The next morning at about 6am I woke up and got to work. We carefully cut out the fins, and glued all the pieces together. I was so impatient waiting for the glue to dry, but finally it was time. We got the motor mounted, the controller plugged in, and we were ready for space travel. T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Liftoff!
It was a success! My rocket flew until I couldn't see it anymore. That's when I began to worry. We lost it. My entire family searched far and wide, to no avail. Fast forward about 10 days. I find the orange streamer torn up by a lawn mower on the side of the road. I was heartbroken. And to this day I haven't built another.
I never even thought about it until I met Mr. Berz about 5 years later. Mr. Berz is the amizingly quirky astronomy teacher where I went to high school. I never actually had a class with him, but he is so much more than a teacher. He was the schools' hope, inspiration, and energy. Over the course of five years working and learning with him, I've finally gotten back to where I was when I was 9. I told him the story of my first attempt with model rocketry and he encouraged me to try again. I promised him I would, and here I am today.
I found a fairly generic kit at a hobby store near my house and got to work. Of course, there's nothing generic with what's about to happen.
I unbagged all the bits and pieces and laid them out across my desk.
Then I got all my tools ready.
And off to the races we go. In the excitement I forgot to take a whole bunch of photos, but here's the motor assembly drying, and the rocket fins after I sanded and conjoined them.
I marked the fuselage with a sharpie, cut the appropriate slots, and attached the launch lug on the side. Pretty shoddy glue job, but I cleaned it up in the end.
After what seemed like an eternity, the glue was all dry, and the rocket was finished. My Dad and I headed out to a giant open field, popped a B4-4 motor in my new Crossfire rocket, and got ready for launch.
The biggest complication at this point was the launch lug. I put the rocket on the pad and proceeded to attach the leads from the controller when I torqued it too much and ripped it off. Being too impatient, I reattached it with a Band-Aid. While many rocketeers are probably cringing, it totally worked.
I counted down from 5, and... WHOOSH!!! A successful launch. But could I recover it? The night was young when we got out there, but was starting to get dark after the launch lug fiasco. I was praying the rocket gods would side with me this time. And they did! A succesful launch, succesful retrieval.
Against my incredibly poor judgement, I decided to give it another go, this time with a bigger, C6-5, engine. Again, the countdown and launch, but this time, no successful retrieval. But that's okay. I had the full experience, and once I head back out to the field, I don't think I'll have any issues finding it among some blueberry bushes.
I was giddy the whole time, and I'm so glad that I've embarked on the endless journey of model rocketry, and astronomy. I'll definitely try to complete a couple of the other kits I have, then design my own! To further expand my universe I'm going to dig up my old Meade ETX-80 telescope, grab my camera, and snap some incredible shots.
Thank you Mr. Berz for everything you've taught me, the constant inspiration, and always having incredibly advice no matter what I've done. You're one of many who have shaped me for the better, and I know that you'll continue to be part of my life.
