November was already here. The morning was blustery as I headed to Higgs Farm for the first launch at the winter field this season. This is the field that the big boys come to fly at. I arrived at the field that others already had previously set up and monitored the conditions. The skies were variably clear, the breezes were stiff, and the temps were cool. These conditions were not too bad other than the winds were carrying the rockets into the spectator area.

I patiently waited, and waited, and waited, as I did not want to drop my rocket on someone’s windshield. The winds were slowly shifting more to the southeast as the day went on. Finally, after an eternity of itching to fly, the winds shifted just enough for Shaken, Not Stirred to be taken to the pad.

Shaken, Not Stirred was prepped with an H225 for propulsion as one of the last launches of the day. At the end of the countdown, Shaken, Not Stirred majestically lifted off the pad with a slight arc into the wind to an altitude of 1,180 feet where the drogue chute was successfully deployed. Shaken, Not Stirred swayed under the drogue during its descent until the mains were successfully deployed at 300 feet. Shaken, Not Stirred came to rest not too far away considering the winds. Shaken, Not Stirred was my only flight of the weekend.

I returned to the field Sunday to continue to film other flights and assist flyers where I could. It was nice returning to Higgs Farm and I wish I had more time to prep larger rockets and take advantage of the large recovery area, but alas, that has not been the case this year. We close the field out with assistance from other flyers and toasted our return to Higgs before heading to the western shore. For some reason I had turkey on my mind as I made my journey home. Until the next launch . . .