Bob Francis's PageAKA: RadioFlyer Location: Belvidere, IL - USA Club Memberships: Space Program in Training Favorite Rockets: Rocket Cam 2 Biography: I started launching model rockets when I was a kid and finished up in high school... or so I thought. In 1997, when I was 27, I saw an Astrocam RTF kit at Wal Mart and bought it as on a whim.
My co-worker with me asked, "What are you going to do with that?"
"I don't know," I replied. "Maybe I'll save it for my kids."
I got married, we had a little boy and - eventually - he got big enough to wonder about what was in the dusty box in the garage. We took it out in March, 2010, and started the Space Program in Training (SPIT) together. Since then, we've moved up from the RTF kits to level 1 and 2 kits. We've recorded a number of flights with onboard video cameras. We sent up a rocket at night; we covered it in glow sticks so we could keep track of it. We've launched our first D level rocket. We plan to launch at least once in every calendar month (January - not fun).
Favorite Quote: "" - Meher Baba
Personal Home Page: http://radioflyer1980.wordpress.com Club Home Page: http://spaceprogramintraining.wordpress.com Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/bob.francis1 Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/100399446325895153751/posts RocketReviews.com Pages:
2014-04-11On the Subject of Storytelling Blog We speak in metaphor, assigning words to pin down persons, places, and things. We capture actions as verbs and experiences through myriad flavors of descriptors. We fill dictionaries with words and define those words with yet more words. [More]
2012-12-07McRocket Flight Time: 4:35 pm Temperature: 40 degrees. Wind gusting to 2 mph from the northeast. Relative humidity: 59%. Weather: Cloudy and dark.
Good launch, visible through powered ascent. Lost in the gloom of the sky. Daniel recovered 114 yards southweat of the launch ... [More]
2012-11-03Orange Blossom Special Flight A8-3 - Cul-de-sac, Belvidere, IL [More]
2012-10-27Athena Flight A8-3 - Cul-de-sac, Belvidere, IL [More]
2012-09-30Athena Flight Time: 1:40 pm. Temperature: 25.4 C. Relative Humidity: 24%. Wind: 5 - 8 mph from the east southeast. Weather: Clear, sunny.
Low flight and visible throughout. Parachute deployed and opened. Landed about 10 yards south of the launch site. Daniel ... [More]
Skyhawker Flight Time: 2:10 pm. Temperature: 21.8 C. Relative Humidity: 27%. Wind: 5-14 mph from the east southeast. Weather: Sunny, clear.
Low flight and visible throughout. Drifted west over the launch site. Daniel recovered about 10 yards west of the launch site. ... [More]
Orange Blossom Special Flight Time: 2:00 pm. Temperature: 21.5 C. Relative Humidity: 24%. Wind: 1 - 3 mph from the east. Weather: Clear, sunny.
High flight and visible throughout. Crossed near the sun in the sky as it descended. Streamer deployed, but did not open all the way. ... [More]
Hi-Jinks Flight Time: 1:45 pm. Temperature: 22.0 C. Relative Humidity: 27%. Wind: 4 - 11 mph from the east. Weather: Clear and sunny.
Good flight. Rocket spun as it ascended due to fin repair getting loose. Visible throughout flight. Parachute deployed and ope ... [More]
2012-09-26BFR  Flight Time: 6:35 pm. Temperature: 16.1 C. Relative Humidity: 24%. Wind: 5 - 8 mph from the east. Weather: Clear, sunset.
Good flight. Visible throughout. Arced towards southeast as expected. Parachutes deployed and opened. Rocket drifted back northwest ... [More]
Athena  Flight Time: 6:20 pm. Temperature: 63.5 F. Relative Humidity: 41%. Wind: 4 -7 mph from the east. Weather: Sunny and clear.
High flight. Arced towards the east and drifted west. Landed about 75 yards south of the launch site in the gully. Daniel recove ... [More]
Skyhawker  Flight Time: 6:00 pm. Temperature: 65.3 F. Relative Humidity: 41%. Wind 8 mpf from the E, gusting to 11. Weather: Clear, sunny.
Low flight and visible throughout. Arced south. Parachute ejected, but did not open correctly. Daniel caught about 10 yards south of the ... [More]
2012-07-26Sky Dynamo (Kit)  Review
This is a model from Sky and it would be comparable to an E2X kit from Estes, a pretty simple design that can be put together in a few minutes and fly as soon as the glue is dry.
Components
The rocket comes with a soft plastic nose cone and a clear payload. Unlike ... [More]
2012-06-18Of Hooves and Horsepower Blog The deal breaker for me is performance. While the Versa is not the fastest car in the world, horse acceleration is unacceptable. A horse goes zero to sixty in… never [More]
2012-06-11Santa Claus vs. The Tooth Fairy Blog “If you get something nice now under your pillow, that means you may only get a dollar in your stocking on Christmas Day.”
“That’s okay,” said Daniel. “That way I don’t have to be as good at Christmas.” [More]
2012-06-04Free Range Tree Blog We stopped at Ack Ack Nursery to see what they had for sale that met all of our arboreal criteria. The tree had to be taller than we were. It had to be big enough to support the weight of the occasional bird. Most importantly, we needed a tree that couldn’t escape. [More]
2012-05-28Death from Both Sides Blog I believe that – somehow – the people live on in the memories of those left behind. While that was comforting to me from my perspective – the living perspective – I found I had a lot of questions of what that would mean from the other side. What would such an afterlife seem like to someone who had died? [More]
2012-05-21White Shirt Blues Blog I pressed the Fanta button and stepped to the side so the first few purple drops of soda hit my arm instead of my shirt. I could wash my arm. I dropped the drinks off at the table and stopped Daniel from banging on the ketchup packets with his fists before disaster ensued. [More]
2012-05-14Memories – Mount St. Helens Blog I remember the scientists studying the mountain weren’t dressed like scientists. They didn’t wear white coats, just T-shirts and shorts and tennis shoes. [More]
2012-05-07All You Can Eat Blog “Daniel, I’m sorry I ever doubted you,” I said. “You really don’t like anything more than mashed potatoes, do you?” [More]
2012-04-30Off to See the Wizard Blog I pointed out how the film went to color when Dorothy arrived in Oz. It turned out Daniel hadn’t noticed. He just thought it was “the color of Kansas” before that. [More]
2011-12-08Childhood Conspiracy Theory Blog “Black and white pictures have shades of gray, no colors.” Daniel gave me a long look.
“Dad, are you obfuscating me?”
I almost choked on my malt. [More]
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Bob Francis |
