The tenth installment of C.R.A.S.H.’s
Colorado Model Rocketry Championships was held on the
weekend of November 18th and 19th, 2000.  This
regional contest featured some excellent performances
from the thirteen competitors who put up launches in six
events.  The events were: “1/2A” Parachute Duration,
“1/2A” Boost Glider, “1/2A” Flex-Wing Glider, “A”
Streamer Duration, “B” Super Roc Duration and “B”
Egglofting Duration.

    The weather for the two day event was
quite varied but a good weather window of a few hours
duration each day allowed some outstanding results. Some
highlights from the events:

    “1/2A” Parachute Duration – Ah, yes.
What could be more basic than a parachute recovered model
rocket? Well, when Competition pushes the fliers to build
small, lightweight vehicles tied to large lightweight
parachutes, things aren’t quite so predictable. Joey
Puryear and Randy Chambers put up flights in “A”
Division, with Joey’s two qualified flights (22 and 18
seconds) outscoring Randy’s qualified first flight (28
seconds) paired with a DQ. “B” Division saw Paul Gray’s
single 189 second flight handily finish ahead of Steven
Cratty’s DQ due to an ejected motor. “C” Division saw
Bruce Markielewski outscore the group at 184 seconds,
followed by Nathan Coit at 111 seconds, both single
flights. Nathan’s flight went up in a VERY strong breeze
and disappeared over the dam at great distance. He stayed
with it, and brought it in after a great recovery chase.
Bob Ellis and Carlin Lowry both were bit by the DQ bug
and zeroed. A lot of seasoned competitors experienced a
wide variety of problems for such a “simple” event.
Recovery system separations seemed to rule the day and
spoiled a lot of well boosted flights.

    “1/2A” Boost Glider – In Colorado,
this has become the Edmund’s Deltie event and there again
were a lot of this good flying design present. Paul Gray
broke the trend in “A/B” Division flying a “Half Pint”
design by Steve Waide from the NOVAAR Free Press. This
twenty year old design put up flights of 47 and 105
seconds to total 152 and First place. Christiana Williams
flew her customary Deltie very well to times of 36 and 19
seconds (55 total) for Second place. Joey Puryear and
Randy Chambers followed with 23 and 7 second totals.
“C/T” Division saw The Paranoid Androids (Todd and
Kathleen Williams) log consistent flights of 68 and 55
second to total 123 for the win (did I mention they were
flying a Deltie?). Second was Dave Hanson, totaling 64
seconds and Third was Carlin Lowry at 63 seconds total.
Close, and did I mention that they were flying Delties?
You get the idea. Bob Ellis finished in Fourth place at
28 seconds (flying his own Deltie clone).

    “1/2A” Flex-Wing Duration – These
tricky, floating wonders provided their usual range of
tricks from beautiful, soaring flights to tight, twisting
death spirals. In “A/B” Division, Paul Gray had it going
with an 82 second flight over the dam, followed by an 80
second flight in calmer conditions for a 162 second
total. Randy Chambers suffered a No Ejection on his first
flight but followed it up with a qualified flight for the
Second spot. In “C/T” Division, Bruce Markielewski was
flying an interesting model with an underslung ventral
fin that seemed to well stabilize the glide. His first
flight of 51 seconds was followed by a 91 second flight
OOS (Out of Sight), again over the dam. His 142 second
total handily put him in First place. Bob Ellis was
flying a model near and dear to Bronco’s fans. It’s
covering was from some sort of silvery pennant material
emblazoned with the Denver football team’s symbol. It
flew well too, posting a 94 second flight followed by a
not-as -well-trimmed 28 second time for a 122 second
total and Second place. The Paranoid Androids and Mel
Gray turned in single flights of 35 and 23 seconds to
claim Third and Fourth spots.

    A Streamer Duration – This is another
one of those simple appearing events that proves more
difficult than anticipated. It really is amazingly
difficult to do really well flying these specialized
rockets. In “A” Division, Joey Puryear combined a first
flight of 37 seconds with a fine 61 second flight to
total 98 seconds for First place. Christiana Williams and
Randy Chambers suffered from the DQ curse and could not
post qualifying times. These are good fliers, winners of
trophies at NARAM. Still think this is easy? Can you
stuff an “A” size motor and a streamer into a rocket and
get it to stay aloft for three minutes? Paul Gray can.
His 181 second flight set a new “B” Division National
Record and paired with a second flight of 163 seconds
totaled 344 seconds for First place. Steven Cratty put up
two steady flights of 34 and 38 seconds for a 72 second
total and Second place. The “C/T” Division was won by Bob
Ellis, who put up a sparkling 165 second first flight
followed by a DQ on his second attempt. Second place was
claimed by Nathan Coit with flights of 77 and 62 seconds
for a 139 second total. Carlin Lowry put up consistent
flights of 62 and 55 seconds, totaling 117 seconds for
Third place. National Champion, Bruce Markielewski, had a
55 second first flight and then DQ’ed his second. Bruce
won “B” Streamer at this year’s NARAM with a flight of
NINE minutes (wow!). Guess this little ole “A” Streamer
event was too easy. He finished fourth. My comments are
obviously a bit tongue-in-cheek, but if you haven’t tried
an event like this in awhile, you could be surprised at
the performance potential of these rockets. Sophisticated
simplicity.

