After a lot of phone calls the filming of a rocket launch for the "Blue Sky" T.V. Programme finally found a launch site.
Many thanks must goto Marion Sheraidah and the other staff of Simon Balle School for giving us the go-ahead in such a sort time.
So on Saturday the 31st March I left home at 11.45am with the car's backseat and boot filled with rocketry equipment and a number of rockets.
I had arranged to meet the film crew at 1.00pm but decided to arrive at the school early to check the field and weather conditions.
When I arrived I was glad to find the field was fairly dry and only muddy in a few places but the wind was rather gusty and even worse, it was blowing the opposite way - towards the far side trees and the main road.
At 1.00pm the film crew arrived and after a few quick introductions we moved the cars to the car park near the field and we both started to unload our equipment.
The wind was still blowing quite strongly and I felt unhappy about launching a big rocket in the strong wind, so I decided to launch a normal Estes Hijax rocket on an A8-3 to see what the wind was doing.
The film crew asked if they could film the launch as they may have to use the footage if I could not launch any of the big rockets.
I said yes and then for the next 20 minutes I waited while the crew set up their 2 cameras and got ready to film the launch.
I asked Anna, (one of the production crew) if she had even seen or launched a rocket, and when she said no I told her that she could launch the Hijax.
The cameras were finally set up and so I gave Anna the few instructions on how to use the launch system.
Then following a 5 second countdown Anna pushed the launch buttons and the Hijax leapt of the pad and headed skywards.
But unfortunately the shock cord broke and the 2 separate pieces of the rocket. fell back to earth breaking one of the fins on landing.
For the next few hours I was filmed arming and loading the seven D12-3 engines with quickmatch, then putting the engines into H.A.R.T. Attack before finally carrying it to the launch pad.
H.A.R.T. Attack was put on the pad and the film crew began filming it from every angle and working out the best shots for the launch
While they were filming the main rocket I armed a second Hijax rocket with another A8-3 engine to test the wind for a second time.
The 2nd Hijax launch also had problems as the parachute failed to deploy and the rocket landed hard, also braking one of it's fins.
The wind had died down a little and so at just before 5.45pm I decided it was safe to launch H.A.R.T. Attack.
The 2 video cameras were set up and started to record when I started a 5 second countdown.
I pushed the launch buttons and for just a split second nothing happened, then the rear of the rocket came to life and was engulfed in flames as the rocket launched into the heavens.
H.A.R.T. Attack climbed vertically to around 600 feet before deploying the parachute perfectly.
Then for the next minute or so we all just watched as the rocket slowly drifted down and towards the far trees. The wind was kind thankfully, and the rocket landed on the far side of the school field and the parachute gently got hung up in a small tree.
I managed to recover the rocket undamaged and the parachute came down from the tree with just a gentle tug on the shock cord.
Once the rocket was safe and I had walked back to the launch site the film crew showed me their video footage of the launch, both cameras got great shots and the underneath camera footage was amazing.
We then slowly repacked our cars and said goodbye before heading our separate ways for home.
"Blue Sky" will be on BBC2 some time this year but the schedule is still to be decided.