Captain Danger’s Weblog

I was thinking of naming this page “Bruno’s or bust” 

Our trip to Black rock and the launch will be chronicled using Captain Danger the Stunt monkey.  I was thinking of using some kind of Stunt Monkey perspective narrative; however I just don’t think I have neither the skills nor the balls to try to pull that off.  I may however attempt a post Norbert recovery interview with Captain Danger, if he survives.

Estimated time of departure Thursday 27 September 2007.

It’s going to be a long ride….

Tomorrow I leave for Bruno’s

Last night I caught Capt Danger playing with the rocket motor that will be used in Norbert.  I guess he finally found my copy of Dr Strangelove.  I was going to give him a time out, but he is just so excited I was afraid I would shake his confidence.

Major T. J. “King” Kong: Goldie, how many times have I told you guys that I don’t want no horsing around on the airplane?

            The road to black rock was an adventure in itself.  The drive was perfectly normal and rather boring as anyone who has taken I-80 from Wyoming to Nevada knows.  Only Utah provided some scenery as the mountains were beautiful and Salt Lake City was easy enough to navigate. The only hitch to our otherwise soothing and quiet drive occurred in Wendover Nevada when we stopped at the Peppermill Resort and Casino. Capt Danger was rather a handful and required a lot of adult supervision.

            Capt Danger started to get butterflies and expressed his misgivings about riding in Norbert.  I gave him a pep talk and reminded him of all the work he invested in training for this event.  He seemed ok until later that evening, however while Patty and I were downstairs Capt Danger found the beer in our ice chest. 

After a long evening of trips to the restroom and about two (little hotel pots) of coffee we managed to get him calmed down and put him down to sleep. 

The next morning he was a little green and hung over but his spirits were high.  (Pardon the pun) 

            We spent the night at Bruno’s Hotel and Casino.  The only think kind to say about Bruno’s is that it is better than sleeping in a leaky tent on the lake bed.  It has a shower.  Capt Danger was thrilled and could not wait to get out to the Playa.

            The next day the skies were clear and the wind was calm.  My Dad and his friends arrived around nine am and we headed out to the launch site. 

While they settled in I prepped Norbert for flight.  Capt Danger was anxious to go, once he saw a few launches he was much more calm and collected than during the previous evening. 

Once Norbert was prepped and Capt Danger was loaded just ahead of the main parachute we headed out to the launch pad.

            Once the rail was changed out, Norbert was loaded on the rail, and the altimeter was activated.  For some reason the first two tries to light the motor failed.  The igniters kept frying the bridge wire with out igniting the pyrogen. The waiting was intense; I can’t imagine how Capt Danger was handling it.  There wasn’t enough room in Norbert for Cptn Danger and a radio so he couldn’t communicate with the ground crew. 

            At last the third igniter did the trick and the home made L 1265 came to life.  The 18 pound rocket slowly rode the rail skyward sparks and flame dancing around the launch pad. 

It was a beautiful flight, Norbert preformed flawlessly.  Now, as they say, the easy part is over.  The hard part of the flight was only seconds away… Apogee deployment.  Right on cue as the rocket stopped upward movement, just with in eyesight the drogue parachute deployed.  Then Norbert started its decent towards the playa.  Capt Danger was still inside the main parachute compartment, he did have a hole in Norbert to look through, imagine the view he had from thousands of feet above the desert floor….. 

Then at one thousand feet above ground the main charge goes off and deploys the main parachute and Capt Danger. 

He fell gracefully to the ground some moments after Norbert touched down.  Capt Danger was recovered only about a hundred yards away, the closest recovery of any stunt monkey at Balls.  A feat he should be proud of.

            All in all it was a perfect launch, Capt Danger had a few scratches and his parachute was burned in a few places, but nothing that can’t be repaired.  Later that day he started to get a little to big for his helmet; he was bragging about reaching 10090 feet “a personal best” while he was watching other rockets launch.  Then one of the rockets had an accident on the launch pad. 

            To say this incident was a humbling experience for Capt Danger would be an understatement.  After changing his astronaut chute he made the following statement.  “OOohh  ehhh  ugh ugh eel  hhhhaaa  ug ug ug ug eeeee eeee!”   Which loosely translate to “I am not going up in one of those damn things no matter how many bananas you pay me”  Oh well, I am sure I can change his mind later in the year, I am thinking of going for my level three certification at Balls next year.   Capt Danger is welcome to come along for the ride…