Toni and I were anxious to fly this September as
we had missed the August launch due to vacationing in the warm Gulf
Stream waters and comfortable beaches of the Outer Banks. We packed the
Highlander with some rockets and headed to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. We
crossed the Bay Bridge just ahead of the poor guy that had a flat tire
and stopped for a relaxing breakfast at Holly’s Restaurant. After some
piddling around at a hardware store and an antique shop, we headed to
the Central Sod Farm.
The weather was in the mid 70s, the skies were missing any hints of
clouds, and the breezes were light but variable. We quickly set up the
field as we were all anxious to take advantage of this Eastern Shore
weather. Two troops of Boy Scouts had also arrived to fly their
rocketry projects. Their energy and enthusiasm were seen and heard all
day and we all wondered if there was another future Wernher von Braun
among them.
I let some other flyers launch their rockets ahead of me so I could
judge the upper breezes. Once satisfied, I completed my preparations of
R2/V2 with
a Loki G80 as its power plant. The first attempt failed due to a faulty
igniter but the second attempt pushed
R2/V2 to an
apogee of about 800 feet where the main successfully deployed.
R2/V2 danced
under its yellow canopy until safely coming to a rest in the corn
stubble that was too close to the woods’ edge for my comfort.
Enjoy R2/V2’s 19th
flight here.
Next rocket readied for flight was
Shaken, Not Stirred.
The small video camera was taped to the side and the rocket installed
on the launch pad with a Loki H144 for power. The launch rail was
slightly angled into the wind as I did not want to risk the snagging
branches of the woods’ edge again. After the countdown,
Shaken, Not Stirred
ascended into the blue sky with the intended slight arc into the
breeze. Apogee was achieved at 1,224 feet where the drogue successfully
deployed. The main successfully deployed at a low 400 feet. While I was
filming I could not understand why I could not get the camera to zoom
out any further until
Shaken, Not Stirred’s
main parachute and nose cone whizzed by my head by mere inches.
Shaken, Not Stirred
had come to rest in the hard dirt right at my feet.
Enjoy
James Bond’s favorite drink and onboard video here. Notice that on
the onboard video that everyone was looking up for some reason.
I cleaned my engines and then Toni and I enjoyed our nice picnic lunch
under the cloudless blue skies. The breezes appeared to have settled
down so I grab my
Maxi
Alpha which had not seen the skies in a year. I struggle with
the Aerotech liner and ruined the first one. The second liner I had to
peal the first layer off so it would fit into the motor tube. It
quickly reminded me why I prefer Loki engines. The 24mm Aerotech E28-7T
motor was installed and
Maxi Alpha taken
to the pad. The E28 pushed
Maxi Alpha to
over 1,100 feet where the main parachute successfully deployed.
Maxi Alpha
descended and drifted, and drifted, and drifted some more, before
finally coming to a rest less then 50 feet from the tree line. This was
far too close for me but a long walk is not too bad when you can return
with your rocket in hand.
See the
upscale version of the rocket that sparked my rocketry interest back in
1972 here.
The day was quickly winding down as all good things do. The field talk
was about Red Glare IX scheduled for October 22-24, 2010. MDRA is
sponsoring “
MDRA Launch for Life, it
is all about the recovery” in
support of Maryland’s Susan Komen and breast cancer.
Get all the Red
Glare’s details here. We departed the Central Sod farm for the last
time this flying season. Next month we returned to Higgs Farm where we
will have to dust the big boys off and return them to the skies. Until
Red Glare IX . . .
