indiana to see what sort of insanity his son and grandson had gotten themselves into. Of course we couldn't just let him watch, we had to put him to work. It took some slight persuasion to get the fins inserted, but all four slid in and we secured them with bolts from the top and bottom. We got all 4 fins installed without any issues and moved the whole assembly back under the shade.

Our next step was to install the ejection charges, parachutes, shock cord and flame proofing into the side tubes in preparation for Saturday morning. Since we already had all of the parachutes packed it took no time at all to get the side tubes prepped for flight. We took some time to attach the first wooden superstructure section to the fin can and temporarily attach the pizza boxes, but the majority of the prep was done for the day. Of course in the middle of the hustle and bustle there is always time for a good joke. Jay, no matter how much he hates it, acquired the nickname Elvis last year at Larry and Joanna's wedding. So Elvis made an unscheduled appearance at the Upscale Rocketry trailer, all thanks to an unfortunate bus ride down the Las Vegas Strip one year ago almost to the day.

Flight day arrived on time, but as we were tired we did not. We had told the people from the Smithsonian network that we would arrive slightly earlier than we did, but it all worked out in the end. We got our sleep and they got their interview. The day started with a question...How do we get the rocket 2000 feet across the lake bed to the pad? The solution...Stand it up in a truck and drive slowly, very slowly. So we loaded up the rocket, put some people in the back to hold it, and Larry headed across the lake bed at a speed only rivaled by the native desert tortoises.

While the rocket was on its way to the pad Jacob stayed back at camp to finish prepping the electronics. All thirteen 9V batteries and two AAA batteries were installed, connected and had the voltage verified. The timers were programmed and the settings were checked on the altimeters. A couple small issues were found but nothing that couldn't be fixed. All 7 switches had to be hooked up the the electronics and checked for operation as well.

By the time Jacob was done with the electronics most of the pad prep was done, including sliding the rocket onto the rail. Both superstructure sections were bolted together and the tubes were screwed on. The only issue that caused an issue was that we forgot to install the nose cone ejection charges before sliding on the upper tube section. So we had to take it back off and hook up the charges and then repeat the tube installation process again. We had both John and Grandpa installing the 200+ screws that held the tubes to the superstructure, and once they were done we were ready to move on to the next step.

I feel that it is appropriate to give a warning at this point. We learned a valuable lesson during the at pad prep with regard to the weight limits of a popular type of saw horse. Apparently the plastic folding saw horses that are used by so many people are not rated to hold 500 lbs at a slight angle for over an hour. Surprise surprise So we had one saw horse showing some slight signs of stress, with another behind it as a backup. In the end the saw horse held and came back to life after the flight.

With all of the charges hooked up and wiring run into the electronics bay it was time to start wiring up the electronics. This was to say the least a NIGHTMARE. It was however as good as it could have been considering the complexity involved. With all of the terminal strips located on one side of the board at the edge closest to the door it was at least easy to keep the wires as contained as possible. With all of the wiring hooked up the door was set into the bay and the rocket was one step closer to being stood up.

The igniters, all credit to Larry Foster, used 3 ematches. Two of the ematches went to the launch controller, the third went to the cluster backup timers. All of the wiring was then covered with aluminum ducting tape to protect it from the heat of the motors, at least long enough for them to do their job.

During the igniter and electronics prep the nose cone parachutes were loaded and the nose cone was installed with eight #4 Shear Pins. At this point the rocket was ready for the big lift. With safety as the first priority Larry Foster and Roy Polmanteer gave the crowd a safety briefing and everyone was given a job. In case of any problem anyone involved in the lift could yell the safety word "SCATTER" and everyone was told to drop the rocket and get away from it. Fortunately we did not have any problems and the rocket went up slow but steady. You can see that we had friends from all over helping us out. Ken Weaver, Jay Dickhous, Joanna Foster and Grandpa were on the ropes. Emmett Anderson was pushing with a notched 2x4. Sophie Anderson was ready with the securing pin. Jay, John, and Jacob Dennis, Roy Polmanteer, along with two other unidentifiable people were under the tower pushing, Dawna Polmanteer was at the camera and Larry was making sure everything went smoothly and safely. Once the rocket was upright the sheer magnitude of the project really set in.

