Originally posted by Westy
Is this story for real? How far away did it land? I had a J350W take my 1/4 scale PML Patriot a good ways but it was in sight the entire time.
Did he just grabe it when it hit the ground and run? Did he take off in a car? Did you see the theft happen or is it that since you couldn't find it you assume it got stolen?
What a drag....sorry to hear that some low-life made off with your rocket. Thieves are the lowest of the low in my opinion.
Westy
You guys gotta read this story from this past May. It happened to one of the Tripoli Quad Cities guys. Here's a post to the story and related banter on the TQC message board:
https://p209.ezboard.com/ftqcfrm2.showMessage?topicID=612.topic
I was talking to the owner of the rocket regarding this story at Midwest Power IV in late October. He was still incredulous at the whole episode. He told the story like this (and I'm paraphrasing from memory
"So after the fact I went to the CB store to talk to the guy.
He said, "I used to be into rockets as a kid and I was thinking about getting back into it."
I said, "What... with *my* rocket?!?!"
Wow.
(Just for some background information, the launch site - referred to by the TQC folks as the "Crown Jewel," is located in Walcott, IA., about 4 miles north of Interstate 80. There are a couple of truck stops, one being billed as "Iowa's Largest Truck Stop", at the interstate exit nearest the launch site. the CB shop in this story is located in that truck stop. Further, I remember that launch. I was there, and was helping the guy visually track the rocket on descent, and it just kept going and going and going before he hopped in the car and left with his rocket hunter. He came back some time later upset and empty handed. He said he had a bead on it, but as he seemed to approach the signal, the target kept "moving." This was before they eventually found and returned the rocket.)
