Back in 2021, I posted a report here on the blog for a launch outing on May 13th.
One of my models launched was the maiden flight of an Estes Super Shot.
After I pulled a still frame from the flight video of the liftoff, I made note of a mysterious object appearing in the sky just to the left of the smoke plume.
At the time I shrugged it off as an anomaly in the digitally produced image and didn't bother to investigate further.
Last night, I revisited the flight video, focusing on the liftoff portion starting at the moment of ignition.
What I found was not an image glitch, a UFO, or anything else, but the motor igniter plug striking the launcher and bouncing into the air.
The reason it looked so large and prominent is that it bounced in my direction while staying in the series of video frames.
Here are more pics from the video sequence:
I occasionally stand a little too close to the launch pad, and on several occasions in the past with my Quest launcher I've actually caught the motor plug. I've also gone full launches using the same plug for every flight. That usually happened on a freshly mown B6-4 Field.
ReplyDeleteVery cool you were able to actually catch one! They're quite speedy.
ReplyDeleteI've always fielded my position well. ;-) Then again, there might have been an element of luck involved.
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