Toni
and I awoke early to return to the Maryland Eastern Shore to fly
some rockets. After a hearty breakfast at Holly’s we headed to
the sod farm. The late summer rains had revitalized the crops at
Higgs Farm thus delaying the harvest which allowed us to enjoy
one more rocket flying weekend at the Central Sod farm for the
year. The rocket eating soy beans of the sod farm had withered
and dried and was awaiting harvest. As such, we were not to step
foot into those nasty beans as any shake, rattle, or roll would
surely cause the cash crop of beans to drop from their stalks
and make them unable to be harvested. Instead of setting up in
the usual spot, we configured the field across the street from
the sod farm. The skies were blue, the temps cool, and the
breezes small. The field became crowded quickly.
Toni and I enjoyed half-smokes from the CATO café while
observing the upper winds with those flyers impatient enough to
fly early. Once satisfied, I prepared
Shaken, Not Stirred
for its 48th flight. A CTI H143 Smokey Sam was stuffed into the
aft end of
Shaken, Not Stirred and the rocket
taken to the pad.
Shaken, Not Stirred leapt from
the pad at the conclusion of the countdown and ascended to 1,408
feet before arcing over and separating. It descended rather
quickly with its underinflated drogue chute before deploying its
main parachute on queue at 400 feet and gently touching down in
the plowed section of the field.
See
Shaken, Not Stirred take to the skies again
here.
Shaken, Not Stirred was retrieved and closer
inspection revealed damage to the lower sustainer. Fatigue of 48
backup ejections had finally worn through the body tube causing
an almost complete crack and separating
Shaken, Not
Stirred into multiple pieces. After a short bout of
depression with tears and after some encouragement from fellow
rocketeers, it was decided that
Shaken, Not Stirred
will be repaired or rebuilt using tougher fiberglass tubing.
Preparations have already started in obtaining the materials.
Shaken, Not Stirred was our last flight of the
day. I filmed some other flights and we helped out where we
could. The temperature really started to drop in the setting sun
as we closed the field for the night. Toni and I headed home
after stopping at Panera’s for an easy dinner.
Sunday morning I made the solo trek to the sod farm as Toni had
other commitments. The winds were gusty and the temperatures
more balmy, with the continuing blue skies from Saturday. I
spent most of the day RSOing the many Civil Air Patrol flyers
that were attending for the day and filming some other flights.
In the waning afternoon sun we packed up the field one last time
for the sod farm and bid the field farewell until 2013. We
return to the Higgs Farm in November for Red Glare XIII and the
winter flying season. Red Glare XIII is scheduled for November
16-18, 2012 for those that are interested in seeing the return
of the big rocketry projects. And if it even needs mentioning,
the new James Bond movie
Skyfall
opens November 9, 2012, but we all knew that. Until next launch
. . .