Laurie and myself were the first to arrive with a few new members arriving soon after.
The weather was cold and windy but it never rained even though it came over black a number of times.
After a short time more members arrived and soon 4 pads had been set up and rockets were being armed.
The wind was still blowing quite strongly but Steve decided to launch a small rocket to test the wind, the rocket did a great flight and the parachute opened, but the wind grabbed it and the rocket slowly drifted out of sight and was lost.
Laurie then armed his Gemini rocket on a B6-4 and it was soon on the pad and waiting for launch, Laurie waited for the wind to die down and then pushed the button to let the rocket head skywards. The rocket deployed its streamer and landed a few minutes walk from the pad.
The target competition was then started and Steve was the first to try with his Sidewinder.
The rocket did a great flight and deployed the parachute before drifting towards the target, the rocket landed but was just inside the 100 foot limit of the tape measure at a distance of 99 feet 6 inches
James was the next to try for the target with his Star Wars Droid Fighter rocket and managed to beat Steve with a distance of 87 feet 9 inches
Gary was next up with his Spirit rocket and managed to get into second place with a distance of 96 feet 4 inches.
Gavin was the next person to try for 1st place and with his Falcon rocket he achieved it with a great distance of 37 feet 4 inches
Then for over the next hour rockets were launched and were getting closer and closer to the target. the final results are as follows
Laurie also got close with 22 feet 0 inches but we decided that both of us would not compete in the competition
All the members who took part also deserve a mention as a lot of the rockets were landing under 100 feet from the target, and this was with the target over 300 feet from the pads and with gusty winds.
As well as the competition rockets Gary also was brave and launched his Commanche 3 rocket on 2 stages which looked really good and impressed everyone before landing and being retrieved after a long walk
Another highlight of the meeting was Steve's Phoenix which launched perfectly but seemed to take too long to deploy it's parachute and headed for the ground, so Steve shouted at the rocket "Parachute" and as if on command the rocket deployed the parachute immediately.
The biggest scare of the day was when Gavin's Falcon which had already flown 3 times today did 2 complete loops at around 50 feet before crashing into the ground.
Overall the meeting was very good with 25 people coming and 35 launches being recorded. All this with high wind and rain threatening all day