May 2011 TTRA Launch Photos

Carl drove while Chris, my brother, and I rode along. We arrived early and Carl's self-powered tent began erecting itself.

Carl was the first of us to make it to the pads. He prepared his Saturn IB for launch.

In the mean time, I set up my Vertical Assault on a high-power launch pad.

Carl's Saturn IB flew first.

The launch was nice, but shortly after launch, the capsule and escape tower fell to the side. Then the ejection charge failed to deply the parachute. At first it looked as though the rocket would come down horizontally, but then it took a nose dive and hit the ground with a resounding thump.

Fortunately, it looks like Carl will be able to repair the rocket by replacing the transition and making a few other, minor fixes.

My Vertical Assault wobbled on the way up and flew a long way, both up and down-range. We saw a puff of smoke at apogee, but lost site of the rocket.

A few seconds later, the purple parachute appeared over the trees in the distance.

Carl, my brother, Randall, and I jumped into Carl's car and headed for the woods. I expected to spend hours looking for the rocket before giving up and heading home. But, not long after entering the woods, I spotted the rocket hanging from a low limb on a tree.

The rocket sported a shiny new zipper, but, otherwise wasn't in too bad of shape.

The altimeter was beeping out 3412 feet - definitely my highest rocket flight.

Please, check out the rest of my photos from the May TTRA launch at RocketReviews.com.