With the rocket upright the final electronics prep could begin. Jacob tried to go up the ladder to reach the bay, but unfortunately it was out of reach. Plan B, Roy pulls his truck up directly underneath the fins of the rocket and the ladder goes in the truck bed. Problem solved, Jacob went up the ladder and started to prep the electronics, but then suddenly realized that none of the 4 break wires had been installed. So back down the ladder and onto the dirt to install the break wires.

With the break wires installed it was back up the ladder and the electronics were checked and the door secured. Final arming would occur after the lashing keeping the rocket steady was removed. This step would prove to be the most nerve wracking part of the flight. As Roy climbed to the 18 foot mark on the tower and removed the last tie down strap the standoff that had previously been holding the rocket perfectly decided to give way. This resulted in the rocket dropping about 3 inches with Roy hanging on to the tower and trying to avoid leaving a brown mark in his shorts. Looking back at the pictures it was our mistake that caused the standoff failure. We used a piece of square steel to keep the standoff from resting against the nozzles. The idea was a good one, but we placed the piece behind the support arm of the stand off. This started a bend behind the support so that once the last tie down came off and the full weight of the rocket was supported the support arm was pinched out. You can see the bend in the picture, but obviously we did not think about it during the prep. We got a bunch of people around the rocket,lifted it up and used two quickly cut 2x4's as our new stand off.

With our crisis avoided and Roy back on solid ground the electronics were turned on. The Andy Woerner made Brass rail buttons were lubed with a generous portion of white lithium grease, and we were ready for team pictures and igniter hook up. All of this done with little time to spare as the wind was starting to pick up and dust devils were beginning to form in the distance.

Team pictures were taken both on the ground and after the rocket was upright. The banner lists our sponsors without who this project couldn't have happened, in no particular order: What's Up Hobbies, Polecat Aerospace, Missileworks and PerfectFlite.

We were now ready for the igniters. Larry hooked them up and we turned on the Guy Smith video cameras. Unfortunately there was an error in the cameras and we did not get any data off of them.

With everything done and double checked in our minds we retreated to a safe distance and let the range head know we were ready. We pushed the button and I will let the pictures tell the tale.

We made it to a maximum altitude of just under 3000 feet. 2000 lbs of thrust came from an Aerotech M1939 and 4 Aerotech M1315s. The rocket probably ended up weighing close to 400 lbs based on the altitude we reached. The rocket made it full circle, from the back of Larry's truck on the way to the pad, and back to his truck for the long walk back to camp. Thanks to Roy and Joanna for walking the beast back after the flight.

We had a great time, despite the constant stress and tension. The flight made everything worth it. Everyone should be happy to know that despite constantly swearing that he never wanted to see a rocket again Jay is already thinking about what to do next. Many thanks to: Larry and Joanna Foster, they made the trip out to Jean just for us, and we could not have done it without them. Ken Sparks, even though he couldn't be there we still could not have done it without him. Emmett Anderson, he was a perfect set of hands, always willing to help where ever he could. Sophie Anderson, despite being the webmasters girlfriend and the web site editor, she is always fun to have around. Susan Dennis, she is the best rocket mom around, always willing to make parachutes for Jay and Jacob's less than sane projects. John Dennis, he is not all that interested in rocketry, but he took over while Jacob was out of town for three weeks just before LDRS, it wouldn't have gotten done if he hadn't helped. Grandpa Dennis, he was a wealth of knowledge and suggestions that made the process go as smooth as possible, not to mention that he seems to bring a certain amount of good luck with him. Dawnna Polmanteer, she was an amazing photographer during the pad preparation as well as good company and a rocketeer in training (she will deny it, but she knows how to fiberglass a tube). Last but certainly not least, Roy Polmanteer. Roy came to help us when no one else could and we needed it most, as well as taking some great pictures during the prep. Also many thanks to What's Up Hobbies, Polecat Aerospace, Missileworks and PerfectFlite as our sponsors for this project. There are undoubtedly people I forgot to mention so please let us know if I forgot you, or just know that anyone who had a finger in this project was much appreciated.