It is hard to believe that Red Glare 14 was already here. It seemed like yesterday that we attended our first Red Glare which was Red Glare 2. I returned from business at Philadelphia in time to pack another bag and throw Shaken, Not Stirred and Sally Ride into the Highlander. Toni and I left O’Dark thirty in the morning for Maryland’s Eastern Shore with no stops. We drove through one torrential downpour after another before arriving at the mud pits formerly known as Higgs Farm. It quickly became apparent that Red Glare Friday would become a bust after every rain cell east of the Mississippi made sure to pay us a visit and dump its precipitation upon our heads. Despite this, we set up the field and managed to get seven rockets into the air. Toni abandoned me for shopping at the outlet malls while I was left at the field absorbing rain, mud, and cold chills before wising up and leaving the field at five. A quick hot shower at the hotel revived me and a nice prime rib at Annie’s salvaged the evening. Red Glare Friday was disappointing.

We awoke early Saturday morning to sunny skies and mild temperatures. After a quick sausage and egg biscuit, we arrived at the very muddy field. The Highlander’s all-wheel drive strained in the mud amongst sounding alarms and flashing dash lights as we weaved around other buried vehicles before sliding into our spot along the flight line. We hoped the sun would dry the fields when it was time to leave as we did not relish spending the night.

Red Glare Saturday is the busiest day of Red Glare and Toni and I knew we would not get a chance to fly. Toni assisted at the registration desk while I assisted other flyers, managed the pads, and filmed some flights. The day was a contrast from the previous and despite the very muddy conditions, the racks were always full of rockets and the skies were always speckled with colorful parachutes. I stayed late at the field to close down while Toni headed to the hotel to get ready for the Red Glare Banquet.

I met up with Toni and we headed to the VFW behind the hotel for some cheap drinks, nice food, and the camaraderie of other rocketeers. We drank away the muddy memories of yesterday, focused on the great day today, and looked forward to an even better day tomorrow. It was a short stumble back to the hotel and we had no problems finding sleep.

Sunday morning brought the promised sunny skies. Toni and I left early to prepare our rockets and try to get a flight in before the crowds returned. We arrived at the field only to find that we were not the only ones with such a great idea. I prepared Shaken, Not Stirred with a CTI H225 White Thunder motor while Toni prepared Sally Ride with a CTI J425 Blue motor. Soon we had both our rockets on the first rack of the day.

Shaken, Not Stirred would be the first off the pad. I returned to my old method of preparing the apogee ejection as the new method was simply not working and was burning my drogue chutes. I hoped this would be a nice flight as the spectators began to arrive and were anxious to see a rocket take to the skies. Shaken, Not Stirred rumbled off the pad, arcing through the sun to an altitude of 1,499 feet and majestically deployed her drogue chute. Shaken, Not Stirred descended and deployed her main parachute in the sun. Shaken, Not Stirred floated nicely under her mains before coming to a rest just on the other side of the muddy drainage ditch. See Shaken, Not Stirred's beautiful flight here.

Toni’s Sally Ride was next to launch. Sally Ride is a larger, heavier rocket than Shaken, Not Stirred, but Sally Ride had a J425 for propulsion which would push her higher. At the end of the countdown, Sally Ride screamed off the pad on her blue plume to an altitude of 1,619 feet where she arced over and deployed her drogue. She waltzed during her decent before deploying her red, white, and blue patriotic parachute at 700 feet. Sally Ride came to a safe rest close to where she launched. See Sally Ride take to the skies here.

Toni and I clean our motors and then went about assisting where we could or filming other flights. Red Glare Sunday during spring is a bitter Red Glare as that marks the end of the flying season at Higgs Farm. We soon packed the equipment away and organized for the summer flying season at the Centreville Sod Farm. We enjoyed a beer in the setting sun while reflecting over the weekend’s events. We met everyone at Ledo’s on the way home to wish Nick a farewell as he is being re-deployed to Japan. Toni and I arrived safely home where we had no problems falling asleep. The next launch will be at the Centreville Sod Farm in May. Until the next launch . . .