Red
Glare 18 was upon us. It is hard to believe that this was the
18th Red Glare rocketry event. Toni and I headed to Higgs Farm a
day early to help setup the field. There were many volunteers
and field setup was quick and easy. We completed field setup
just as the rains came so we headed to the hotel in Easton to
dry off and prepared for a nice dinner. We enjoyed dinner and
drinks with fellow MDRA BoD members at a restaurant called the
Barn in Easton. We hit the sack early as Red Glare Friday would
be busy.
True to form, many flyers arrived early to register and get the
rocketry projects into the air. The weather was cold, windy,
with the threat of rain all day. Shaken, Not Stirred stood at
the ready until the afternoon where the winds calmed down
slightly.
Shaken, Not Stirred was taken to the pad with its
customary H motor that fans have come to expect.
Shaken,
Not Stirred launch straight as if on a wire in the
gusty winds before arcing over at 1,326 feet where the drogue
was successfully deployed. The force of the apogee ejection
caused the nose cone to dislodge but the main parachute was
tightly packed so no risk of premature main deployment was
possible. As if on que, the mains successfully deployed at 300
feet.
Shaken, Not Stirred came to rest in the
tall winter wheat. The continued breeze refused to let go of the
main parachute which made locating
Shaken, Not Stirred
easy in the high grasses.
Red Glare Friday soon came to an end with increasing clouds and
threats of rain. Toni and I made our way to the hotel to clean
up before our dinner at Hunter’s Tavern in historic Easton. The
dinner was most excellent and the wine complex. Historic Easton
is a beautiful town and we walked the streets until 11:00 PM
before returning to the hotel.
We awoke to pouring rains Saturday morning so we leisurely took
our time at breakfast before arriving at the field, where it was
windy and raining. We managed to launch 6 rockets in between the
rain drops before the weather deteriorated. It rain, poured,
snow showered, blizzard, sleeted, hailed, and then the process
repeated itself. We returned to the hotel and cleaned up in time
to enjoy the Red Glare 18 banquet at the hotel where the food
was good and the drinks plentiful.
Sunday brought contrasting weather as the skies were blue, the
temps warm, and the winds not as strong. We arrived at the field
early so Toni could get
Sally Ride into the air
as Sunday was expected to be a busy day.
Sally Ride
was on the pad for the second round of the morning.
Sally
Ride took to the skies on her J425 motor to about
1,600 feet before arcing over and deploying the drogue.
Sally
Ride quickly descended on the small drogue but the
mains never deployed.
Sally Ride hit the ground
hard and barely missed a parked vehicle by mere inches. Post
mortem inspection revealed that the altimeter never detected
liftoff. The drogue was ejected at apogee due to motor ejection
backup charge. We soon realized the
Sally Ride’s
last flight was at Red Glare 17 where she splashed down in the
creek and was completely submerged in water. The water must have
corroded something in the altimeter. We were lucky. There were
no property damage,
Sally Ride was not damaged,
and more importantly, no one was hurt.
Sally Ride
will get a new altimeter and fly again.
We filmed other flights and assisted where we could until the
setting sun forced us to close the last launch at Higgs Farm
this flying season. We packed all the equipment for the season
and enjoyed a toast to a good day.
See
more Red Glare 18 flights here. Next month MDRA moves to
their summer flying season at the Centreville Sod farm. Toni and
I arrived home exhausted but satisfied. Until the next launch .
. .