Meanwhile, Out in the Desert . . .

Josh writes . . . 

All right, here are some pictures from yesterday’s (the 23rd) rocket-flying trip. It was breezy tending to windy at the launch site, but we did see several successful launches and recoveries. We also saw some suboptimal flights.

The desert southwest. This is pretty much it, for miles and miles. Remember the scene from The Right Stuff, when all the pilots moved to Edwards AFB to fly X-planes? That overstated the beauty of the area. This is near the lovely towns of North Edwards and Aerial Acres and California City.

This will become my uncle’s Level 3 certification rocket. The body tube is a 12″ concrete form, and the motor mount is the 4″ tube in the middle.

Here are the nose cone and the motor casing for the body tube above. The motor casing is 4″ in diameter and the nose cone is three feet long from tip to shoulder – that is, not including the portion that will fit inside the body tube.

Here’s the nose cone stacked on top of the body tube. Assembled height is about 7 feet. This will fly on a strong M motor. The expected thrust is about 750 pounds for something like 4 seconds. That’s my uncle with the ball cap in the background, assembling an I motor for his first launch of the day.

This is the first rocket of the day – a Sidewinder model built by another club member. The engine used in this one did not provide a lot of thrust early, so it did not clear the tower with enough speed to fly stably. As a result, it turned into the wind and proceeded roughly parallel to the ground for several thousand feet before crashing, shattering the body tube.

The second launch of the day – a Patriot model. This was the first high-power launch by the builder, and flew beautifully. The rocket was recovered successfully and undamaged. The builder earned his L1 certification.

This is my uncle’s I-powered rocket ready for its first launch. He had a J he could have used, but the I seemed like a better idea given the wind. According to the altimeter, this got to about 3600 feet. A perfect flight and recovery. This rocket is rigged for a dual deploy, with one charge firing at apogee to deploy the drogue and another firing at about 1200 feet AGL to open the main chute.

After recovery, he set this one up for a second launch, which was less successful. Although the drogue fired just fine, the main did not deploy and the rocket made a hard landing. There was some damage to the nose cone and the altimeter, but the rocket was otherwise unscathed and will fly again.

Another rocket from another builder on the pad. This one was rigged for a time delay, motor-based ejection. Launch was beautiful, but the ejection charge did not fire in time, and the rocket hit the ground nose first at high speed. Impact was maybe 1000 yards from the pad, and it hit so hard it was clearly audible.

And this is another way they come back to earth.

Spring Break: Day 3

Today began gloomy and damp, burst into sunshine, and now is back to gloomy and damp.  Easter should be sunny and filled with all the bright colors of Spring!

Yesterday’s grapefruit cake was a success; we had it this afternoon with coffee and a game of cards.  The recipe was simple to make, even if a bit time-consuming, but it certainly was worth the effort.  If you followed the link to the recipe, which I posted yesterday, you can see some really beautiful photographs of it.  Mine are hardly worthy of publishing, but you might be amused by our version of a cake box.

I also did accomplish two things on my list from Friday:

  • build photography reflectors and stands out of PVC pipe
  • sewing
Awhile ago I came across plans for photographic studio equipment called “Tinker Tubes” by Dean Collins at software-cinema.com.  These are really cleverly designed, easy to make, and incredibly inexpensive.  I decided to make small frames to use as reflectors and diffusers, and put together frames measuring 2 x 3 feet.  Being a novice to PVC pipe, primer, and glue, a small project made sense.  Then, I followed Collins’ footing plans to support the frames.
The coverings were easy enough, as I’ve done a lot of sewing.  I basically made pillow cases to cover the frames, using inexpensive or on-sale material from the local fabric store.  I used white nylon tulle for the white diffuser, and for the reflectors a stretchy, shiny gold lame, and a woven metallic silver material.  I double stitched all the seams, as well as overcast the edges to keep raveling to a minimum.

Spring Break: End of Day 2

Whew!  I really got a lot done today – some planned, some not.  Very satisfying to accomplish little things.  And big things.

Today I took Wicket out for a walk, around 9:00 a.m., and as I usually walk him at night, I don’t get to see the details in the neighborhood.  Along the way I discovered avocado trees in bloom, raspberry blossoms, roses, and the sweet scent of orange blossoms mixed with lavender.

Dandelions are popping up in the grass – much to the grassophile’s chagrin (admittedly mine, too) – but they are such cheerful plants, how can you not but appreciate them?  Did you ever make “curly cues” out of them?  You blow away all the seeds, and then take the stem, tear it in lengths, and put them in water.  They curl up into all sorts of shapes.

Then, home, and phone calls to friends and family, as well as calls from friends who know I am not teaching right now, and am actually interested in being sociable!  A nap, spanikopita for lunch, Vietnamese coffee for an afternoon treat, and then the pleasure of sitting in the sun to read.  And, as the sun began to get lower in the sky, the chill of the spring returned, and I went inside to sew.  I made frames for photographic reflectors out of PVC pipe, and today I put together a silver and gold cover for it (one color on each side) and a transparent white one.  These pull over the frame like pillow cases.  Tomorrow, I think I will make some feet for it.

And now, I am making grapefruit cake.  I’ve never heard of it, but came across it quite by accident.  You can find the recipe here, at Not So Humble Pie.  It sounds so good, and right now it is citrus season and my counter is loaded with pink and yellow grapefruit, limes, lemons, oranges and mandarins.  New uses for the fruit is always welcomed; I’m seriously considering putting up a batch of lime marmalade or lime curd.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday, if I do say so myself!

Spring Break: Morning of Day 2

The list is still listed.  It also lies in front of me with a few additions.

Up at 5:30 to the tune of the coffee pot, and get Josh up so he can go shoot rockets in the middle of the desert.  Did you know that you need to file some kind of flight plan with the FAA to do this??  He took a camera, so maybe we will have something new and different to post in the near future.  Also, watching the eagle webcam, and those little eaglets are now at a gawky stage – big feet, big beaks, and clumsy-looking.  Pretty funny!  And a fish for breakfast, probably a trout.

My studio is on the eastern side of the house, so the morning light comes streaming in through my cruddy windows.  The redbud tree is right outside, and the light passing through the deep wine-colored leaves makes for wonderful shadows.  The leaves look like little hanging hearts.

Fuchsia Redbud

A few planned items for the day – besides the daily chores – are to photograph a cute little Phalaenopsis orchid which just bloomed for the first time in a couple of years, and to get outdoors.  There is a native plant sale happening nearby, so that might be a fun thing to look at.  I also want to get some sewing done and pull out some paints or ink and take a brush for a twirl.  And call up some people I haven’t spoken to in ages.  Meanwhile, Lightroom is importing all my pictures.  Maybe I should read a bit in my book, too?

Spring Break: Day 1

Today . . . did I get anything on the list done?  I don’t know!  I don’t think so.  I did start a lace pattern for the shawl I mentioned, but I didn’t like it, and ripped it out.  I did vacuum and sweep and do some grocery shopping.  I took a wonderful nap out on the patio, with a blanket and a hat.  I took a few pictures of the astrolomeria I bought a few days ago.  Oh, one thing I did was make an applesauce coffee cake – that was really good.  I’m nearly done cooking dinner, and then we eat and spend the evening being comfortably, happily blobby.