Bonus

Okay, this weekend has not gone as planned. At all. On the whole, though, I'd say it has gone better than the plan. I've had the girls for reasons I won't go into here even though it's not my ex's weekend to have them (and no, I didn't kidnap them). Having the girls is great: I'd have them all the time if I could. However...







I had a big block of ME time slated for this, the one weekend of the month I don't have my daughters. Thing is, a couple of my passions don't quite coincide with supervising an autistic ten year old who at times can combine toddler impulse control with adolescent physical capacity. I can take Mo to launch rockets, I usually do, but I can't take her to the KCAR launches at Shawnee Mission Park. I've tried that, and while I can generally control the mayhem in my own rocket stash, I can't prep rockets and keep her from grabbing all the interesting things other folks have brought.





So being's the KCAR launch was the same weekend I wasn't going to have the honyocks, I was all stoked to go. I learn a lot talking to these guys, most of whom are way, way more experienced than I. Bucher, he's a walking encyclopedia of rocketry. See also Randall, see also the Dave who's not Bucher, see also that one guy I can't remember the name of (oh, yeah, Blake) who's into glider recovery models.





Example: I learned today that a bunt cake pan is an excellent deflector plate for mid-power rockets.



I learned that syringes make good launch lugs.






Oh, the block party. My Mom's neighborhood, where I grew up, was having it, but since it wasn't my weekend, it had been written off. So when I called her to ask if she might watch my kiddos for a couple of hours while I went ballistic, she mentioned it. How perfect? I mean, a moon walk, sidewalk chalk, balloon animals, a fire truck, free food...





Yeah, it's awesome when shit works out.



So anyway, I had a sense of urgency when I got to Shawnee Mission Park. My babysitting was going to turn into a pumpkin at 2:30, I needed to leave by 2:00. I got there at 11:15 with nineteen rockets, nine of which were absolute virgins. My goal: get nine maiden voyages flown while talking my fool head off, and while a bunch of other folks launched their rockets.




Randall's big rocket was going to start the day off with a bang. And it did. It didn't go anywhere, but it made a bang like a bullet hitting a trap. The engine shredded, gutting the rocket. These things happen. This is why, despite how much fun they look like, I don't go for $70 kits and $30 rocket motors. I can handle the heartbreak of a lost $8 rocket, even a $15 rocket. But not a $100 rocket.





I also learned that two of my rockets had slightly canted fins. One was Jolly Green Giant, who is too small for my fin jib. The other was McRocket, and I can't explain that one. He corkscrews in flight, and I can see the cant to a couple of his fins, but I can't figure how they got there. Bucher swears I don't need a fin jig, that I can eyeball it better than that. Maybe, but that doesn't explain Jolly Green's screwy debut.



I also learned to say goodbye to Two-Da-Lou. I'd weathercocked her into the wind that had picked up, so she could fly upwind and drift back to the field under canopy. But then coming off the launch rod she cocked a bit more, not quite moving fast enough for the fins to stabilize, and she went screaming off at a much steeper angle than planned. She dropped her booster stage and that second C6 just got up and boogied. We saw the parachute open and I went hiking in that general direction as far as I could, but no sign of her. Crap.



I guess I can build another rocket to go on her booster stage for another two stager.



Mr. Creosote had a stellar first flight, landing about twenty feet from the pad. Tubster lost a nose cone, but other than that things were going pretty well.

Except it got to be 1:55 and I had promised to leave the park at two. I had two rockets, Buster and Lola, that had not flown but were prepped and loaded. So I drag raced them.



Except it didn't quite work that way. I had Buster on #2 and Lola on #5. Another rocket was on #3. I armed #2 and #5, counted down, and floooom! Lola went drag racing with the rocket on #3, leaving Buster standing there wondering if he was named for Buster Keaton or what.

Then, when I did get Buster launched, he came down in a damn tree. I was about to give him up, but Bucher had a very long extending pole with a saw on the end, and I was able to get him down. 'You're out of your tree.' 'It's not my tree.'




Of course, by this time, it's 2:15. I boogie back and we do us some block partying. They had a moon walk, face painting, folk singers, folks standing around talking, a fire truck and I don't know what-all. Hot dogs, cupcakes, a table with free junk that Em loved. Balloon animals.