Rockets Gone Wild

The pop of a supersonic shred, scattering fins below...
and the beginning of a sparky spiral dance in the sky...
Rocket Rain

Here's a rare catch of a fleeting midair moment - the forward retention for the solid-fuel motor has failed and so it thusts forward up through the rocket, pushing the parachute and nose cone out prematurely:
Premature Ejection

Even the little Estes motors can have a forward closure failure, with glorious results:
CATO of the Day

Sometimes the nozzle pops out the back, lowering thrust dramatically... and triggering premature separation and release of the smoke grenades:
Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly Further Mishap

The early parachute deployment creates an aerial u-turn...
Aerial U-Turn Splashdown

and a convenient return close to the launch pad.

Clusters of motors offer more chances of a failure. With this one at DairyAire, one of the J motors exploded through its aluminum casing during airstart ignition. It ruptured the side of the rocket and blasted up through the body:
Flying the Flag (2 of 5) Flying the Flag (3 of 5) Flying the Flag (4 of 5) Flying the Flag (5 of 5)

A fine family flying the flag for the Fouth. =)

The supersonic shreds spread the laundry in a yard sale in the sky, here with a Q motor CATO:
Supersonic Shred - 1 Supersonic Shred - 2 Supersonic Shred - 3 Supersonic Shred - 4

Sometimes they come back hot:
Coming In Hot - 1 Coming In Hot - 2 Coming In Hot - 3 Coming In Hot - 4

At times, it looks like an arcade game of Missile Command:
Missile Command IMG_6289 IMG_6290

And makes you wonder the comprehensive policy on auto insurance:
Heads up! Supersonic Inbound

More like this

Always borrow someone else's car when you go to the rocket meet-up.

In the HD original, you can see it graze my car by mere inches before putting a divot in the Black Rock Desert....

than you admin

thanks...scienceblogs