November 17 2001 Launch Report

Today was the maiden flight of my Mercury Redstone, another flight of the Silver Comet and a launch of Kim's rebuilt Long Shot.

Growing up in the 1960s I was a huge fan of the American astronauts.  Watching "The Right Stuff" rekindled that feeling.  Later in life I actually got to see a Mercury Redstone rocket and capsule at Cape Canaveral.

Though a bit smaller than the real thing, I think my Mercury Redstone looked amazing on the pad!


Even our dog, Cassie, admired it!


My daughter managed to catch the capsule and body of the rocket, which came down on separate parachutes.


Next to launch was the Silver Comet, a birthday present from Sarah.  I let her launch it so I could step back and try to catch it in flight.


Another beautiful liftoff!

Next to launch was my Blackbird.  I'd modified it to take three engines but was only launching it on a single engine this time.

I wasn't able to catch it in flight but we did recover it, ready to fly another day.


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