The Bayourat Rocketry Page

Whitney A. Richard II
AKA: The Bayourat
Club Member of: Tripoli TRA-LA / NAR SoLaR

Greetings from bayou country,

I live here in South Louisiana. I fly rockets with Tripoli Louisiana and South Louisiana Rocketry. I have been building and flying rockets for 33 years off and on. I still remember the day my Dad came home with an Estes catalog in 1973. I was into plastic models at the time and I remember the first words out of my mouth were. "Do these models really fly?" Well next step was the purchase of the "Deluxe Starter Set" and the building of my first rocket the Estes Astron Alpha. I'll never forget the feeling I had as the Alpha left the pad for the first time. I still get the same chill to this day. I built a 4x upscale of that same rocket in honor of my 30 years in rocketry. I discovered APCP motors in the mid eighties. I dabbled in mid-power but went back to low power when the hobby shop closed. Then in 2002 I discovered High Power. But I still like to build and fly rockets in the low and mid ranges. Here are some of my memories and accomplishments over the years.

While on vacation in Colorado I got to tour Estes Rockets and meet Vern Estes. I got to push the button on a demo flight there. This was in 1977. When I got home from vacation I think I built almost every rocket in the catalog.

Flying my first APCP motor. In 1987 the local hobby shop started carrying Aerotech motors and LOC kits. I saved up and bought a LOC Graduator and some F and G motors. I was surprised at the power the new motors had. Then one day I lost the rocket to a G motor flight. Then the hobby shop that was carrying LOC and AT went out of business and I was back to low power.

I found LOC and Aerotech again while searching the internet in 2001. Shortly after I found NAR/SoLaR and Triploi/TRA-LA. I got my Level 1 in Oct. 2002. at a TRA-LA "High Cotton" launch.

I was elected Secretary of both SoLaR and TRA-LA in 2003. I work hard to promote both clubs through the internet and print as well as handling normal club business duties.

I got a 100 on my L2 test and successfully flew L2 in February of 2004.

I attended LDRS25 in 2006 and successfully flew my Level 3 flight to an altitude of 12,400' my highest flight to date.

I'm looking forward to many more good times. I hope to see you at a launch soon.

My High Power Fleet Currently Flying

"Max Attack" Performance Rocketry Competitor 5
Log: M1882 L3 Flight , M900, M1200

"Research One" Scratch Built 4"
Log: J350, J350, I284, K555, K550, J350, J350, K555, K550, K800, J350

"Astron Alpha 4x" A 4x upscale of the first rocket I built when I was 12 years old.
Log: I200, I357, I218, I200, I200, I200, I200, I200, I211

"Bones" 54mm min. dia.
Log: I364, K185, K550, J500, K185, I435

"Coral Snake" Modified Perf. Roc. "Little Dog"
Log: G61, H128, G69, I161, G339, H250, H220, H180, G79, G69, I245, H128

My Retired, Lost, or Destroyed Rockets

"Ultimate 4x29SS" 4x29mm cluster rocket. Airstart Timer and Dual Deployment Controller.
Ground Start Log: 2xH180, 2xH180
Air Start Log: 2xG79, 2xG79
No Deployment, Lawn Dart, Total Loss

"Extended LOC Aura"
Log: Many E, F and G flights.
Two MACH busting flights on Aerotech H125 single use motors
(Check out the video)

"Back in Black" 54mm Min. Dia. High Performance
Shredded on maiden flight at MECO and Mach1.5
Log: K1100
(Check out the video)

"After Burner" Scratch Built 4". This was my L2 rocket.
Log: J285, J285, J285, K550, I357, I161 Hit pavement and busted the fin can. Scrapped for parts

"LOC Graduator" This was my L1 Rocket
Log: (To many to list) H128 L1 Flight (Retired after many mishaps and rebuilds.)