# 36 Rocket Man

 Rocket Man

The group had an area set up for registration.

We were in the Christiansburg, VA area last weekend visiting family.  We were invited by our brother-in-law Carlos, to view the monthly Medium Rocket Launch that's organized by the New River Valley Rocketry Group. They are affiliated with the Rocket Club of Virginia Tech.  We had a great time.  Carlos has all kinds of rockets, some so big that you have to go to a special launch pad that has FAA waivers.  Today's launch doesn't have any that large.  These are called "medium" rockets.  His rockets launched during this event include: Red Max, Chloe's Pink Bubble Gum (with HD camera) and the Chartreuse Green Machine.  There were people of all ages launching rockets today. I suspect one day some of the kids participating may be our next rocket scientists.






This was the first group of rockets to be launched.






I had to be quick with the shutter to get these photos.  The rockets went up fast!

Carlos had a couple of "chuffs".

These are misfires
that can be caused
by mis-communications and other technical difficulties. 
Red Max finally went up in the air in a huge puff of smoke.
                                                                                   

And what goes up, must come down...




and then you have to go retrieve your rocket...

.











It was so much fun especially watching the little ones enjoy seeing their rockets launched.














Next rocket to be launched was Chloe's Bubble Gum Rocket.  Carlos had mounted an HD video camera on the side.  Due to the uneven weight, the rocket went up a little "squiggly".  The resulting video image was squiggly too.


                                                      

Last was the Chartreuse Green Machine.  It was a successful launch too. 

 We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Carlos for the invitation. I heard many technical terms associated with the rocket and engine types, igniters and classification levels.  I asked lots of questions but after a while I knew I wouldn't get all the terms and quotes as accurate as I would like.  Hopefully the group will understand and view this post as an event we enjoyed and will forgive any technical information I might have left out.