    “B” Super-Roc Duration – Seven of the
thirteen competitors presented their long and skinny
creations attempting to squeeze a maximum amount of
flight duration from a sometimes less than perfect boost.
In “A/B” Division, Paul Gray gathered only flight points
from a barely qualified attempt. Randy Chambers could not
duplicate his NARAM success and suffered a separation on
each attempt for a zero score. In “C/T” Division, Bruce
Markielewski again proved to be “The Man” when it comes
to terrific Super-Roc performances. His 42200 point total
(200 cm rocket length x 211 second flight duration) set a
new “C” Division National Record. Bruce now holds six
National Records in various Super-Roc classes, an amazing
series of accomplishments. His model showed his usual
advanced techniques with a custom carbon fiber tube,
forward parachute location and Apogee B2 power. This very
light model floated beautifully on its large mylar chute.
Following in Second through Fourth were The Paranoid
Androids at 8883 points, Dave Hanson at 6600 points and
Carlin Lowry at 2600 points. This event was truly “Bruce
followed by everyone else”

    “B” Eggloft Duration – Egglofter
flying is a favorite competition event in Colorado and
again nine fliers risked the integrity of some hen fruit
by stuffing them into odd looking rockets and blasting
them skyward. B motor powered Eggloft is a bit chancy as
the limited power doesn’t allow a lot of altitude to work
with. Packing your parachute “just so” to allow a quick
and full deployment is essential to turn in good times.
In “A/B” Division, Paul Gray was having difficulty
getting his large Canadian plastic parachutes to deploy.
Both flights boosted well and then proceeded rapidly to
earth trailing a partially deployed chute. The second
flight hit the gravel park lot so hard that it broke the
egg capsule, but amazingly, the egg was still intact.
This flight provided the winning time of 12 seconds as
Randy Chambers fought the same difficulty and recorded a
time of 10 seconds for Second place. What’s that saying
about “I’d rather be lucky than good”? Paul will give egg
packing lessons at the next Contest. In “C/T” Division,
Carlin Lowry and Rick Hyman tied at 28 seconds after
fighting their own difficulties with recovery system
deployment. Bruce Markielewski posted a time of 20
seconds to take Second place. Dave Hanson turned in a
flight of 19 seconds and Nathan Coit posted 17 seconds
for Third and Fourth spots.

    Contest Points and Standings – In “A”
Division, Randy Chambers placed First by way of his
consistent placings in four of the six events that he
entered. He totaled 840 NAR points. Joey Puryear had wins
in two of the three events that he entered, finishing
with a total of 654 points for Second Place. Christiana
Williams’ placing in “1/2A” Boost Glider provided her 306
points, good for Third place.

    Paul Gray led the way in “B”
Division, winning five of the six events he entered. His
contest leading total was 2022 NAR points. Steven Cratty
finished in Second place with 144 points gained from his
placing in A Streamer.

    The combined “C” and Team Division
saw Bruce Markielewski finish out front with 1545 points,
winning three events and placing consistently in the
others. The Paranoid Androids’ win in “1/2A” Boost Glider
and consistent (no DQ’s) flying in the other events
netted 1041 points and Second place. Carlin Lowry’s
steady flying gathered him 945 points and Third place.
Dave Hanson finished in Fourth place with 678 contest
points by way of some more consistent effort.

    C.R.A.S.H. fliers totaled 8373 NAR
points with independent fliers totaling 1593 points.
Members from COSROCS were a no-show at this contest, and
they were missed. So, the tenth rendition of the Colorado
Model Rocketry Championships is in the books. Good
weather, good flying, good fun! Let’s do it again next
year!

“1/2A” Parachute Duration (WF 7)

Pl.

Contestant

Flt. 1

Flt. 2

Total

Pnts.

NAR Pts.

A Division

1

Joey Puryear

22

18

40

10

210

2

Randall Chambers

28

SEP

28

6

126

B Division

1

Paul Gray

189

NF

189

10

210

x

Steven Cratty

EJ

NF

0

0

0

C Division

1

Bruce Markielewski

183

SEP

183

10

210

2

Nathan Coit

UNS

111

111

6

126

x

Carlin Lowry

SEP

SEP

0

0

0

x

Bob Ellis

SEP

SEP

0

0

0

“B” Super-roc Duration (WF 14)

Pl.

