The
summer flying season is here already. Ben and I selected a few
rockets and headed over to Maryland’s Eastern Shore for the
first summer launch of the year at the Centreville Sod Farm. We
killed some time at a local hardware store and relaxed around
Ewing Pond wishing we had brought some fishing tackle. The
launch does not start until noon on Saturdays due to the sod
farm being opened a half day for business so we had a little
time to squander.
We arrived at the sod farm around 11:00 AM and with the help
from fellow flyers made quick work setting up the field. The
skies were blue, the temperatures mild, and the breezes light.
Unfortunately, the direction of the breeze would carry rockets
into the nearby trees. As usual, I let the more impatient flyers
fly ahead of me so I could judge the upper winds.
Once satisfied, I prepared
Shaken, Not Stirred
and took it to the pads. Some quick adjustments to the launch
rail angle were made to ensure that
Shaken, Not Stirred
stayed clear of the trees.
Shaken, Not Stirred
popped off the pad at ignition and continued to 1,165 feet over
the spectator line before separating and deploying her drogue.
Shaken,
Not Stirred continued to descend to 300 feet where
the mains were successfully deployed. It looked like
Shaken,
Not Stirred was going to land into the crowd but the
rocket managed to touch down in the soft green sod just to the
other side and behind the spectator line. Click the video to the
left and enjoy another flight of
Shaken, Not Stirred.
Ben was next with his
Legend of Zelda.
Legend
of Zelda was damaged almost a year ago during a hard
landing. Ben has since repaired her and was itching to get
Legend
of Zelda back into the air. Ben chose a Loki I405
motor for propulsion and had
Legend of Zelda on
the pad with the launch rail adjusted to his liking.
Legend
of Zelda squirrelled off the pad during its ascent
and separated on queue at apogee.
Legend of Zelda
danced during it decent and ejected her mains at 700 feet. It
took another 100 feet for
Legend of Zelda’s mains
to fully deploy.
Legend of Zelda came to rest
over top of the large sod sprinkling system. Click the video to
the left and see
Legend of Zelda take to the
skies again.
JP was up next with his partially repaired and partially freshly
painted Redskins themed rockets named after
Sean Taylor.
JP chose to go low and slow and selected a G116 White for
propellant. The G116 accomplished what it needed and lifted
Sean
Taylor to about 600 feet where the rocket deployed
its main at apogee.
Sean Taylor came to rest
close by in the soft sod. Click the video to the left to see
Sean
Taylor fly.
Sean Taylor was our last flight of the day. We assisted other
flyers and filmed additional flights before it was time to shut
down the launch for the evening. We hung around the field in the
setting sun not wanting to give up the beautiful evening until
the increasing darkness signaled that it was time to go home. It
was a great day and we all went home without any repairs.
See
other ESL 191 flight videos here. Until the next launch .
. .