Took a short trip to Lucerne Dry Lake for RocStock / NSL 2011, partly to watch rockets, and partly to get ourselves prepared for Burning Man later this summer. I didn’t go with my full compliment of rocketry gear, just the still-incomplete Infinity Cycle (with it’s smashing fiberglass and JB-Weld finish) in case I decided it was worth the 25 dollar registration fee to stand 50 yards from my rocket while someone else pushed the button. It ended up not mattering, because by Saturday afternoon the winds were gusting at what felt like 40+ mph, and were steadily getting stronger. After some impressive displays of weathercocking (and I mean Patriot missile style angles), and no sign that the wind was going to let up, the RSOs-that-be shut down the range.
The forecast was more of the same through the night and the next day. Figuring that we’d learned all we could about the failure modes of duct tape+canvass+conduit shade structures, and not wishing to spend the next 16 hours getting sunburned and sand-blasted for no good reason, we decided to pack it up.
I did score a fistfull of composite motors for later fun with the Infinity Cycle, however. We’re heading to Lucerne again, soon, for another Burning Man trial run — this time with a hurricane compliant shade structure, and my own red button.
-Adam