JMRC launch at Gumbert field: MAN, the rocket gods were pissed off today.... So much hardware reduced to scrap. An E9 in an Estes CATO'd. A Level 3 attempt came in ballistic. A separated booster came in without a chute. The club 'project' didn't get off the ground. A camera rocket decided to reduce itself to its individual component pieces. We even had one get hung up on a power line. Somebody got it down, but I didn't see it so I don't know HOW. A couple rockets just went MISSING as well. One was lost across the road, and the owner never found it. I really hope that wasn't the one on the low hanging branch, because at least 3 of us saw it come down - it should have been easily reachable. I lost the booster to my Cosmic Cobra. Note to self: don't launch a bunch of rockets that seperate on the same rack. I had a 2-stager, as well as 2 helicopter/chute recovery birds. In other words, I had *6* separate pieces to look for at one time. Silly me didn't think about the difficulty of finding ALL the pieces. I only got 5 of 'em back... I find it hard to believe that *nobody* saw it, as many people as there were walking around. I have a suspicion that a couple of kids picked it up. Reason
- I launched a Mongoose near the end of the day, and lost track of it. Another flier pointed me in the general direction(over a hill), and I started walking towards it. When I got about halfway there, I saw a car that was leaving the launch brake, slow down, and keep going. I figured they'd seen the Mongoose, so I knew approx. where it was by where they braked. About 30 seconds later, the car came back, and STOPPED. When I saw this, I started running towards it. I got to the top of the little hill just as a couple of boys who had jumped out of the car picked up my rocket. They hadn't seen me because I was still behind the hill, and I think I surprised them by suddenly appearing. Them: "Oh...um, is this yours...?" Me(with a pissed-off look): Yes, it IS."
The kid handed it back to me, and they asked if it was my Cosmic Cobra, which had disappeared about an hour or more before. I don't remember seeing these kids before, and certainly hadn't told them the Cobra was missing... I related the story to the gentleman who told me where the Mongoose came down, and he had the same thought that I did - they thought they'd "found" a rocket, but I got there before they could get away. Pure speculation, but I think the kids found my Cosmic Cobra and kept it.
You know, if you feel the need to keep a rocket that you KNOW doesn't belong to you, you obviously need it more than I do. Let me know, and I'll give you the nose cone as well...
In the event that one of the more *responsible* people at the launch found it, either drop me an e-mail or give it to me at the warm weather launch...
Eldred p.s. I'll see if I have any good pictures to post...