July 29, 2004
Oh man, where do I start? I remember building(and test firing in
the basement(!)) a Centuri Screaming Eagle. But, I don't remember
actually *flying* one until after we moved in 1977. I may have
been 15 at the time. That launch included the aforementioned
Screaming Eagle, plus a Saros and an Alpha. Would you believe all
three disappeared? I don't know if we just lost track of them, or
if they simply drifted too far for us to retrieve. Then to put
the cap on the day, We discovered that someone had stolen my bike from
behind a friend's townhouse. Not fun.
Now some 25+ years later, I find myself a
BAR(born-again-rocketeer). I honestly don't know what made me get
back into it. I'd read the usenet rocket newsgroups a few times,
but always delayed. July 2004, I decided to get a couple of
rockets to launch with my fiancee's kids. I asked the group
members for ideas on suitable launch sites near Detroit. A few
people mentioned the Jackson
Model Rocketry Club, which just *happened* to have a launch coming
up that weekend(at Michigan International Speedway, no less).
Although we got there late, it was fun to see the larger rockets, and
also launch a couple of my own. I met some very nice and helpful
people, and got good insights on the hobby and where to buy kits and
supplies.
So now, I've started building a collection of various rockets. I
still had a few 20+ year-old kits that I never finished. I have a
Challenger, Neptune, Pegasus, and Ranger. The first three were in
various states of construction, but the Ranger is still in its original
bag. I've completed Challenger and Neptune.
I've since gone on a mini-shopping spree:
X-Ray(2)
|
Proteus
|
Icarus
|
Screamin' Mimi
|
Nemesis
|
Shuttle Express
|
Totally Tubular
|
Blue Ninja*
|
ATW
|
Mongoose*
|
Astro Sat*
|
Venus Probe(6)
|
Snitch*
|
Big Bertha*
|
Snapshot*
|
SR-71
|
Alpha III
|
Python4 |
Sky Writer*
|
Sport
|
|
*completed, or ready-to-fly kit.
The Alpha III, Big Bertha, and Blue Ninja flew at the July club
launch. A local launch saw the Alpha III, Snitch, Neptune, Astro
Sat, and Challenger take flight
My goal is to finish the Shuttle Express, Totally Tubular, Screamin'
Mimi, and the SR-71 before the August launch. I haven't decided
if I'm going, since it's a two hour drive each way. There's also
a launch in Toledo on the same weekend - that's only ONE hour each
way... We'll see.