Rocketry Planet

POTTER, New York USA — With the ground mostly dry and the sun out pretty much all day, Saturday, July 4 at LDRS turned out to be pretty big.

Steady winds between 5 and 15 MPH discouraged some fliers and kept the overall volume of flights down, but this was still the biggest day yet at LDRS 28.

A number of M flights and two-stage flights really impressed the crowd. A large N-to-N two stage rocket (not the M-to-M pictured below) was a fantastic failure, with the long-burning sustainer skywriting and eventually falling to the ground in flames.

A large M-powered two stage rocket is loaded on the away cell.

John Russo's SR-71 Blackbird takes off on a central red J and outboard smoky motors for a crowd-pleasing flight.

Many spectators came out for the Fourth of July at LDRS 28.

A scale V2 takes off under a red motor - nothing says Independence Day like a German missile.

A split fin rocket takes off.

A true American love story: a man with his rocket.

Brett Keller contributed to this story.