Kip Daugirdas flies at FAR

May 20, 2023
On this busy summer day, we had a flight of a 2-stage rocket by Kip Daugirdas, who famously flew an experimental 2-Stage rocket to space in 2022. This rocket "Mesos" bears the same impulse, with an O4500 lifting a M830 sustainer to a target altitude of 250,000ft.
With brutal efficiency, the rocket was prepared and the launched first thing in the morning. Our own Mike Brinker was especially enthused to be a part of this launch, and took care to manage the range and push the big red button. This sustainer achieved an apogee of 94,000ft, affected by coning during the burn. While the apogee wasn't as high as expected, that's rarely much of a concern at FAR. The rocket returned safely and, better yet, close enough to recover without too much hassle, for there was still more rocketry to be had that day.
From our brief interactions, I thought Kip was pretty cool, and I always enjoy meeting interesting and affable rocketeers at the launch site. Better yet if they bring rockets to fire, and even better yet if they bring their dogs.
‪@kdaugi‬

[@iamasiedu.5562]

Great work

[@GonzoDonzo]

Crazy. Great job

[@slevinshafel9395]

2:56 Just miss it.

[@jacksonboone8396]

How much G could a person handle? Could he upscale this a little & stick me on top with a parachute?

[@DerekHonkawa]

Would not recommend. Way too pointy, and your flailing would throw the rocket off course.