NARAM 34...

    If you asked anyone about attending a national model rocketry contest in the middle of a Nevada dry lake bed in August, they'll probably think you were crazy. Still, several of Colorado's most dedicated competitors accepted the challenge, and headed west.

    Dave Nauer, Ed Schneider, and Warren Layfield left early Saturday, August 1st, and I began the trip a few hours behind (I was still building that morning!) to attend NARAM 34 in Las Vegas. Todd Schneider and his mom left a few days earlier, as they intended to fit a vacation into the busy schedule. The drive was about 750 miles, and through about 13-15 hours of widely varied terrain, and several long, isolated stretches between towns. It's hard to believe that you're half way there and still in Colorado!

    Most of us arrived at the Gold Coast Hotel Sunday afternoon, and spent some time moving our equipment into the rooms. The only way into the hotel was through the gambling casino, and that area was always crowded. We spent part of the evening checking out the manufacturers' room, and meeting some of the other attendees. Mike Hellmund and Mary Roberts arrived by plane, to represent ESTES Industries, and show off some of their upcoming products.

    Dave had volunteered to perform RSO duties during the contest, and I volunteered to be a scale judge. Todd took on timing and tracking duties, and Warren spent most of his time helping the range officials where he could. Ed relaxed, and watched, and helped Todd prepare for the events. I felt that with all the effort he put in to the hobby, he should be involved in the competition, as he'd do quite well.

    I spent most of the evening finishing up some models for the next day's events. In fact, I threw together a "B" Streamer model around midnight. I almost decided to skip the event, as I knew we had to get up at 5:00 AM each morning to get out to the launch site by the 7:00 AM starting time.

    Monday's events were "A" multi-round Parachute Duration, and "B" Streamer Duration. The launch site could be seen for several miles away as we approached it, and the site itself was an impressive sight! We were in the middle of Eldorado Dry Lake, and the surface was absolutely flat for miles in each direction. It was hot already as we arrived, and would no doubt get hotter as the day went on. Several large tents had been set up earlier for the National Sport Launch held Saturday and Sunday, but high winds the night before had damaged the main tent, twisting 2 inch pipe into pretzels. We made due with what remained, to avoid the heat, and began the first day of flying.

    Todd had his first of many fine days in "B" Division, with three perfect "A" P/D flights for a first place finish, and then a second place in "B" Streamer. Dave started out poorly with DQ's on two of his "A" P/D flights, and more problems in the streamer event. I had one good flight out of three in the parachute event, and what I thought were two mediocre streamer flights. I was shocked to find later that I had taken first in "C" division in the "B" Streamer event!

    Monday night's events included the Manufacturers Forum and the Manufacturers Trade Show, where many of the rocketry vendor presented and displayed their current and future items

    Entries for the Scale, R & D, and plastic model conversion were required to be turned in Monday evening. Tuesday was not a very good day for me. My "F"  Helicopter, which had flown perfectly back in Colorado, decided not to cooperate. I made the mistake of uttering the catastrophic phrase "Yes, I've flown it before". Moments later, just as it left the rod under the low thrust of its F-14 Blackjack engine, one blade shredded, causing the model to do several giant loops above the crowd before bouncing off the tent and landing among the spectators.

    Both Dave and Todd had good flights of their helicopters, and Dave took second place and Todd was third in the event. Once again I had problems in the "D" Flexi-wing event, as both of my flights were unstable. And again, Todd secured a first place with two fine fights, while Dave concluded with a third place finish.

    Estes demonstrated their prototype giant Saturn 1B model, although the first flight made a bigger impact than desired. The first flight lifted off beautifully on an experimental engine, but a failed ejection charge caused the model to streamline in, shortening it considerably. Needing to demonstrate a successful flight, they produced a second Saturn 1B, and this time had a perfect flight. The NAR Annual meeting was held Tuesday night, and consisted of the NAR officials presenting the "State of the NAR", and what we could expect in the future, plus elections of new board members.

