New aerial photos; fin repair

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Ray Dunakin

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I've just uploaded five new photos to my site. The first four are from a dual launch in the desert near Ocotillo. One rocket was a 2.6" diameter two-stage, powered by Pro38 three-grain I motors. The booster had "Smokey Sam" propellent and the sustainer had the regular propellent. Got a couple great shots, including one take at apogee with a veiw across the mountains and freeway. The smaller rocket was powered by an Aerotech G80. I'd hoped to get pics of the bigger one coming up behind the small one, but no such luck.

The fifth photo is of a fin repair that I did recently. The rocket had crashed at Plaster Blaster back in October, resulting in a triangular chunk being torn out of the leading edge of one fin. I filled the gap with epoxy, a couple bits of thick carbon fiber cloth, and a layer of 6oz fiberglass all sandwiched between two sheets of wax paper and clamped tightly between two boards. This pic shows the result, prior to painting.

https://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=3009006&a=30098271&f=0
 
Ray...

OMG man!!! Fantastic pics and I gotta say the Arial shots are very cool! It is great to see a shot of your powered drop off boosters on the rocket and how they attach. Moreover, you tip on fixing a fin looks like it turned out great! :) Thanks for posting it and helping us out along the way.

Once again, great pics bro!

Carl
 
Your rocketry photos never cease to amaze me. The clear images and wide array of subject is just incredible.

I especially love it when you can capture the launch of another rocket during boost.

very kewl
 
Ray, you just amaze me. Man, those are awesome.

Loopy
 
Ray, outstanding photos! I know you say you would love to see a change of scenery (ie - trees, neighborhoods, streets, GREEN, etc..), but I personally never tire of seeing your desert aerial photos with mountains as a backdrop. Although I understand where you're coming from - I too had started to get tired of seeing my home state (Florida) aerial photos - you have to also know that you have fans from non-sandy places absolutely enjoying your aerial photo work!

It's a shame your boosters snapped their mounts. It would have been unique to see the boosters ignite while they were still travelling on a vertical path yet separate from the parent rocket. Glad to hear everything came back intact!

(What's up with the mirror film! D'oh!)
 
Ya know, I'm one of those folks that doesn't go WOW to often, but I have to say Ray, that image of the road, mountains and desert had me saying:

Holy Carp !

Not a misprint - imagine a carp with a halo and wings - ..8)

Great stuff, and that fin is killer and so smooth. ^5ss

Dangit, I've got to order some of your booster harware..*sniff*
 
I had a jr. high school student ask me for a couple of sites with rocketry pics.... I gave him your web address and advised him take a look at your pics... I can only sum up his reaction by quoting:

...."man...that dudes' picts are like...ice... totally ice..."
 
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