I just happened to turn on my computer and check my email for the first time in six days yesterday, and got the news that Tripoli MN was going to have a research launch that same afternoon. The plan was to launch Big Yeller, a twenty foot tall rocket weighing 180 lbs, the largest amateur rocket flown in Minnesota! Of course I couldn't miss this event.
Above, the team is arming the altimeters just before launch.
A lot of people rushed off after the launch, but I came down to help recover the rocket. They were glad of an extra hand, because it was a bulky thing to lug around in the cornfield.
I took a picture of the aft rail button (the part that holds the rocket on the pad). It sustained some damage that looked like it had gotten stuck on the launch pad. Apparently this drag at liftoff nearly halved the altitude.
