Aerial Train Wreck

10 responses to “Aerial Train Wreck”

1. 

   jurvetson

   Oct 5, 2008 at 4:15 am

   Click…click…click… It does a hop over Black Rock in the first frame, and the O-size motor separates from the body in frame 14/15:
   

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2. 

   heet_myser

   Oct 5, 2008 at 4:40 am

   That’s good stuff. Was the body made of cardboard tube?

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3. 

   nhr

   Oct 5, 2008 at 5:28 am

   > There’s a certain lack of craftsmanship in the build that cues us to be ready with the camera…

   My suspicion is that these CATOs are more a manifestation of the Jurvetson effect, and that sooner or later you’ll be designated as a persona non grata at rocketry events

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4. 

   Erik Charlton

   Oct 5, 2008 at 5:34 am

   Steve — Fantastic sequence! You get all of the credit for this one. I was ready to walk over to look for the P to Q rocket when you said, “Hey, they are going to launch that Sonotube rocket.” =)

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5. 

   Niall Oswald

   Oct 5, 2008 at 9:34 am

   What was the motor? Excellent CATO and good work catching it. BTW, the other photos in the sequence seem to be marked as private.

   The way things are going weather-wise in the UK, I’m going to have to save up for a flight and get myself out to black rock to get some usage out of my camera equipment! Very jealous to see rockets launching into blue skies…

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6. 

   Leon Jacobs

   Oct 5, 2008 at 10:14 am

   Er … couldn’t that be … sort of … eh … lethal?

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7. 

   Apollo 11

   Oct 5, 2008 at 12:10 pm

   Great series showing how a rocket turns into a fireworks display.

   The most fun must be the anticipation of the train wreck — like going to a wedding and betting on how long they’ll last. 🙂

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8. 

   jurvetson

   Oct 6, 2008 at 3:40 am

   heh… or a NASCAR race…

   Leon: not yet.

   heet: yeah – Sonotube and plywood fins slapped together.

   Niall: yeah, they are private. Not because they are, but because I didn’t want to clog up the photostream with an overload of rocket shots (and if they are private, they don’t show up in the feed). I have over 10K subscribers to the RSS feed and I’m guessing they are not all as excited about rockets as I am. =)

   Here are a couple of the best shots enlarged:
   
   twisted firestarter… and pop goes the motor.
   Oh, and there was a fellow Brit or two there. Will post a photo of her soon.

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9. 

   ImranAnwar

   Oct 12, 2008 at 11:16 pm

   Wow, you’ve got amazing timing and great instincts. I find the first shot the most amazing, as it shows the disaster already in progress.

   Imran
   http://www.flickr.com/photos/imrananwar/sets/

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10. 

    Sascha Grant

    Nov 6, 2008 at 10:34 pm

    Oh no!
    Really, if you’re going to stick an ‘O’ up the bum of your rocket, you gotta do more than wrap it in $20 worth of cardboard!! Amazing shots 🙂

    Reply