FAILURE TO LAUNCH

"LANCASHIRE, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"

Heartened by the recent success with capturing the Nuclear Pulse launch, I thought i'd have a go at something a little more dramatic. The Topper/Deluxe Reading Cape Canaveral Rocket Base has been a staple toy for me since I was about seven. One excited Xmas morning I got the set laid out, primed one of the 10" rockets in the spring powered launcher... and Bam! Off it went, a perfect parabolic orbit across the room and crashed into the tree, fusing all the xmas lights. Needless to say, my name was mud for the next few days.

Since that epic launch in the sixties, that set has long gone, but with Woodsy's help, Ive now got an almost complete second set. So, thinking I could record the dramatic launch of a rocket with my camera, I laid it out on the conservatory floor, found a long aluminium rod, primed the camera and...

..Nothing. No amount of pushing or nudging would make it go. A quick spray of WD40, though and it was away - but unfortunately, too fast for my old shutter finger.

  But perseverance is the name of the game, so some 300 frames later, I cracked it. Unfortunately, the launch took 1/30th of a second, so it was a very brief shoot!

The big stick effect also pushes the base around, but the considerable recoil from the rocket (which sailed 8' into the air and landed on my head) slams down shaking the launcher.

On to Phase 2... see the pilot on the extreme left faint dead away at the thought of being sent into space!

Expect more potentially damaging camera hijinks soon..