    Wednesday was "glider" day, as the events were 1/4A Rocket Glider, 1/2A Boost Glider, and G Rocket Glider ("A" and "B" Divisions flew "C" Rocket Glider instead). Dave had problems this day, as he DQ'd both "1/4" A R/G attempts. I had two good flights for a total of 53 seconds, and took second place, just three seconds behind first place. Todd also took a second place in this event. My first "1/2A" Boost Glider flight shredded a wing on liftoff, but after some quick repairs, I had a nice second flight However, it was not enough to place in the event. Dave didn't place either, but Todd took a fourth place for his efforts. An early storm was coming in, so the "G" Rocket Glider event was postponed until Thursday.

    An auction was held this evening, with many fine items available. Dave and I donated two NARCON '92 shirts and two patches to the event, and Gordon McGregor, who came to watch and sell some old kits, donated some of the vintage models to the auction. The big item was a 1964 Estes catalog which went for the amazing price of $90.00 to Bob Sanford, and then autographed by Vern Estes who was in attendance.

    After the Auction, a NAR Town Meeting was held, where the members had the opportunity to pose questions to the board members. It was a highly charged meeting, filled with many complaints and criticism. I spent the evening judging the Super Scale entries, and this turned out to be a tedious effort.

    Thursday was another poor day for me. This was "altitude day", with both "C" Eggloft and "F" Super-Roc events being held. The "G" Rocket Gliders were flown, and my entry decided to go horizontal at liftoff and crashed quite a way downrange.

    I felt I would do well in "C" Eggloft, but my first flight resulted in a cracked egg. The second one was great but one tracker didn't get a track. I was allowed to retry the flight, but my final attempt ejected the engine, and the impact destroyed the model. Dave did very well, taking first in the event, but Todd's flights didn't result in a place this time. Warren also flew in this event, but didn't place.

    Todd did well in the "E" Super-Roc event, taking a second place, but Dave didn't finish in the trophies. I didn't have a chance to try mine as another storm was brewing, and also the RSO told me that my entry was "too dangerous", and wouldn't be allowed to fly.

    Thursday evening had the R&D presentations, everyone who entered gave a short talk on their project Todd's project was on Super-Roc Design techniques, and Dave did a presentation on computer software he designed to benefit the hobby. I did mine on my Retro-Rocket designs. Dave took first in this event, while I was second. Todd took third in his division. The scale and plastic models were available for display this evening, before their flights the next day.

    Friday was the last day for competition, and the Scale and PMC events were scheduled. Dave had nice flights on both of his entries (each was a Jupiter-C model), and took second in the Super Scale event. I flew my retro-rocket as a demo flight by request of the R&D judges, and it flew perfectly. My PMC model (an "A-12", the CIA version of the SR71 Blackbird), lifted off smoothly on its twin engines, then made several tight maneuvers before deploying both parachutes. I was very pleased with the flight, as many felt the configuration would not fly. Dave called the flight "marginal", but it earned me a first place in the event. Todd had a nice flight of his scale Saturn V, and took first in the event. He had recovery problems with his F104 PMC entry, and was DQ'ed on both attempts.

    Friday evening was the Awards Banquet The meal was excellent, and a drawing was held with many nice prizes. The trophies were awarded, and there were a few surprises since most of the results were not posted due to computer difficulties. The biggest surprise for us was Dave winning the "C" Division National Championship trophy! Dave was in shock as the huge award was presented to him. (Later, Dave was informed that an error in the point standings moved him down to second place nationally). Todd also did well overall as he received a fourth place nationally.

    Overall, our Colorado contingent did quite well, as I won a total of four trophies, Todd had 9 event trophies and one overall trophy, and Dave had five event trophies and a reserve national championship! Congratulations, Dave!!

    We drove all the way back on Saturday, taking about 15 hours. I had to stop for a while in Utah to replace a fouled spark plug, and Dave had some vapor lock problems (with his car), but we survived the trip.

    I'm already looking forward to next year's contest NARAM 35, and this time I'll start building early! But then, I said the same thing last year, too!