Model Forum / General / Rockets / May 2005

At long last, the 40th Anniversary Alphas have reached the Dakotas!
Today, three of us from the Fargo-Moorhead Area Rocket Society (F-MARS)
took the rockets on a road trip to South Dakota.  It's only about 70
miles south of Fargo, and since no flier could be found for the state,
I offered to do it.  Kevin Rezac, Mike Maurer, and I were the fliers

After crossing the ND/SD border (yes, they really are two separate
states!), we started searching for a suitable field to launch in
extreme northeast South Dakota, right by the junction of Minnesota and
the Dakotas.  A solid week of steady rains didn't make this easy.
The fields were either already planted or too muddy.  The public lands
along the MN/SD border were mostly full of water and geese.  We ended
up just north of Rosholt, SD, a tiny town of about 500 people 10 miles
into the state.

Today was the first time we'd seen the sun in over a week, but it was
mostly cloudy by the time we found a decent spot with winds out of the
north around 10 mph.  We set up the pad, and launched a test rocket on
a Quest A6-4.  It landed on the gravel road we were on, so we tilted
the pad a little to the side to make sure the Alphas landed in the soft
dirt.

The Classic Alpha went first, and the boost with the A8-3 was straight
up despite the wind.  It landed safely in the field about 40 feet south
of us.

Next was the Modern Alpha.  It flew a little higher, still going
straight up, landing about 60 feet away.

After taking pictures and packing up, we stopped in Rosholt to pick up
a suitable postcard for the box.  We found one with a nice aerial view
of the town.

Once I get a chance later this week, I'll post the pictures on a
website.  For now, stay tuned for the North Dakota launch, coming soon.

Paul Seifert
NAR #77554