The nose cone and parachute from the previous rocket comes down near the
pad where it launched.
You just can't always catch every rocket launch...
This rocket successfully deployed parachutes for itself and its
payloads.
A gust of wind "weathercocks" this rocket over a little bit as it launches.
The black colored smoke is normal - it's just the type of motor that
the builder bought.
I barely got this rocket's flame and launch pad both in the frame.
The rocket continues upward after its motor finished burning.
It's normal for the rocket to coast for some distance in order to
achieve the highest altitude it can.
This also allows parachute ejection to occur at a slower airspeed,
preventing damage to the rocket.
In the foreground is the smoke trail from the boost phase of the flight,
now getting sheared and twisted in the wind.
The smaller straighter trail farther in the background is the tracking smoke
showing the rocket is now descending.
5 seconds later... the electronics aboard the rocket waited until a
pre-programmed altitude to deploy its parachute so that it wouldn't
blow too far away in upper-level winds.
This was a lot of work by its builder, and a proud moment when it succeeded.
This photo shows a rocket in the coast phase of its flight, leaving the
smoke trail of its boost phase behind it after the motor burned out.
The corkscrew pattern of this flight is not a good sign.
It indicates something asymmetrical (uneven) has occurred...
possibly in-flight damage to a fin.
The parachute deployed early and swung the rocket's tracking smoke around
in a loop as the parachute inflated.
It isn't an ideal deployment scenario.
But it looks like everything held together.
A rocket descends under parachute.
A rocket's parachute has failed to deploy and it comes down at high speed
in the distance.
This is why we separate the flight line from the "downrange" area where
rockets can come down.
This is a nail-biter scenario - will the chute deploy before impact?
The parachute deploys just before impact, but leaving some doubt if it
prevented damage.
An ARLISS rocket carrying university student payloads successfully deploys
its parachute. And the payloads deploy their own parachutes.
The white mini-van and group of people in the distance is Jamie Clay and
his crew setting up for the much-anticipated Mercury Joe, Season Two launch.
Jamie's rockets take in-flight video and he posts entertaining videos.
The Mercury Joe crew continues setting up the rocket.
The Calico Range mountains provide a backdrop for the rocket launches
from my camp site's point of view on the east end of the line.
This is a hard-to-catch view of a rocket just off the pad.
Three seconds later... that rocket is long gone.
You'd need binoculars to follow one of these.
The nose cone and parachute from the previous rocket comes down near the
pad where it launched.
You just can't always catch every rocket launch...
This rocket successfully deployed parachutes for itself and its
payloads.
A gust of wind "weathercocks" this rocket over a little bit as it launches.
The black colored smoke is normal - it's just the type of motor that
the builder bought.
I barely got this rocket's flame and launch pad both in the frame.
The rocket continues upward after its motor finished burning.
It's normal for the rocket to coast for some distance in order to
achieve the highest altitude it can.
This also allows parachute ejection to occur at a slower airspeed,
preventing damage to the rocket.
In the foreground is the smoke trail from the boost phase of the flight,
now getting sheared and twisted in the wind.
The smaller straighter trail farther in the background is the tracking smoke
showing the rocket is now descending.
5 seconds later... the electronics aboard the rocket waited until a
pre-programmed altitude to deploy its parachute so that it wouldn't
blow too far away in upper-level winds.
This was a lot of work by its builder, and a proud moment when it succeeded.
This photo shows a rocket in the coast phase of its flight, leaving the
smoke trail of its boost phase behind it after the motor burned out.
The corkscrew pattern of this flight is not a good sign.
It indicates something asymmetrical (uneven) has occurred...
possibly in-flight damage to a fin.
The parachute deployed early and swung the rocket's tracking smoke around
in a loop as the parachute inflated.
It isn't an ideal deployment scenario.
But it looks like everything held together.
A rocket descends under parachute.
A rocket's parachute has failed to deploy and it comes down at high speed
in the distance.
This is why we separate the flight line from the "downrange" area where
rockets can come down.
This is a nail-biter scenario - will the chute deploy before impact?
The parachute deploys just before impact, but leaving some doubt if it
prevented damage.
An ARLISS rocket carrying university student payloads successfully deploys
its parachute. And the payloads deploy their own parachutes.
The white mini-van and group of people in the distance is Jamie Clay and
his crew setting up for the much-anticipated Mercury Joe, Season Two launch.
Jamie's rockets take in-flight video and he posts entertaining videos.
The Mercury Joe crew continues setting up the rocket.
The Calico Range mountains provide a backdrop for the rocket launches
from my camp site's point of view on the east end of the line.
This is a hard-to-catch view of a rocket just off the pad.
Three seconds later... that rocket is long gone.
You'd need binoculars to follow one of these.