Hi all,
A nippy and windy day today, but I was quite happy. I was first on the site this morning and I parked up by the shed. Whilst waiting for the others to come I had a little walk down the track. I only had gone 10m when I spotted something in the verge, it was yellow and covered in muck and grass. I looked closer and recognised it as a chute. I looked more closely and saw a busted nosecone, but what made me shout for joy was that there was a home made beeper attached to the shroud lines. Mine!!. I could not believe it, it was my chute that I lost several months ago in another field, yet it was here and now it was mine again.
So this cheered me up and took some of the nip out of the air. Anyway, the day started off quick with Mark doing the RSO'ing. Several flights went up and I was waling and talking most people. I eventually got around to letting off one of my Coffee Cup's on a C5-3 (recovery intact!) followed my my D powered Estes Prowler which recovered OK seeing that the shroud line on the chute burnt through and separated from the shock cord. Finally I put MinDy up on a D12-5 and she also failed to deploy her chute and tumble OK into the next field (thanks to Paul for finding her!!)
I then spent an hour walking Buster around or was it Buster taking me for a walk?
Afterward I sat in our club caravan with Alan having a good chat about rocketry and the future whilst drinking coffee.
It was about 3 o'clock my now and people started to disappear with myself leaving around 4:15pm. I had a good day, it started out good and ending just as well.
I would like to thank Pete Davy (Pete's Rockets) and our club sponsor Congreve Rockets for attending.
Sean.
Wow - What a great day. I haven't been to a flying session in over a year and it was great to see all
my old friends and to make some new ones.
I took my pet for his morning walk after Breakfast and then sat in the back of the car and supervised
while he loaded all the club stuff. Then we were off, I got 40 minutes sleep while he drove over to the
Farm (Those motorways are so boring). Anyway we arrived at the farm and said Hello and I decided
that the pet needed another walk after his drive. After our walk the flying started and I took up my
job as Assistant Range Safety Officer in support of my pet who was the RSO for the day. So what
were my duties, well that's easy at zero in the count I start to bark. That way everyone knows a
rocket has been launched and is in the air - great fun.
I took a couple of breaks. One to give Sean Arrowsmith a good walk and the same for the Carter
children. It was good to see so many of the pets friends at the farm including George Rogozinski
and David Turner the last time I saw those guys I was with both of my pets in a Hotel bar in Lincs.
(However much I asked nobody would give me any sherry, very unfair they all had beer etc and all I
got was water and peanuts). Well there were plenty of flights. I particularly liked Paul Lavin's flying
loo although its ballistic recovery wasn't to impressive. Ian Fowlers Sumo failed to get off the pad
the first time and it was second time not so lucky as although it had a great flight it to had recovery
problems. Sumo landed in a pond but floated and was soon rescued with no damage. There were
quite a few little cone rockets flown. Last time I was at a launch there wasn't a single one, my pet
tells me that they have become very popular recently.
Anyway I supervised the range tear down and sat in the car while the site owner was paid and then
had another nap while the pet drove home. We unpacked the car and went for our evening walk. A
great end to our day.
Buster Perman - Rocket Retriever
Buster seems to have done my job for me so just a final thank you Congreve Rockets, Pete's
Rockets, Alan Meredith for refreshments and Tracy Fowler for collecting the flying fees. See you in
November!
Mark Perman
