February’s launch could not be attended due to my
granddaughter’s birth. Now that Aria is out of NICU and growing
like a weed, I was looking forward to get something into the
air. Toni joined me for Saturday as we made our way to Higgs
Farm this cold, breezy, and wet March day.
It did not take long to set up the field and soon rockets were
in the air. As normal, I let others fly before me until I was
satisfied with the upper winds. The scent of rain waffled across
the fields and flyers were anxious to get the projects into the
air.
Shaken, Not Stirred was quickly installed on the
pad and connected to the wrong igniter leads due to a cable
mislabeling issue. I thought it was connected to B3 but instead
it was connected to B2. As such, I was not prepared when Shaken,
Not Stirred leapt off the pad before I expected.
However, Shaken, Not Stirred still flew straight
and true on her H225 before arcing over at 1,342 feet and
deploying her drogue. Shaken, Not Stirred danced
during the descent while the LCO tried to figure out if he
pushed the wrong button. Shaken, Not Stirred came
to landing in the ever growing winter wheat without any damage.
See the partial flight to the right.
Shaken, Not Stirred was our only flight of the
day. Toni and I enjoyed a dinner at Rams Head on the return
journey. We crashed into a deep slumber once arriving home.
Sunday brought even worse weather. I arrived at the field to
help with the launch but the rains were coming fast over the
western horizon and we had a day’s launch crammed into a few
hours. By 01:00 PM the equipmented was packed and most flyers
smart enough were on their way home in the increasing rain. Some
of us started to dig the foundation for the concrete pad that
MDRA was building for storing the away cell trailers. I did my
best staying out of the way which was probably the biggest help
of all. The Bobcat made quick work with the foundation and by
03:00 PM the rest of us were on our journey to warmer and dryer
places.
Hopes were raised and heads bowed in prayer for better weather
for Red Glare 18 in April. Until the next launch . . .
