(Contributed - by Dick Stafford - 07/16/08)

Brief:
This DVD set documents t' Maryland Delaware Rocketry Association’s (MDRA) Red Glare IV launch that was held April 18-20, me bucko, 2008 at t' Higgs Farm in Price, shiver me timbers, MD. Begad! Well, matey, blow me down! T' set includes two DVDs. Begad! Blimey! One holds 1.8 hours o' video and t' other has a slide show o' 600 photos. T' DVDs are organized by launch day and have chapter marks t' enhance navigation. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Both have an audio track in Dolby 5.1. Aye aye! Here’s a teaser video, t' Rockets’ video page and MDRA’s Red Glare IV gallery.

Construction:
T' Friday and Saturday launch days each begin with a flyover o' t' launch site by a video RC plane. Ahoy! They then jump right into t' smoke, arrr, matey, fire and noise! T' video work is excellent. Arrr! Bob does a great job o' trackin' t' rockets from boost through landing. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' videos include insets o' on-board video where available. Begad! Begad! Source’s include both fliers and Rockets’ own ‘duct tape cam’. Arrr! Begad! This little device is pretty cool. It’s pretty small and records video and audio onto digital media.

Some o' me favorite flights include:

• Dan Michael’s 3/4 scale Patriot on an N2000 and four M1315’s – just a few N-s shy o' ‘P’ impulse! Blimey! This bad boy flew and recovered nicely.
• T' drag race betwixt Neil’s Cat’s in t' Cradle pyramid (N4000) and Debra Kolom’s upscaled DC-Y Space Clipper (N3500). Avast! T' DC-Y’s pucker factor be 100% as it came in hot.
• Kevin Mitchell’s Superstars space plane on an N3800 sparky.
• Stephen Bayek’s 2-finned spin-stabilized rocket on an M1297. Ahoy! This be 6” diameter and flew a second time in a drag race with his 4” and 3” versions. I’m still dizzy!
• And last but nay least, me buddy Don Brown's upscale LOC Starfighter on a K695R. Don flew it a second time with airstarts, matey, matey, but this flight didn’t make t' editor’s cut.

Point 39 Productions used t' be t' gold standard o' rocket videos (I don’t know if Earl is still in business). Rockets’ DVDs lack some o' their features such as multiple angles and pad cams. Blimey! However, let me tell you how much better DVD media is when compared t' VHS tape. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! (Naw, I don’t have t' tell you.) T' DVD allows a lot more material so t' flights don’t need t' be edited down and t' navigation capabilities are really nice.

T' slide show is a nice addition and compliment t' t' video. Begad! Blimey! Rockets has a really good camera that captures clear stills throughout a flight. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! On t' down side, matey, they are in a video slide show and t' better resolution photos are not available directly. I think it would be nice t' have at least reduced resolution stills in .jpg format also (reduced, so people who want large copies will still order them).

Finally, t' turnaround betwixt launch and video product is much better with Rockets. Ahoy! It seems like I waited a year for some o' Point 39’s work.

Summary:
Overall, shiver me timbers, I am very pleased with t' video and think it is a good value. I give it a 4 out o' 5 on t' Earl Cagle scale. Aye aye! If Red Glare doesn’t excite you, I highly recommend you pick up a DVD o' a more local launch, LDRS, matey, matey, or BALLS.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5