05/10/03 Flight of the JUMBO SIZZLER

AKA:
Grandma Lucy's Semi-Annual Memorial-Day Prickly-Heat Telethon-of-Love

This is something like the upteenth flight of this rocket. An upscale of the rear ejection Estes Sizzler (this one does not have rear ejection) it has been an incredible flyer. This flight was loaded with an Aerotech J350 with a long delay. Single deployment with no electronics. It ripped off the pad and was at 4000 feet in a flash.

The photos here give the impression that it flew diagonally, but it was actually a perfectly straight and vertical boost. Photographer Billy Dahlberg (of Naturally Lit Photography) captured these incredible shots -- but he was holding his camera vertically, and he had to snap his head back really fast to capture the flight -- so the camera didn't stay parallel to the trajectory.

But don't think I'm complaining! It's amazing that he was able to stay with it at all!

Look closely at the photos and you will notice that the rocket had absolutely no spin. The photos from Billy's 6.6 megapixal digital camera are awesome, and so was the flight.

The recovery was just as perfect, and so was the landing. It was standing upright when I stomped out into the desert to find it. That's the third time it's done that, so it shouldn't be a surprise anymore.

Click [HERE!] for more on Grandma Lucy's Semi-Annual Memorial-Day Prickly-Heat Telethon-of-Love.

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