February 28, 1997 - Launch Report
We all jammed into the Aerostar and went to the launch field. As well as my wife Teresa and myself, we had a whole horde of kids in there. Our four kids and an extra body that belonged to a friend of my son's.
Only the Supershot was ready at this point, our first-ever rocket. Setting up the pad was easy. We decided to angle the rod about 5 deg into the breeze. Prepped the Supershot with wadding and parachute. Stuck with the suggested first-flight motor of an A8-3. Kept the launch key in my hand while putting the SuperShot on the pad.
My son Kyle says, "Dad, can I push the button?"
"Yeah, okay."
I didn't want to say that. But it was HIS rocket set. I hand the controller
to him and herd the others away. "Okay kids, stand behind me."
I want an unobstructed view! Teresa has the camcorder going for the six-o-clock news. =:->
Kyle doesn't want to do the countdown but I make him, it's in the rules. "5-4-3-2-1" ... whoosh!
Yahooo! A streak of white smoke and then the parachute popped. Cool!
Uh-oh, a stampede is occurring toward the apparent landing zone.
"Don't try to catch it!
Slow down!
Hey!
STOP!"
Finally got
their attention and likely averted a trampling. Kyle and Gary got the
rocket from the grass and bring it back.
Can we do it again? Can we do it again? Oh, that was my voice...
Teresa is checking the video, mumbling something about "it just disappeared".
The report isn't good. She got the countdown, a ball of smoke, a lot of
panning across cloudy sky, then parachute and rocket about 2 seconds before
hitting the ground.
Now everyone wants to try again but the wind is picking up and the temperature is dropping as we stand. Okay, once more - but we're sticking in an A8-3 again.
The rocket is re-prepped with trembling fingers (excitement or cold?). I adjust the launchpad for a 10 deg tilt into the stronger breeze. Then I hand the key and controller to Gary, Kyle's friend. "Is everyone ready?"
"Yeah!"
My daughter Amanda has taken control of the video camera. She is sure she'll do a better job. Gary does the countdown. "5-4-3-2-1" ... whoosh again!
I think the launch angle was too much this time. The rocket headed upwind and didn't get as high. The chute deployed just fine and the rocket touched down about 50' upwind.
"So Amanda, did you get it?"
"Well... it just kinda disappeared!"