Rocket Launch

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It was Ken who spotted the Silverfish in the tree from a quarter mile away. If it weren't for him I would have been looking down into the corn and may have never found it.

This is the extendable pole used to recover rockets from the trees. It extends to about 30 feet and has a hook on the end. It weighs about 20 pounds.

After we recovered the Silverfish we walked back out to recover the Amazon, so we were gone for quite some time. When we got back things were winding down, so we packed up.

This explains why this rocket drifts so far. With an E20-7 it's 1000 feet high when the parachute ejects.

After the launch, there was lunch!

After the launch we stopped at "The Perk" in Perkasie (again) for some lunch. Here are Matt and his mom.

The rest of the crew - Andrea, Mike and Joe. Unfortunately, Jim and Heather live in the opposite direction and couldn't join us..

What have we learned this time?

Eight things!
(at least!)

1. When you have a parachute guy with a camera strapped to his back in
a rocket, he should be in his own container. That way he won't get
tangled up in your "improved" parachute assembly.

2. The camera on the back of the parachute guy should be fully charged.
It ran out of juice before the chutes elected, so it recorded a movie of
the inside of the rocket, basically just a black screen with some sound)

3. Pay closer attention to Jim's unconventional rockets. What is
this thing he launched? How does it work? Why does he only
launch high drag and unique designs?

4. I thought it would be a great idea to bring a dozen frosty cold Coca Cola's to the site. Andrea went
out and bought my exact reqest, twelve old style 8 oz. glass bottles of Coca Cola. We put
them in a cooler full of ice.

BAD IDEA!
The Cokes made us MORE thirsty and the caffeine made me sweat. DO NOT drink this stuff!

5. Der Red Max was popular. Three people took almost the exact same picture.

6. The line of trees at the end of the field is actually a small forest.

7. Jim Daddio has a hand like a plastic action figure. He also has "lifelike hair and beard".

8. When Matt realized he was out of A8-5s for the Alpha, Chrissy ordered a "Blast Off Flight Pack"
right from the cornfield. Unfortunately, the "Blast Off Flight Pack" doesn't come with any A8-5s.

You may have noticed there are no pictures of some of the nicer rockets lifting off.
For one reason or another some of my pictures didn't turn out, so thanks to Joe, Heather and Andrea for contributing theirs.

Check the PARA website for the date of the next launch.
http://www.para520.com