Date: November 27, 1999

Location: El Dorado Dry Lake, Nevada

Club: Tripoli-Vegas Turkey Shoot

While visiting family for Thanksgiving, I made it a point to fly at Turkey Shoot. Since this was the event last year that prompted me to re-enter rocketry in general, and high-power rocketry in particular, I thought it only fitting to fly this year.

I did something smart this time -- I packed all my motors the night before. So when I arrived at the dry lake, all I had to do was tighten the closures and add the ejection charges. I got out to the dry lake at about 8:00am, and it was still quite chilly. At least the wind was dead calm. Looked like it was going to be a great day for flying.

I was anxious to start flying, but I had a few friends who were supposed to show up and I had to wait for them to arrive first. Meanwhile, I visited with my Tripoli-Vegas friends I hadn't seen since SpringFest. It didn't take me very long to prep the Goblin with an H128, since I had packed the rocket and the motor the night before. After my friends finally showed up, I checked the Goblin in and took her out to the pad. After the countdown she blasted right off atop the big White Lightning flame. She flew to a guesstimated 1,500 ft., and we were treated to another heart-stopping bonus delay, courtesy of AeroTech. She finally popped and floated down on her pink 'chute. She landed about 200 yards away, standing upright on the lakebed. Except for about 1/2" of slight zipper damage, she was unharmed.

My friend's daughter was "Oooh"-ing and "Aaahh"-ing over the Callisto, so I decided to fly her next. On her last flight she gave me a bit of a tail waggle on an F40. I was curious to see how stable she would be on a G64. I also swapped the stock 24" 'chute for a 30". The Callisto zipped to about 2,000 ft. disappearing into the light cloud cover. I finally found her, descending slowly on her bright yellow 'chute. She landed behind the spectator row, about 100 yeards away. A helpful kid picked her up for me, but not after dragging the nose through the dirt first ;-)

Next was my PML Endeavour on an I284. This would be my biggest motor yet -- in fact, this is the second-largest motor I can fly at my current certification level. The Endeavour ripped off the pad (MPEG clip) and screamed to about 3,500 ft. "Holy Crap!" I exclaimed, as she disappeared into the clouds too. I tried to keep an eye on her, tracking her as I tried to keep her in the viewfinder of the video camera. She descended nice and slow and landed about 300 yards away on the lakebed. A couple of my friends and I walked out and retreived her. I got a few nice comments on her Broncos-themed finish, including a bit of sympathy (the Broncos aren't doing so well this year ;-)

Last was my Ariel on an I161 (MPEG clip) for her third flight and her largest motor yet. She boosted nice and fast to about 3,000 ft., also disappearing into the clouds. By this time the breeze had picked up a bit, and I expected to chase her downwind about a half-mile or so. Oddly, she seemed to drift UP-wind, and landed about 200 yards away. I retrieved her with no damage.

I had also brought my LOC IV and another H128, but it was too windy to fly her. Instead, I watched everyone else fly who was brave enough, and chatted a bit. I eventually said "Bye" to everyone and packed up and leave. It was nice to come "full circle" and participate where it had all (re)started for me.

YTD Motor Count: 1/2A - 2; A - 3; B - 4; C - 9; D - 9; E - 6; F - 8; G - 14; H - 10; I - 4