(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, 2008 at t' Higgs Farm in Price, ya bilge rat, me hearties, me bucko, MD. Aye aye! T' set includes two DVDs. Arrr! One holds 1.8 hours o' video and t' other has a slide show o' 600 photos. Avast! T' DVDs are organized by launch day and have chapter marks t' enhance navigation. Both have an audio track in Dolby 5.1. Arrr! Begad! Here’s a teaser video, matey, ya bilge rat, 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. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! They then jump right into t' smoke, arrr, ya bilge rat, fire and noise! Blimey! T' video work is excellent. Aye aye! Blimey! Bob does a great job o' trackin' t' rockets from boost through landing. Ya scallywag! T' videos include insets o' on-board video where available. Aye aye! Source’s include both fliers and Rockets’ own ‘duct tape cam’. Arrr! This little device is pretty cool. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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! 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). Begad! T' DC-Y’s pucker factor was 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. Begad! Blimey! This be 6” diameter and flew a second time in a drag race with his 4” and 3” versions. Begad! I’m still dizzy!
• And last but nay least, me bucko, me buddy Don Brown's upscale LOC Starfighter on a K695R. Don flew it a second time with airstarts, arrr, 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. Ahoy! However, let me tell you how much better DVD media is when compared t' VHS tape. Well, blow me down! (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! Rockets has a really good camera that captures clear stills throughout a flight. On t' down side, matey, they are in a video slide show and t' better resolution photos are not available directly. Arrr! Arrr! 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. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! It seems like I waited a year for some o' Point 39’s work.

Summary:
Overall, arrr, ya bilge rat, 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. Begad! If Red Glare doesn’t excite you, ya bilge rat, I highly recommend you pick up a DVD o' a more local launch, shiver me timbers, LDRS, or BALLS.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5