The
first rocket launch of 2015 and as a bonus, January is also the
Christmas Tree launch which is the only way to properly disposed
of a used Christmas Tree. I eagerly packed up my rocket gear and
dragged a very reluctant Toni out of bed and over to Higgs farm
on Maryland’s Eastern Shore this oh so cold January morning. We
arrived at the field to blue skies, no wind, and a very frigid
28 degrees. The field was a frozen tundra but everyone knew that
it was a mud pit just six inches below the frosty soil. The club
made quick work setting up the field.
There were many rocketeers itching to fly. My own last flight
was October 2014. November and December weather was a bust with
pouring rains and high winds. This day was the perfect rocket
flying day despite the frigid temperatures. The field was extra
crowded. Of course the annual Christmas Tree launch drew some of
the crowds.
As usual, I let other flyers test the upper winds before I was
satisfied. I prepared
Shaken, Not Stirred with
the usual H120 Red for propulsion.
Shaken, Not Stirred’s
last recovery in October was less than perfect due to the
altimeter never detecting liftoff. I gave the altimeter the once
over but could not find anything wrong with it. I was nervous at
the conclusion of the countdown when
Shaken, Not Stirred
leapt to the skies on its red plume.
Shaken, Not Stirred
arced over at 1,360 feet and it appeared that the altimeter
fired it charge and successfully deployed the drogue.
Shaken,
Not Stirred danced over the spectator’s heads until,
with much relief, successfully deployed its main.
Shaken,
Not Stirred landed in the middle of spectator line
and straddled a camera man but caused no damaged to life and
limb or to the rocket. See
Shaken, Not Stirred’s
flight to the right.
Toni wanted to fly a rocket but had nothing prepared. Toni
teamed up with Bob, the president of MDRA, to fly Kathy’s rocket
Hot Flash. They worked hard together assembling
the Aerotech J415 motor. Bob and Toni installed
Hot Flash
on the pad. At the conclusion of the countdown, with high
anticipation, the button was pushed and nothing, just a fizzle.
Bob and Toni replaced the igniter and once again
Hot
Flash fizzled and failed to launch. Once again the
igniter was replaced and once again the motor fizzled.
Hot
Flash was removed from the pad and the motor
disassembled. The propellant was roughed up to remove the
oxidation, the motor reassembled, and
Hot Flash
was returned to the pad. The fourth attempt appeared to fail but
after what seem an eternity, there was a chuff of smoke and the
J415 motor soon came up to pressure and slowly lifted
Hot
Flash off the pad and into the air. See
Hot
Flash finally take to the skies on the right.
I filmed the various Christmas Tree launches and assisted other
flyers throughout the day. The weather forecast called for
heaving rains starting in the evening and going into Sunday so
we packed up the field in anticipation which was smart as Sunday
morning bore witness to the predicted heavy rains. We look
forward to February’s launch.
See
all the day's flights here. Until the next launch . . .