Baildon Moor, 21st May 2000

This launch was arranged on the Monday after the previous Sunday ( if you see what I mean), when the weather was perfect for flying. Of course a week is a long time in weather forecasting, and it was fairly grim, and we didn't expect much. We had a reduced turnout from the last launch. Well, the weather wasn't so good, so what did we expect? James & Joshua joined darren And Shaun, Mike was there, so were Pete & Angela. Tony & Richard came too, and they brought someone with them, who's name I didn't catch, but we can't have put them off too much on the last launch ( their first) in April. Brian came too, but in spectating mode only. In the end the weather held off, with only a few spots of rain, even though we could see heavy rain in the distance, it never really came close. A side effect of the colder weather, was the appearance of some amusing hats :-) We also had a preview of Angela's Patri-not, and Pete's Mini-Mag, both due to fly at UKRA2000. Hopefully Pete will have sanded the rust off by then.

Mike launched...

• ThunderBird 3: C6-3
• Mars Snooper: B6-4
• Shuttle-cock: A8-3
• Airborne Survailance Missile: D12-5, a 'two point six ex' upscale
• The upper stage of a two stage something: A8-3
• Quest Interceptor: B4-4

Left to right:
• Mike's two point six ex airborne surveilance missile, for the hard of arithmetic, that's 2.6 times bigger than usual
• Here it is again at lift off

Left to right:
• Mars Snooper on the pad...
• ...in the air...
• ...and under the chute

Richard & Tony launched...

• Modified Dagger: C5-3
• Fat Boy: C5-3
• Sidewinder: C6-3, first flight
• Fat Boy: C6-3

Left to right:
• Modified Estes Dagger
• Fat boy on the pad
• Fat boy on the chute

Pete & Angela launched...

Some stuff that included...
• QKB (Quest Kit Bash, an Honest John look alike): B4-4
• Invader: A10-3T
• Lance: D12-5
• Big Daddy: D12-5, launched by Josh
• Corporal: 1/2A6-2, didn't go very high
• Corporal: B4-4, went much higher
• QKB: B4-4
All first flights.

Left to right:
• Lance on the pad
• Lance in the air

Darren, Shaun, James & Josh launched...

• Tomahawk: B6-4, first flight of James' quest kit
• Fatboy: B6-4, this is Josh's only rocket, but it's only a matter of time
• KB-1: C6-3, a reliable rocket, it belongs to Kieran, but he's lost interest in rockets lately
• Phoenix: D12-3, small zipper but easily repaired
• MkV: 4xC6-5, is this the end? Chute didn't open and the engines were forced forwards on impact
• MiniFatboy: 1/2A3-2T, this engine is too small!
• Fatboy: B6-4

Left to right:
• Estes Phoenix launching
• Quest Tomahawk on the pad
• Estes fat boy descending on chute

This week, at the pub, Brian showed us the loot from a recent trip to Countdown Hobbies in the US. The old Estes catalogues were interesting, they show how far they have fallen in recent times.

Next stop, UKRA2000...