Rocket Men

Ever since watching the movie “October Sky” and having the opportunity to fly in a small 4-seater airplane on a Cub Scout outing this summer, Will has been enthralled with flying. He’s currently building a model P-38 Lightning and has been diligently studying the pictures within the book about American Aircraft in World War II.

I guess you could say that he’s a chip right off the ol’ block. Right, Bill?

Bill has always had an interest in flying things. After we were married and before we had kids, he had a special section of our basement (or dining room, sometimes) designated for airplanes. There’s nothing like the smell of balsa wood, epoxy, and small engine oil to take me back to 1996.

Due to his own proclaimed “lack of man-space” in our present house, he hasn’t been able to get back into building and flying the RC planes that he once did, much to his own dismay. But, as an alternative to this, he and Will have recently re-discovered an old hobby – rockets.

They went to the elementary school last week to launch a few with Will’s friend Henry.

Here's my "Rocket Man"...

Don't let anyone tell you that flying rockets is easy. It can actually be quite a competitive sport. But really, this was nothing compared to our neighbors Brad and Candace racing each other the week before...:)

This new hobby takes up a whole lot less space and doesn’t require a fraction of the time and money needed for RC airplanes. The only bad part is the smell of sulfur that gets into everything. I know it’s warped, but I can’t help but think of Keanu Reeves in “Constantine” when he is describing the smell of Hell.

So, if you ever come to my house, don’t worry…it’s just the rockets.