Hi Guys,
As Andy says in his first posting, we had a good time on Saturday - much better than expected. Flying was possible from about 3.30; by 5.00 it was quite calm, and very calm by 5.30 - hence Andy not knowing which way to launch his Alpha Jet. It made a wonderful flight - out of the field and into the stubble (it has the habit of doing this - it did it at the last Old Warden when it was standing corn!). Fortunately, it was easily spotted and retrieved from the stubble.
Sunday was continuously wet and windy and I 'rested up'.
Some photos for your delectation:
Above: John Miller Crawford, the website developer of Jetex.org, in the Shuttleworth museum. John came from NZ to see some Jetex action. Thanks to Chris Strachan,Tony and Andy, he was not disappointed! He is wearing a Jetex.org T-shirt (still available).
Above: atmospheric shot taken by JMC. Note the lowering sky and the angle of the wind sock. But it did calm down later.
Above:Here's me launching my Alpha Jet.
Above: Two shots of Andy launching the T-38. It put in some wonderful stratospheric flights with an L-2X and an equally impressive lower level sortie across the flying field propelled by a standard L-2.
Above: Tony Butterworth just about to launch his profile Hawker Hunter.
Above: Tony's Hunter off on a sortie following a very stylish launch. (John Miller Crawford photo). The Hunter made couple of splendid flights with an L-2X
Above: Chris Strachan joined in the fun too: His MiG 15 flew well with some very old L-2 (green cased) motors .
Above: It was wonderful to see some new rocket flyers. Here's Trevor and David Roberts with their Skyjet 50. Flew well with an L-2. Their bigger Skyjet 100 also went well with a Rapier L-3. I gave them my card and I think they are hooked. Trevor intimated they had both had a lot of fun and were looking for a change from RC .
Above: Andy and Tony sorting out the Hunter. This is a model that Bill Dean designed for the 'Eagle'. Tony added a shallow trough, which also strengthened the fuselage and pods on the wing to stiffen it. It's quite large and needs an L-2X.
Above: Tony well pleased after a splendid first flight that included a climb to great height and a couple of loops at the end. I had to take it easy and was merely an observer of the fun.
Above: Andy's F-106 also made a couple of excellent sorties. Note he is lighting his Rapier fuse with a traditional igniter!
Above: OW always has interesting bits for sale on the extensive traders line. These very nice NIB Jetex motors were most desirable, but rather expensive. I did however, pick up two Jetex 50 motors quite cheaply.
So there you have it: Not a few famous flyers did not turn up, such was the dire weather forecast, and both Howard Metcalfe and Chris Richards were unable to make it this time. Nor did Dr Zigmund make the trip. This was a great pity.
But we still have motors.
And we had a much better day than we expected; we saw many fabulous flights; we picked up some motors, and JMC went home determined to take rocket flying back to New Zealand!
To conclude: Rapier/Jetex flying is still alive and well: we have the models to build (anyone for a T-38?) and motors. So what's stopping you joining the fun?
Here's to the next time!