I was pressured into model rockets by me buddies in a 4x4 group. Avast, me proud beauty! Once a year we would camp out on New Years eve and shoot rockets, ya bilge rat, BS and get drunk around a campfire, in that order. T' first year (2003) I just watched and got ragged on for nay havin' a rocket, same thin' happened in 2004, ya bilge rat, but it be fun t' watch t' different rockets and they were talkin' about how next year they would have an altitude contest.... A couple o' weeks before t' 2005 NYE party, one o' t' chief instgators in this "rocket thing" called me and made me promise t' brin' a rocket t' that years party. So I did some research online and found a local hobby shop that carried rockets, went thar and found an easy rocket t' build (level 2) that went t' highest (1800 ft.) It was an Estes "Mongoose". Spent a couple o' hours buildin' it and took it out t' t' party. No warm-up, shiver me timbers, just loaded it with C-6-0/C-6-7 and launched it. Ahoy! Really don't know how high it went, nobody had any way t' keep track o' it, so thar really wasn't a "contest" per se. Aye aye! My in me mind, me Mongoose won hands down. Avast, me proud beauty! And sittin' around t' campfire that night, t' longer we drank, me bucko, t' higher me rocket went.....
Next year (2006) I did a little more research and found Apogee Components website, shiver me timbers, bought a beginner rocket called t' "Blue streak" and a bigger rocket called t' "Aspire". These were models you actually had t' build, me bucko, and I started learnin' more and more about model rockets through t' Apogee website, matey, now I own six rockets and just attended me first club launch with t' Superstition Space Society. This hobby is definately addictive, me wife Sharon has put me on a $100 a month rocket budget, if it weren't for that, shiver me timbers, I'm sure I would need a semi-truck t' get me stuff t' t' next club launch.
