I arrived at FITS '07 about the usual time I arrive at any Mansfield launch, at about dark. I was amazed at the number of people that were already there. Many familiar faces had already made it. I found my camping spot and proceeded to set up.

My L3 certification flight was the plan for the weekend and for a rocket that had flown previously, I was amazed by the amount of work it required to be ready. Most of my Friday was consumed with last minute things, the biggest was finishing up the parachute. Shroud lines were finally sewn to the canopy at about 5pm.

Dawn came early, and I rose not long after the sun. Got some coffee in me and immediately began prepping my bird for that cert flight. Prep went smoothly, but I managed to forget to bring a ton of things. Other members of Flying D.A.W.G. rocketry stepped in to provide all those things I had forgotten to bring. I built the motor, thanks to Brad Wright for letting me borrow the casing. Thanks to John Hawkins and Carl Degner for offering the use of theirs.

Fresh Paint is a veteran launch vehicle, shown here at BALLS 15. Photo courtesy of ROCKETS Magazine.

Jim Wilkerson came over, inspected the bird and RSO'd the flight card. He even offered to bring the card to the LCO. What a great guy.

Finally, it was time to head for the away cell.

I gathered the rocket, and all the supporting gear that I would need. PSP donated an igniter to the cause, and got a sticker on the rocket for their troubles.

It was fun seeing all the support that I had through this whole process. ROCKETS Magazine was at the pad and politely held back while I got the bird on Vern Knowles' launch pad. They and Kent Newman and others were snapping pictures the whole time, but never got in the way. The bird went vertical, electronics were armed and igniter installed. A quick interview with ROCKETS Magazine and we retreated to the launch gear. A quick call to the LCO and we were ready to go. It took a couple of minutes for the LCO to get to me, and I busied myself with pacing and trying to remember to breath.

A ten count and the 4" fiberglass rocket took to the skies on an AT M1297 (Thanks again to PSP for getting the motor as part of the certification deal offered by AT). Motor burn out and then coast... and I lost sight of it, along with everyone else at the away cell.

Now we are scanning the skies, looking for puffs of smoke or any indication that the rocket was still up there. The Walston tracker was chirping away (thanks to another member of the D.A.W.G, Bob Yanecek for letting me borrow it). So I knew it was still up there some where.

It seemed like forever, but someone shouted "I got it" and pointed. There it was. Under a beautiful 'chute, just hanging there... I guess I could get away with a smaller 'chute. After a bit if finally touches down, then off to recover. Not seeing any events I didn't know how much weather cocking the rocket had done, and didn't know if I had a zipper or any other damage.

Fresh Paint lifting off on an AeroTech M1297.

We drove down the road to the north then took another road to the East. Walston chirping away... we were headed toward it for sure. Not too long and there it was only 1.01 miles from camp. The bird was intact and looked great in its ugly orange paint. I could breath now.

Headed back to camp and basked in the afterglow of a great flight. The altimeter was beeping out 13,411 feet, not a bad flight. 100 feet more than the heavily tweaked RockSim prediction.

Lots of people came up to me and ask how the flight went, and lots offered congratulations.

Paper work was completed and I had my cert. I was done for the day.

The next day came early, as usual, and the winds were up. It was time to prep for the research launch. Got Fresh Paint ready for flight again. We headed out sometime around 11am and got things set up out there. This flight would be on a 3-grain 75mm motor. I was expecting about 7500-8500 feet out of the motor, and to be honest I was concerned about the wind.

The rocket rose to the sky after a short count down, and I lost it again. I heard the pop of the main deploying and the comforting sound of the Walston chirping away. It wasn't long before I located the rocket drifting gently down on that too big 'chute. Did I mention I had been concerned about the wind?

The rocket was rapidly heading East, and after a bit it touched down, maybe 1/3 of a mile from the launch site. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief, I was thinking about a short recovery walk. It was not to be, the 'chute inflated and the rocket started heading East at a pretty good pace. Bob and Marty hopped into Bob's truck and headed for an intersecting road. My son, Sean, and I headed off on foot to try to catch the rocket. It seemed to me that it was running away faster than I was (brisk) walking toward it. I just hoped that it would catch on a piece of brush, or a rock or SOMETHING before it got to Spokane!

Bob and Marty were out of contact for a while, but sometime later, Bob said he had located the rocket. Thank God for that Walston. The rocket had drug through the rock-strewn dirt and brush for a good 1/2 mile, maybe more before finding a low area that was sheltered from the wind. There she lay in all her battered glory, the altimeter beeping out over 10,000 feet. Well over my off-the-cuff prediction.

The rocket was battered and beaten. The leading edges of the fins were hammered by rocks, one rail button was missing, the nose cone was trashed and there were a ton of scratches in the ugly paint. All of it repairable with some effort, but the rocket will fly again.

Watched several other flights that day, most went well. Research events are always a lot of fun. Headed back to camp to a nice pot luck dinner with lots of friends. Great food!

Monday dawned cold and a bit windy. No flights planned for the day, so I slowly began packing stuff up and watching others flights.

The weekend is still a bit of a blur to me. My focus was on my flights and not so much on others, but I remember some great flights. Love the skidmarks. The "Fat Boys to the Moon" contest was a TON of fun. The almost constant announcement of certification flights was impressive. Congratulations to all those that got their certifications this past weekend, condolences to all those that didn't. You'll tag that base next time, I'm sure.

Many thanks to all that helped me out over the weekend, Bob, Marty, Lou, Jim Jopson, Kent, Brad and my family. Special thanks for Jim Wilkerson and Dennis Winningstad for serving as my TAPs.

For Ray's contribution of this article, he will receive either a free one year subscription to LAUNCH Magazine or a Rocketry Planet T-Shirt. Want your own? Read the program details page for complete information.