A Fish Named Wallyum
04-29-2007, 09:44 PM
Pretty day 'roun' these parts, and I saw it comin'. :) I spent much of my free time over the past few days getting some finishing work in on some long neglected rockets, with hopes of spending an afternoon at quasi-legendary B6-4 Field here in The City Of Friendly Homes. The main rocket that I hoped to fly was my recently completed Semroc Centurion, which I finished decaling only this morning. (I had also hoped to get my Interceptor clone, fresh from its extensive resanding after painting difficulties, decaled for today, but that wasn't to be. :mad: ) But anyway, today after I took my son to work, I loaded up the van with an ambitious load of rockets and began gathering my support equipment. This was where I ran into my first problem. My launch controller was missing. It normally never leaves the van, but somehow it had, possibly when my wife went rock gathering last fall. I headed back into the house to find another one, only to discover that I didn't have another one.
I'd given them all away.
Yup, you can imagine how I felt. Somewhere out there, someone else was possibly spending the afternoon blasting off flight after flight using a controller that I donated to the cause, while I stood on the sidelines feeling stupid. And BOY, did I feel stupid. Bummed beyond all recognition, I went back into the house and resumed work on a scale project that I've been meaning to start on since 2001.
I had glued the motor mount into the Hawk Motor Test Vehicle and was settling down to watch the some of the Winston Cup race from Talladega when I realized that I did have another launcher. (Two if you count the Pow-R Pad.) Down in my work room on top of one of the cabinets sat a Big Foot pad that I won from Ebay last year. I pulled it down and dusted it off, but realized that I needed batteries for it. This sent me off to Lowe's and by the time I got home it was time to start dinner. I decided on a post-dinner launch and went to make dinner, sure that I'd still get a few flights in before dark.
After dinner I headed out for B6-4 Field, only to find that a Knothole team was in the middle of practice. This wasn't that big a deal, because I still had old faithful Moerscher where the eyeball nose cone of my original Star Snoop upscale still watches over things from high up in a tree. I drove the ten minutes to the field and found it deserted, and also found that the thick woods at the back of the field had been bulldozed and turned into more soccer fields. "Cool!", I thought as I looked at the Star Snoop tree, one that had been spared the axe, "That many fewer places to hang one up!" I pulled up next to the soccer field, opened the van doors and began setting up. Out came the box of rockets, my range box and motor boxes. Out came the Big Foot pad with all of the wires tucked carefully into the bottom of the battery compartment like they had been when it arrived. Four screws were all that were left between me and an evening of newly built first flights and seldom seen oldies.
I didn't have a screwdriver. :rolleyes:
Nope. Last thing I did before I left the house was look at my multi-tool on the counter and decide that I didn't need it. Well, guess what. Turns out I did.
I checked the glove box, but I had removed the cheap one that I kept in there for emergencies. I found a calculator, some rubber fangs, and a flashlight, but no screwdriver. I put the rubber fangs in my mouth and started going through my pockets, hoping to find my knife. Nope, but I had a dime.
Turns out that's all I needed. I was able to use the dime to turn the screws enough to get them out far enough to unscrew with my fingers. With each screw I again started seeing flight after flight screaming off the pad in my mind. When the last screw dropped off, I took the wrapped up wire out and set it on the seat. I opened the batteries and was just about to put them in when I noticed the two bare wires. Bare wires where there should have been alligator clips. I screamed a curse at destiny and scared a flock of birds that had gathered to feast on the newly seeded grass of the baseball field. Apparently destiny had other plans for me today.
LAUNCH CANCELLED! I'll try again Tuesday. First one to ask for pictures gets my foot rammed so far up his butt that he can clip my toenails while he brushes his teeth.
I'd given them all away.
Yup, you can imagine how I felt. Somewhere out there, someone else was possibly spending the afternoon blasting off flight after flight using a controller that I donated to the cause, while I stood on the sidelines feeling stupid. And BOY, did I feel stupid. Bummed beyond all recognition, I went back into the house and resumed work on a scale project that I've been meaning to start on since 2001.
I had glued the motor mount into the Hawk Motor Test Vehicle and was settling down to watch the some of the Winston Cup race from Talladega when I realized that I did have another launcher. (Two if you count the Pow-R Pad.) Down in my work room on top of one of the cabinets sat a Big Foot pad that I won from Ebay last year. I pulled it down and dusted it off, but realized that I needed batteries for it. This sent me off to Lowe's and by the time I got home it was time to start dinner. I decided on a post-dinner launch and went to make dinner, sure that I'd still get a few flights in before dark.
After dinner I headed out for B6-4 Field, only to find that a Knothole team was in the middle of practice. This wasn't that big a deal, because I still had old faithful Moerscher where the eyeball nose cone of my original Star Snoop upscale still watches over things from high up in a tree. I drove the ten minutes to the field and found it deserted, and also found that the thick woods at the back of the field had been bulldozed and turned into more soccer fields. "Cool!", I thought as I looked at the Star Snoop tree, one that had been spared the axe, "That many fewer places to hang one up!" I pulled up next to the soccer field, opened the van doors and began setting up. Out came the box of rockets, my range box and motor boxes. Out came the Big Foot pad with all of the wires tucked carefully into the bottom of the battery compartment like they had been when it arrived. Four screws were all that were left between me and an evening of newly built first flights and seldom seen oldies.
I didn't have a screwdriver. :rolleyes:
Nope. Last thing I did before I left the house was look at my multi-tool on the counter and decide that I didn't need it. Well, guess what. Turns out I did.
I checked the glove box, but I had removed the cheap one that I kept in there for emergencies. I found a calculator, some rubber fangs, and a flashlight, but no screwdriver. I put the rubber fangs in my mouth and started going through my pockets, hoping to find my knife. Nope, but I had a dime.
Turns out that's all I needed. I was able to use the dime to turn the screws enough to get them out far enough to unscrew with my fingers. With each screw I again started seeing flight after flight screaming off the pad in my mind. When the last screw dropped off, I took the wrapped up wire out and set it on the seat. I opened the batteries and was just about to put them in when I noticed the two bare wires. Bare wires where there should have been alligator clips. I screamed a curse at destiny and scared a flock of birds that had gathered to feast on the newly seeded grass of the baseball field. Apparently destiny had other plans for me today.
LAUNCH CANCELLED! I'll try again Tuesday. First one to ask for pictures gets my foot rammed so far up his butt that he can clip my toenails while he brushes his teeth.