Jackson Model Rocket Club launch - August 14, 2004
Michigan International Speedway
5 - Emily's Fat Boy
6 - My Screaming Mimi. It didn't make nearly as much noise as I
expected, even on a D12-5
10 - flightline(l. to r.) Emily's Sport, unknown Snitch, Denny(can't
remember his last name) Baby Bertha, unknown Sky Writer, my Blue
Ninja. Someone loaded a Dart of some kind on pad #5 after this
shot was taken.
14 - My Ninja on its fateful flight. The shock cord broke, and
the booster fell, breaking off 3 of the 4 fins. The nose cone
drifted almost into the race track. This thing has flown twice,
and crashed both times.
15 - My Shuttle Express. It has two gliders that detach at
ejection. Both went into 'death dives', but they're just foam -
no damage.
16 - flightline(l. to r.) My MaxTrax and SnapShot(broke a fin on
landing), an Aerobee clone, Alpha, and Big Daddy
19 - An ill-fated cluster attempt. I can't remember how many
engines were in it(10+), but they didn't all fire. The thing went
into a few spirals and hit the ground. The ejection charges went
off as it was lying there
20 - the aftermath of #19. I was so surprised by what it did I
didn't think to snap a shot of all the smoke it created. I also
didn't think to get a shot of the
results up close(I saw it after it 'flew')
22 - Emily and I had Sky Writers side by side. The launch officer
suggested a drag race, but Emily said no. She had an A8-3, I had
a C6-5...<g>
23 - This is what that C6-5 got me. This shot is from where it
landed. Yep, a long way from the launch site.<g>
24 - My X-Factor(3 clustered B6-4) sits on the pad as Emily hooks up my
Totally Tubular. I chickened out on using C's for its first
flight - I admit it.
26 - my very first scratchbuilt takes to the sky.
27 - yes, it came down safely...
28-30 historic cars I saw on the way home. Presumably,
they're in town for the Dream Cruise down Woodward
31 - results of the cluster rocket launch. Singed tail feathers...
32 - the kids next to a Mercury Redstone. This rocket met an
untimely demise. The chute on the booster didn't open. It
fluttered down fairly softly, then went vertical maybe 50 feet from the
ground. It imbedded itself about 6 inches into the ground... :-(
33 - Don't know what(or who) this was. It was just cool seeing a
rocket taller than the owner.
All in all, a fun day. Emily, Ryan, and I launched 15
birds. I had a few firsts - first scratch built, first
cluster(X-Factor for both), first 2-stage rocket(Mongoose), first
'gimmick' flight(Shuttle Express). All of theirs came down
safely. I had 2 shock cords break(Blue Ninja and Mongoose).
The Ninja's fins can be re-glued and it *will* fly again. The
Mongoose, I'm afraid, has too much damage. Too bad, too - it was
a beautiful flight. I was happy to see it stage cleanly, then it
promptly soared through the clouds out of sight. Denny came up to
me 10 minutes later and told me he found it. It didn't
survive. Oh, the humanity!
