document first v0.2 test flight

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+[[!tag tags/rockets]]
+On Saturday, I joined [The Albuquerque Rocket Society](http://arsabq.org/)
+monthly launch in Rio Rancho, NM.  A friend, Mike, who lives in the area
+joined me for the launch.  While the morning started off clear and 
+calm, if a bit cold... the wind came up hard and we had to call it quits
+before lunch.  But before the wind "blew us away", I managed to get one 
+flight in.  And it was an absolutely perfect test of one of my brand-new 
+[TeleMetrum](http://altusmetrum.org/TeleMetrum) v0.2 boards!
+
+My cut-down Hawk Mountain "Raptor" kit, renamed "G-Spot" last October during
+my quest to 
+[exceed 50 g](http://www.gag.com/bdale/blog/posts/TeleMetrum_Progress.html) 
+acceleration, was loaded with [TeleMetrum](http://altusmetrum.org/TeleMetrum) 
+serial number 51... and launched on a [Cesaroni](http://pro38.com/) 
+229H255WT-14A motor.
+
+The ascent was beautiful!  I've put a few photos of the rocket leaving 
+the launch rail up [on flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bdale/4357476723/in/set-72157618450890674/).  
+However, despite a clear sky, we quickly lost sight of it!  I managed to spot 
+a bit of the smoke trail from the delay grain as the rocket approached 
+apogee, but that was it!  None of us at the launch saw anything after apogee!  
+
+After losing sight of the rocket, I turned my attention to my computer, 
+where we were receiving a solid telemetry stream.  It quickly
+became apparent that the rocket was descending normally under chute.  As it
+got closer to the ground, I started calling out elevation, azimuth, and 
+distance numbers, but still nobody could spot the rocket.  As expected, we 
+lost the RF link once the rocket reached the ground.
+
+As various folks on the flight line wished me luck finding my rocket, 
+I put the last reported GPS position into my hand-held receiver.  Staring at 
+the map display, Mike and I realized the rocket was far down range, near one 
+of the roads into the site.  We jumped into my vehicle and drove down the 
+road to the point closest to the rocket's reported position.  We then walked 
+to where the GPS receiver said the rocket should be...
+
+And found the rocket within about 20 feet!  That was well within the window of
+position uncertainty my hand-held GPS was reporting at the time.  Things just
+don't get much better than that!  We picked up the rocket, and returned to the
+flight line only a few minutes after leaving it.  After dumping the data from 
+the board's on-board memory, I quickly generated 
+[the usual plots](./gspot-ars.png).  The rocket reached 1881 meters apogee,
+or around 6173 feet, and the maximum acceleration was 19.5 g.  It touched 
+down nearly 1.3 miles down range from the launch rail, in a sage-brush
+desert.
+
+I honestly don't think I would have found the rocket without at least the
+radio beacon.  It was hugely gratifying that the GPS worked and let me walk 
+right up to the rocket!  I could not have asked for a better test of the
+new electronics!
+
+Later in the day, Keith flew 
+[a successful test](http://keithp.com/blogs/TeleMetrum_v0.2_testing/) 
+of serial number 52 at a launch in 
+[Wilsonville, Oregon](http://www.oregonrocketry.com/?page_id=208).
+
+We're very happy with these results!  Weather permitting, I hope to get more 
+test flights in next weekend at 
+[Hudson Ranch](http://www.scronline.net/html/flying_site.html).  Stay tuned!
+

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