June 2, 2002
Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and Rocketeers
(And That Crazy Italian Chick with the Digital Camera...)
Yes, we were crazy enough to have a rocket launch when it was 95° degrees out.
Here James sets up the launch pad on the back of the truck.
The horses, on the other hand, were smart enough to stay in the shade. :-)
The AIM 4D Falcon launches!
An Estes "Skywriter."
No, you're not crazy. It does look like a No. 2 pencil!
James found a plan for a "Golden Snitch" rocket in Sport Rocketry.
These are made from the round half of a plastic easter egg; the fins are paper.
It's an ideal first rocket--doesn't go too high and floats down close to home.
James tried something called "a St. Louis arch" with his Big Bertha.
You fasten a crepe paper streamer to a rocket fin and allow it to launch...
...and the crepe streamer unreels. As the rocket falls to earth, it forms an arch.
On the third arch, James didn't want to risk Big Bertha (it's autographed by Homer Hickam) again.
We put the streamer on the Ghostbuster, which now resides in a tree.
We did a couple of "rocket drag races." Here the Heat Seeker beats the Skywriter off the pad.
Here's Bill and his son Christian setting up a rocket.
Bill's favorite rocket is his Super Big Bertha. She has a nice launch here.
Then Bertha's luck changed...once her engine misfired...
On her last launch her chute didn't open and she came down at least 800 feet head first.
Retrieval team (Christian's buddy David, Christian, Bill)--and the rocket!--look a bit down.
But you can't beat Bill--he always keeps his...uh...chin up!
Emily, Gussie, and Yellow return to the pasture--"It's about time!!"
Many thanks to David and Xander for rocket retrieval!!!