Fred's compulsive hobby is High Power Rocketry:

As a member of the Tripoli Rocket Association he is certified to Level-3 and also a TAP member.

And is now a licensed Ham radio operator - K7EXR

For more information on my L3 rocket, click here.

Below is Team HardTail at Balls-13 (2004):

And again a few years later at Balls-15:

Below is a picture sequence I took of our second flight at Balls. This flight was powered by a SubLight Aerospace N2450 followed by three K550W's airstarted 3 seconds after main burn out. The rocket flew to 12,660' and was recovered successfully. The rocket is equip ted with a wireless look-down video link. Someday we will get the video edited and made available for online viewing.

That is a 12' rail in the picture to give you a frame of reference!

Here are a few shots from the Black Rock playa of my Nike Smoke on a P-5000 Sparky......

Below is the video of the flight - courtesy of Mike Moore:

Here is my 5.5" 1/3 scale Nike Smoke is setup with a 75mm motor mount. Here is a couple of pictures from our October launch.

This is the virgin flight of this rocket. I had it on the pad at Balls-13 on Sunday, but the wind and dust storm that kicked up caused me to scrub the launch and pull it off the pad. I had hurried to put it together for Balls and ran out of time for paint. It still only has a rough base coat of white. I need to do some more finish work on this rocket for next season. The launch photo below is on an L-1500 three-grain 75mm motor. This flight went to 7829 feet AGL.

Here is my 3" scratch-built rocket call "Red Guard." I had a AMW K1000-SK Skidmark motor that I was dying to try. Since it gets dark early in October, and our waiver to 18k ft. AGL is open until 8PM, I figured this was the perfect time to burn the Skidmark! I wanted to test out the rocket before trying a night launch, so I flew it on a red motor. I also made a special night nosecone with sequencing LEDs, Xenon strobes and noise makers, so it would be easy to find. Below are pictures of the daytime launch on a red K900 motor.

Then, the next evening, I launched Red Guard again with it's night nosecone on a K1000-SK. Rob Lamb decided to join me, flying his new 3" rocket on a Skidmark too. Dueling Skidmark Drag Race at 7PM....plenty dark. Below is a 10-second exposure taken by Rick Clapp. My rocket is on the left, flying straight. Rob's had a glow-stick taped to the side so I suspect that is why his rocket didn't go straight.

My buddy Mike Moore was able to catch this on video. Below is a Windows Media Player video of the launch. Sorry for the PG rated word at the end (Holy S**t!) - but it pretty much sums up the flights - these motors are loud and, at night, very bright. Rob's rocket left the pad first because he used a big thermite igniter. The noise from the launch surprised Mike and and the camera jumps. You are able to see my rocket fly straight up through the spark-trail of Rob's. This was a super way to close out our flying season.

Here is my #3 Pencil flying on a 5G75 M-1100 FSG - flight to 23k AGL

And my Comp-5 flying on a 5G98 M-3000 FBHP - Flight to about 22k AGL.

And last of all, here is my new night saucer - named "Nocturnal Emission"

It flies on 75mm L's and M's....sparkies are way cool....see it fly on a 2G75 K-900 Sparky below:

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