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The Jarosch Cup - Cheese Lofting event
Eat Cheese or Fly, (or, as John calls it, "Eat Cheese AND Fly"), is always a high point in the flying season. There are several recurring events to add to the festivities. The first is cheese lofting. For several years, we've lofted Gouda on G motors (duration), which led to potentially long recovery time commitments. in 2011, we switched to Edam cheese on E motors, to encourage MAXIMUM participation while keeping it fun, challenging yet not overly difficult, and to level the playing field for all rocketeers, whatever their certification level might be. So, here it is...

General guidelines for Jarosch Cup events

1. The Jarosch Cup is a traveling trophy, in honor and remembrance of Fred Jarosch, beloved long-time WOOSH member and avid rocketeer.
2. A rocketry contest will be held annually at the WOOSH Eat Cheese or Fly launch in August, to determine who will hold the Jarosch Cup for the following year.
3. The holder of the Cup shall be responsible for planning and hosting the contest for the following year.

The ECOF 2012 Jarosch Cup - Edam spot duration

1. In keeping with the fine Wisconsin tradition, recently adopted by Space-X, the Jarosch Cup competition, as well as ECOF in general, will remain a cheese-centric event.
2. Motors used in the 2012 Edam spot duration are limited to a maximum of 24mm diameter.
(a) larger motor mounts may be adapted down use to 24mm diameter motors.
(b) 24mm motor mounts may be further adapted down to allow the use of 18mm, 13mm or Micro Maxx motors, at the option of the flyer.
3. Rockets entered in 2012 Edam spot duration will only be flown on currently certified motors, with a maximum installed impulse of "E" motor or equivalent. (40 N-s).
(a) Flyers utilizing reloadable 24mm motors must assemble their motor on site, in the presence of a neutral adult from opening the sealed reload container until the rocket has been presented to the RSO, and must bring reload kit documentation to the RSO, to verify use of "E" motor reload.
4. There can be one rocket entered per registered flyer, and one qualifying flight per rocket. The qualifying flight will be identified in advance of said flight.
(a) Since there are no launch fees for "E" motors and below, all flyers can register individually. Family members may each make an independent / individual entry.
5. Recovery of rockets will be by streamer. A flag will be placed in the soft grass near the runway, with a 50ft circle flagged out around it.. Scoring will be by timed duration, with a spot landing bonus as follows... Three rockets, landing closest to the flag and within the flagged circle will get a time bonus. Rockets outside of the circle will not qualify for the bonus. The time bonus will be equal to 30%, 20%, and 10% of their duration time, respectively. This will be of some help to a very accurate but short flight, and much more help to an accurate, longer flight. It is up to the flyer to determine how he (she) will prioritize accuracy vs time aloft. (Think of it like shuffleboard... a well-placed flight can be used strategically.) This also avoids the apples to oranges comparison of points from the use of different scales, i.e. feet (distance from spot) and seconds (time aloft), and avoids judging official(s) spending the entire weekend trudging through miles of field to pace off each and every wayward rocket.
6. Flyer will be given a small sample of Edam cheese to fly in or attached to his (her) rocket. NOTE - While Gouda was the obvious choice for "G" powered boosters, in 2011 we will be using "E" motors and Edam cheese. John will personally smuggle sufficient quantities of this product in from Holland.
7. Duration timing will be from initial vertical movement at launch until the FIRST portion of the rocket touches ground, tree, automobile, etc.
NOTE - this is a change from "G" gouda duration, where the Gouda capsule was the only section of the rocket that was timed. The Edam capsule is still allowed to separate from the main rocket, but the grounding of either section will stop the time.
The cheese section, for those rockets that separate (intentionally or otherwise), will be the section measured for spot accuracy, regardless of which section was used for duration timing. Linear measurement will be made from the portion of the appropriate (cheese) section (rocket or streamer) closest to the flag. The entire rocket and the cheeses must be recovered and presented for scoring to qualify.
8. CHAD or any other form of multiple staging is allowed, at the option of the flyer. Bear in mind that this may impose a limitation due to the separation timing penalty in rule 7.
9. NAR Safety Code will be followed at all times. Flyer must be certified to the level of motor flown.
NOTE - Given the possibility that Jeroen at CTI comes up with an E90-Vmax (and I wouldn't put it past him), that would technically be a high power motor under NFPA 1127 para 3.3.15.1 (average thrust in excess of 80N.)
Added Note - when I originally wrote that rule, I was actually being a little tongue in cheek. CTI did then certify the E75, which I like to think was in direct response to my suggestion. )

In the fun column, I would like to add my thanks to Jeff Z. for developing the original "G" Gouda duration event, which we have used now for the last 4 ECOF's. This has been a great event at ECOF, open to all rocketeers and with simple rules to keep it fun. In the design of the trophy, he also had the foresight to allow for the event to change from year to year, as sometimes changing the novelty factor can renew interest. Next time you see Jeff (and we hope it is soon), give him a pat on the back and a heartfelt thanks for all of his ground work in this important and enduringly fun contest.

Cheers. Sather