Photos from the April ROCK Launch

I flew my quadcopter at the April, 2014, ROCK launch capturing aerial photos of the event.  Visit the April ROCK Launch photo album at RocketReviews.com to view the collection of photographs.

ROCK Launch

 

Video and Photos of the December 2013 ROCK Launch

I’ve uploaded photographs from the December, 2013, ROCK launch to RocketReviews.com:

December 2013 ROCK Launch Photos

I was having a problem with my left eye and found it difficult to take still photographs, so I let Bracha use the DSLR.

In the mean time, I took stills and video with a DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter.  I used the video from the helicopter to produce the following video.

December 2013 ROCK Launch

ROCK’s August Launch

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.

Carl's Atlas V New HorizonPlease visit the August ROCK Launch Photo Album at RocketReviews.com to see the rest of my photos from the launch.

June Rocket Launches: ROCK and TTRA

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.

ROCK’s March Launch

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.

ROCK’s February Launch

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.

Slow-Motion Video from the February ROCK Launch

Featuring “The Dude”:

I’ll post still photos from the launch soon.

Video from the December, 2012, ROCK Launch

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.

Photos from ROCK’s November Launch

For the first time in a while, it was not too hot, too windy, or too cloudy on the first Saturday of November as ROCK held its monthly model rocket launch.

Chris Michielssen flew his well-crafted Estes V-2.  Unfortunately, the scale model ended up in the top of a tree, far out of reach for recovery.

A FlisKits Tres turned in a great flight on a cluster of three canted motors.

Tom’s vintage Nighthawk flew a couple of times. During the first flight, the booster tangled with the glider. But, the second flight was perfect with the rocket transitioning cleanly to the glide phase.

 

We had a good turnout with lots of kids participating.

Please visit the November, 2012, ROCK Launch photo album at RocketReviews.com to see the rest of my photos of the launch.

 

 

 

 

ROCK’s June 2012 Launch

After a couple of scrubbed launches due to dry weather, ROCK returned to fill the skies with rockets in June.

Flyers were anxious to turn in their flight cards and take their rockets to the launch pads.

One of the first rockets to fly carried a passenger – a single Love Bug.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one fly solo before. I don’t think I’ve seen one do anything solo before.

In spite of the very hot weather, we had a number of people show up to fly a variety of rockets including some cluster-powered birds.

Some odd-rocs also flew including an homage to my favorite sandwich, the Fluffernutter!

Tom Tweit, who I met at the Maker Faire, showed up and launched one of his crayon rockets.

One of the rockets landed inside our JonRocket.com trailer.  I gave the owner a good deal when I sold it back to him.

As the skies grew a little more cloudy, Tom Tweit launched his Bull Pup.

Additional photos of the June ROCK launch are in the June 2012 ROCK Launch Photo Album at RocketReviews.com.