NEFAR’s June 2015 Launch

Above is a video I made of NEFAR’s June launch using footage captured from my quadcopter combined with still photos taken by myself, Bracha Smith, and Thea Mathen.

June NEFAR Launch

A collection of the still photos that Bracha and I took of the launch is in the RocketReviews.com Photo Album.

 

Still Quadcopter Shots of the April NEFAR Launch

Here is a gallery of still images from April’s NEFAR launch.

ROCK’s June 2014 Launch

More than 75 flyers attended ROCK’s June 2014 launch!

ROCK's June 2014 Launch

Here’s a video I made of the launch:

View additional photos of the launch in the June 2014 ROCK Launch Photo Album at RocketReviews.com.

 

Photos from the April ROCK Launch

I flew my quadcopter at the April, 2014, ROCK launch capturing aerial photos of the event.  Visit the April ROCK Launch photo album at RocketReviews.com to view the collection of photographs.

ROCK Launch

 

Video and Photos of the December 2013 ROCK Launch

I’ve uploaded photographs from the December, 2013, ROCK launch to RocketReviews.com:

December 2013 ROCK Launch Photos

I was having a problem with my left eye and found it difficult to take still photographs, so I let Bracha use the DSLR.

In the mean time, I took stills and video with a DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter.  I used the video from the helicopter to produce the following video.

December 2013 ROCK Launch

ROCK’s August Launch

After the scrub in July, we were anxious to get back to launching rockets. We had a pretty good turnout in spite of the heat and thunderstorms in the forecast.

Carl's Atlas V New HorizonPlease visit the August ROCK Launch Photo Album at RocketReviews.com to see the rest of my photos from the launch.

NEFAR’s July Launch Photos

With the forecast calling for thunderstorms, I was reluctant to make the 1 1/2 trip to Bunnell for NEFAR’s July rocket launch. But, Saturday morning, I checked the weather radar and current conditions for the area and it looked okay.  So, Bracha and I, Chris of Odd’l Rockets, our friend David, Dave’s brother Larry, Dave’s granddaughter Cassidy, and Oscar the wonder dog all piled into our mini-van for the trek to the Clegg sod farm for the launch.  We were rewarded with a great day for flying rockets!

Chris, Cassidy, and David

Cassidy helped get things started by flying her Popcorn rocket on a B6-4 motor.

image-cassidys-popcorn-on-b6-4-600-600-072913182714765

The soggy and wet field, provided a good environment for sparky motors.  Gary’s two-stage Quantum Leap flew on an I297 staged to a G64, but the second-stage motor failed to ignite.  The onboard electronics, however, deployed the parachutes and returned the booster and sustainer safely to earth.

Gary's Quantum LeapMike Birnbaum’s Titan turned in a picture-perfect flight on three E9 motors.

Mike's Titan on Three E9s

Besides handing the LCO/RSO duties most of the day, Steve Ghioto flew his Big Red saucer on an I175.  The flight didn’t go exactly as planned.

Steve's Big Red

Steve's Big Red Steve's Big Red

The trailer is fine and I think Steve’s saucer will fly again.

The other Steve, Steve Pollack, flew his Maxi Orbital Transport on a K630 for another crowd-pleasing flight.

Steve's Maxi Orbital TransportHeather Martin’s “Into Darkness” appeared to lose parts of its H110 motor on the way up.

OopsDouble OopsI didn’t get any photos of it, but … we also witnessed a flight where the motor apparently traveled through a rocket and out onto its own.  The motor, by itself, flew stable for a few seconds, shooting into the sky, then, as tracking smoke poured out, it started to corkscrew before it finally began tumbling back to earth.

You can view all of my photos from the NEFAR launch in the Photo Album at RocketReviews.com:

http://www.rocketreviews.com/july-2013-launch.html

ROCK’s March Launch

High winds threatened to spoil an otherwise perfect day for rocket launching.

But, we monitored the wind speed and launched during the pauses between the gusts.

Tom tested the winds by flying his Lawn Dart.  It landed not too far from the launch pads.  Then Tom flew his latest creation, No Stack.

Tom’s cardboard creation performed a few aerobatic loops after leaving the launch rod.  

Between the gusts of wind, Carl Campbell snuck a few launches of prototypes for upcoming scale kits from DFR Tech.

We were once again visited by an eagle which accompanied a flock of turkey buzzards circling over our launch site for a few minutes.

Ton Tweit launched his FlisKit’s Nell twice. The first time, the igniter leads caught on the bottom of the rocket and it barely left the launch rod.  The second time, it flew well on a B motor.

When I first saw the new little plastic Coke bottles, my first thought was … that would make a neat rocket.  Someone else had the same idea, but actually did it.

Tom T’s Pink Crayon was not the last launch of the day, but Bracha, Oscar, and I had to leave a little early, so it’s the last launch we saw.

You can view the rest of my photos of the March ROCK Launch in the RocketReviews.com Photo Album.

ROCK’s February Launch

A clear blue sky and cool temperatures with light wind provided an excellent day for rocketry as ROCK held its February launch.

 

My photos from the launch are available for viewing in the RocketReviews.com Photo Album at http://www.rocketreviews.com/february-2013-launch.html.

Video from the December, 2012, ROCK Launch

ROCK held its December launch last Saturday. It was a little windy in the morning, but the wind died down in the afternoon. In spit of a modest turn-out, we had a lot of fun.

I put together the following video of the launch. It features high-speed (slow-motion) video of the launches.

You can view the still photos I took of the launch in the ROCK Launch Photo Album at RocketReviews.com.