After the scrub in July, we were anxious to get back to launching rockets. We had a pretty good turnout in spite of the heat and thunderstorms in the forecast.
Please visit the August ROCK Launch Photo Album at RocketReviews.com to see the rest of my photos from the launch.
Weather is often a concern for rocket launches here in Central Florida during late Spring and Summer. High winds and afternoon thunderstorms are common. But, we were fortunate the past couple of weeks as the bad weather stayed away long enough for us to have successful launches.
ROCK’s rocket launch was held on June 1st. A little wind and a few sprinkles of rain interrupted us a few times, but we had a great time.
You can see more photos from the June 2013 ROCK launch in the RocketReviews.com Photo Album.
Chris and I saw black clouds during our drive to the June TTRA launch in Plant City. But, only a few drops of rain fell on us while we were there.
Chris flew his Quest Raptor, Big Girtha, and Dr. Zooch Titan IIIc.
The damp weather provided a safe environment for a couple of sparky motor flights.
Ken Siler flew a really nice upscale Big Bertha.
We never expected to see a Gnome (actually, The Gnome) flying on a G motor.
Just before we left, we witnessed an interesting motor failure.
You can view the rest of my photos from the TTRA June 2013 launch at RocketReviews.com.
I’ve uploaded my photos of the May, 2013, NEFAR launch to the Photo Album at http://www.rocketreviews.com/may-2013-launch.html.
Bunnell experienced an almost perfect day for flying rockets last Saturday and many rocketry fanatics took advantage of the nice weather at NEFAR’s March rocket launch.
Some cool scale models flew from the low-power pads.
Tom Tweit’s scale model of Rocket Goddard’s Nell turned in a terrific flight.
Out on the high-power pads, one rocket chuffed up the launch rod then stayed there as others were launched.
An Estes E9 provided some excitement when its nozzle failed. Fortunately, Fireman Steve and his can of Minute Maid soda were on hand to save the day.
Our Big Daddy Akavish also provided some undesired excitement. Bracha and I flew it on a CTI K490 motor.
The lift off went well, but a few seconds later, the rocket took a sudden turn. The altimeter deployed the parachute while the motor continued to burn. The rocket made a hard, tragic landing. Postmortem analysis showed a big hole in the side of the motor.
Additional photos from the launch can be viewed in the RocketReviews.com Photo Album.
High winds threatened to spoil an otherwise perfect day for rocket launching.
But, we monitored the wind speed and launched during the pauses between the gusts.
Tom tested the winds by flying his Lawn Dart. It landed not too far from the launch pads. Then Tom flew his latest creation, No Stack.
Tom’s cardboard creation performed a few aerobatic loops after leaving the launch rod.
Between the gusts of wind, Carl Campbell snuck a few launches of prototypes for upcoming scale kits from DFR Tech.
We were once again visited by an eagle which accompanied a flock of turkey buzzards circling over our launch site for a few minutes.
Ton Tweit launched his FlisKit’s Nell twice. The first time, the igniter leads caught on the bottom of the rocket and it barely left the launch rod. The second time, it flew well on a B motor.
When I first saw the new little plastic Coke bottles, my first thought was … that would make a neat rocket. Someone else had the same idea, but actually did it.
Tom T’s Pink Crayon was not the last launch of the day, but Bracha, Oscar, and I had to leave a little early, so it’s the last launch we saw.
You can view the rest of my photos of the March ROCK Launch in the RocketReviews.com Photo Album.
A clear blue sky and cool temperatures with light wind provided an excellent day for rocketry as ROCK held its February launch.
My photos from the launch are available for viewing in the RocketReviews.com Photo Album at http://www.rocketreviews.com/february-2013-launch.html.
The fog evaporated to reveal overcast skies as we arrived at the Varn farm for TTRA’s December launch.
But, it didn’t take long for the sky to clear. Maybe it’s because we started poking it with rockets!
Astron Mike launched a number of his amazing gliders.
Gary Dahlke flew one of his large, two-stage rockets.
We saw a couple of catos including Andy’s Tomahawk on an Estes E9.
Lift-off for this Tiny Pterodactyl on an Aerotech K500 looked good.
But, things went bad soon after.
We stayed later than we had planned because there was always just one more launch we wanted to see.
You can view many more of my photographs from the launch at http://www.rocketreviews.com/december-2012-launch-6696.html.
ROCK held its December launch last Saturday. It was a little windy in the morning, but the wind died down in the afternoon. In spit of a modest turn-out, we had a lot of fun.
I put together the following video of the launch. It features high-speed (slow-motion) video of the launches.
You can view the still photos I took of the launch in the ROCK Launch Photo Album at RocketReviews.com.
Last weekend, NEFAR hosted its annual two-day Bunnell Blast launch.
Rockets from small to large took to the air on Saturday.
And even a furry rocket flew … sort of …
Saturday’s launch lasted into the early evening allowing for spectacular dusk and night launches.
Gusty wind, unfortunately, provided a challenge for flyers on Sunday.
But, some large rockets still flew including one of Gary Dahlke’s two-stagers.
My YouBee, an upscale of the Odd’l Rockets Break Away, flew on an Aerotech K480W motor.
Robb Haskins flew his Cluster Thrust on a cluster of four motors.
Now, it’s time to start preparing for Bunnell Blast 2013!
To see more photos from the launch, please visit the NEFAR Bunnell Blast 2012 Photo Album at RocketReviews.com.
I’ve uploaded photos I took at the October, 2012, NEFAR launch to the RocketReviews.com Photo Album.
I’m still recovering from a broken toe, so I didn’t bring anything to fly. But, I enjoyed watching others launch their rockets.
Near the start of the launch, I changed a setting on my camera and forgot to change it back. So, many of the photos are grainy.
But, I did manage to capture some interesting shots including the above which shows a two-stage high-power rocket suffering a failure of the booster motor.
The second stage, unfortunately, ignited. It flew horizontally over us before plowing into the ground.
Pleae visit RocketReviews.com to see my entire collection of photos from the launch: