Last weekend, after spending Friday at the Intrepid Museum, I headed down to the Bridgeton Rocket Club (BARC) launch in southern NJ. Even though I only flew LPR, the weather was beautiful and conditions were excellent.
At the field, the grain was high in some parts, but most of the field was flat and open, with some planting. The Farm was one of many in the surrounding area, a nice "country" retreat. As for the rockets, there was a nice turnout. For HPR, there were a few notable flights, ranging from a Single Stage H to a Staged/Airstarted J!
While testing some of my own FAI models, the para-duration prototype suffered a premature parachute deployment, possibly due to a faulty motor. Things turned real ugly in the air, and the chute had multiple burn holes. Nevertheless, it still gave a strong tug....This pushed me to try again…
It got off the pad fast and soared to around 200', after deploying the chute, it floated upwards and out east. Eventually, it caught an incredible thermal, ascending and accelerating like a hot air balloon. Me and my cousin chased after it, and then gazed until it shrunk to a silver dot in the sky, and eventually out of sight. As it did, we gave it a proper "send off" with waves and a few "salutes”. (lol)Afterwards, I flew a few small rockets with my family, and we ended the day at the Amish Farm Market nearby. Great place for freshly made food. The launch site is also close to Cape May, although we didn't travel there.
A Huge Thank you to BARC president Jeremy Wong, Steve, and all the others for making this such a great day! May circumstances align to allow for another visit sometime soon.
If you're ever in Jersey sometime, this'd be a great place to go!
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