Originally Posted by A Fish Named Wallyum

Well, considering that I'd flown every year since 2001, I was determined to get flights in this weekend, one way or another. Tonight after dinner I met my sister and her family at B6-4 Field for an hour or so of flying.

My niece and nephew are five and seven, and I'd been talking about flying for them for a couple of summers, but this was the first time I'd been motivated to fly in a while. Not sure what to expect, Joel initially wanted to stand aside with his hands on his ears, but when he found out he could press the button he forgot all about his aversion to loud noises.
Joel's first pick was the Custom Serval, the tube finned rocket that predated the Razor in the Custom lineup, on a B6-4.

The flight was somewhat low, but perfect for this field. I got a little cocky after seeing this, and it would cost me later.
Jillian chose the Holverson Wicked Winnie, largely because it was pink(ish). With two of its cheesy foam brethren watching on from the trees behind us, the Winnie turned in a textbook B6-4 flight and recovery. B6-4 Field was made for cheesy foam.

Joel chose the D.O.M. Argus for the next flight. This was where my cockiness cost me. The perfect B6-4 flights by the Serval and Wicked Winnie made me think that the Argus would do as well on the same motor. Well, the Argus, one of the Estes Design of the Month contest winners, is quite a bit lighter and more streamlined than the other two birds. I knew it was in trouble as soon as it arced to the north. It wasn't a big arc, but enough that recovery was going to take it over the trees, the phone lines, or US 27. It caught the lines.

Originally Posted by jeffyjeep

Thanks for the photos. It's nice to see a Custom Rocket Co. "Serval"! I lost mine many years ago--swallowed up by a BREL (Bottomless Rocket-Eating Lake.)

Originally Posted by Royatl

Yea, I know, but like I said, there *were* a couple of redeeming qualities about it.

Originally Posted by Earl

I agree. We watched it regularly when visiting my grandparents in north Georgia (Roy, you probably know well where Ellijay, GA is).

Earl

Originally Posted by Royatl

Yep. SoAR had a launch there last year, with hopes of starting a satellite club there. And the site for our GRITS regional launch is just 20 miles from there (and our Saturday Night BBQ was catered by a place in Ellijay).

Originally Posted by blackshire

Wow--small world! I lived near Young Harris and Hiawassee, and we took friends of ours (who'd been our neighbors in Miami) down to Ellijay one day in the early 1980s so that they could purchase a new set of living room furniture and carpeting that was made in the factories there.

Originally Posted by Earl

Yes, it is a small world.

Both sets of my grandparents used to live in Ellijay and we were in Atlanta as small children then later moved to Augusta. But we visited the grandparents in Ellijay quite often, though from Augusta that routine trip was about four hours one way. Our old '69 VW bus made that round trip many, many times back in the day. I worked with one grandfather painting houses during several summers to put myself through college.

Alas, since the last grandparent passed in 2000 and with parental care requirements here in Augusta which keeps us very close to home, I have not been to Ellijay in 10 years, which is sad. I understand from my Dad however (my parents divorced some 26 years ago) that it's not the quaint little town it used to be. A lot of antique shops and such now with a lot of 'city' types in there making a tourist/retirement kinda place out of it. Sad.

Originally Posted by Earl

But I have great memories there and a lot of love from wonderful grandparents, rest their souls. Some of my mother's people still run one of the largest apple orchards in that area. Penland's, just northwest of town there. That orchard was originally started by my great, great grandfather back in the 1850s.

Earl

Originally Posted by A Fish Named Wallyum

Mine is an Ebay purchase. A couple of years ago I got a wild hair to build or clone all of the cool early Custom kits that no longer exist. I think I cloned the Lamprey and Bullet, started the Lightnin', got freaked out by the Matra, screwed up the Satellite Drone, and have original Dynamic Carrier and Stealth Interceptor kits almost ready to go. I want to do a Landviper, but I might have to fake it with a Big Bertha cone. The Serval was a pretty cheap "Buy It Now", IIRC. Nice, solid performer.