Contestant

Flt. 1

Flt. 2

Total

Pnts.

NAR Pts.

A/B Division

x

Paul Gray

SEP

LT

FP

1

42

x

Randy Chambers

SEP

SEP

0

0

0

C/T Division

1

Bruce Markielewski

42200

NF

42200

10

420

2

Paranoid Androids

8883

NF

8883

6

252

3

Dave Hanson

6600

SEP

6600

4

168

4

Carlin Lowry

2600

SEP

2600

2

84

x

Nathan Coit

LT

NF

FP

1

42

“1/2A” Boost Glider Duration (WF 17)

Pl.

Contestant

Flt. 1

Flt. 2

Total

Pnts.

NAR Pts.

A/B Division

1

Paul Gray

47

105

152

10

510

2

Christiana Williams

19

36

55

6

306

3

Joey Puryear

7

16

23

4

204

4

Randall Chambers

7

SEP

7

2

102

C/T Division

1

Paranoid Androids

68

55

123

10

510

2

Dave Hanson

28

36

64

6

306

3

Carlin Lowry

27

36

63

4

204

4

Bob Ellis

19

9

28

2

102

5

Bruce Markielewski

12

11

23

1

51

6

Richard Hyman

12

6

18

1

51

7

Nathan Coit

14

NF

14

1

51

“1/2A” Flexi-wing Duration (WF 17)

Pl.

Contestant

Flt. 1

Flt. 2

Total

Pnts.

NAR Pts.

A/B Division

1

Paul Gray

82

80

162

10

510

2

Randall Chambers

NEJ

6

6

6

306

C/T Division

1

Bruce Markielewski

51

91

142

10

510

2

Bob Ellis

94

28

122

6

306

3

Paranoid Androids

35

NF

35

4

204

4

Mel Gray

23

NF

23

2

102

5

Carlin Lowry

14

NDP

14

1

51

“A” Streamer Duration (WF 8)

Pl.

Contestant

Flt. 1

Flt. 2

Total

Pnts.

NAR Pts.

A Division

1

Joey Puryear

37

61

98

10

240

x

Christiana Williams

SEP

NF

0

0

0

x

Randall Chambers

UNS

SEP

0

0

0

B Division

1

Paul Gray

163

181

344

10

240

2

Steven Cratty

34

38

72

6

144

C/T Division

1

Robert Ellis

165

UNS

165

10

240

2

Nathan Coit

77

62

139

6

144

3

Carlin Lowry

62

55

117

4

96

4

Bruce Markielewski

55

SEP

55

2

48

5

Paranoid Androids

42

NF

42

1

24

6

Mel Gray

40

NF

40

1

24

x

Dave Hanson

UNS

SEP

0

0

0

“B” Eggloft Duration (WF 17)

Pl.

Contestant

Flt. 1

Flt. 2

Best

Pnts.

NAR Pts.

A/B Division

1

Paul Gray

10

12

12

10

510

2

Randall Chambers

10

NDP

10

6

306

C Division

1t

Carlin Lowry

NDP

28

28

10

510

1t

Rick Hyman

9

28

28

10

510

2

Bruce Markielewski

20

NDP

20

6

306

3

Dave Hanson

17

19

19

4

204

4

Nathan Coit

17

NF

17

2

102

5

Paranoid Androids

8

NF

8

1

51

x

Mel Gray

EGG

NF

0

0

0

Total Overall Points

Pl.

Contestant

1/2A PD

 B SR

1/2A BG

 1/2A FW

 A SD

B ELD

 NAR Pts.

A Division

1

Randall Chambers

126

0

102

306

0

306

840

2

Joey Puryear

210

—-

204

—-

240

—-

654

3

Christiana Williams

—-

—-

306

—-

0

—-

306

B Division

1

Paul Gray

210

42

510

510

240

510

2022

2

Steven Cratty

0

—-

—-

—-

144

—-

144

C/T Division

1

Bruce Markielewski

210

420

51

510

48

306

1545

2

Paranoid Androids

—-

252

510

204

24

51

1041

3

Carlin Lowry

0

84

204

51

96

510

945

4

Dave Hanson

—-

168

306

—-

0

204

678

5

Robert Ellis

0

—-

102

306

240

—-

648

6

Richard Hyman

—-

—-

51

—-

—-

510

561

7

Nathan Coit

126

42

51

—-

144

102

465

8

Mel Gray

—-

—-

—-

102

24

0

126