This was the inaugural EARS club launch at our newly found site on a farm near Cambridge. I didn't think it was going to go ahead with all the bad weather we'd been having leading up to it. As it turned out the weather worsened as the day went on with the winds picking up at about 2.30 pm and making it unsuitable for flying. At least the rain that was predicted at the start of the week kept at bay until we were all safely tucked up in the Little Chef after all the flying.

I'd been off work ill all week and still wasn't feeling well so I decided not to fly anything myself and just concentrate on taking some photos with my new camera. I'm quite glad I didn't fly as the long walks to recover rockets due to the wind would have totally knackered me. In the end I wish I'd flown something, but I'm still glad I didn't as I'm still not quite right nearly a week later.

Folk started arriving at about 10 o'clock and in the end we had quite a good turn out for a cold windy day in November. The majority of folk were just there to watch but we did manage to have eight flyers who flew 14 rockets between them. With the weather being so bad Trevor Seabrook and Thomas Hicks flew the majority of rockets with their array of models.

The high power flying as kicked off by Chris Eilbeck and his Slight Niggle rocket on a H180. It flew very well despite Chris's concerns that it would weathercock in the strong wind, although he decided not to fly with the D11P's in the outboard motor mounts. Next up on the high power was Stephen Woolhead and his AMRAAM 4 on an I284 for a fantastic flight, although it drifted quite a way in the wind. Stephen did manage to find it though after a long walk to the other side of the flying site.

The next flight must have been the most long awaited and anticipated flight in UK high power as Richard Osbourne finally silenced his doubters by flying his hybrid rocket on a R.A.T.T. Works H70. Richard has been threatening to fly this rocket for well over a year but has never had a combination of weather, confidence, nitrous etc to make an attempt. The boost was lovely and the sound exquisite as it slightly weathercocked into the wind but unfortunately Richards recovery jinx kept up its 100% record.

The ejection charge was so energetic that it snapped the kevlar shock cord and melted the streamer, resulting in the rocket spacking into a sodden field. Luckily all the rain we've had made the field nice and soft as it saved the onboard GWiz and Walston transmitter. It's just a shame that the battery was knocked out of its holder so we don't know how high it all went.

The final high power rocket was flown by Roy Trzeciak-Hicks because after that the wind got up and another couple of rockets including a Level 1 cert attempt were abandoned. Roy flew his two stage PML thunder n Lightning on an I357 to H242 for a fantastic flight in the conditions to 3475 feet. This was the first time Roy has flown the rocket in the configuration, but with the size of the site I'm sure he'll be back with bigger motors.

All in all it wasn't a bad days flying at a new site, it's just a pity the wind was so strong. Hopefully the weather will have improved for the 3rd of December when the next EARS launch is scheduled for. I'll definitely be flying a couple of rockets, and hopefully taking a load more photographs.

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Last update: Tuesday, 30-Mar-2004 03:43:28 EST