St. Louis Rocketry Association (SLRA) celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 15 flight and the 60th Anniversary of the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury flight with a commemorative launch event on Saturday, August 7, at Buder Park.
Video courtesy of The Aero Experience
St. Louis Rocketry Association celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Freedom 7 Mercury spacecraft mission with a commemorative launch event of their own May 1, 2021 at Buder Park in St. Louis County.
Video courtesy of The Aero Experience.
Good day follow rocketeers. We are currently updating on the website for this years low power launches at Buder Park.
Please watch the website for the schedule updates.
We are scheduling a high power launch for 11/20. We originally planned on 11/13 but it seems that the communication did not reach our general membership that was not in attendance at recent meetings, so out of respect we are pushing it out a week.
We would like to get a general understanding of who plans to fly and what special equipment you might need. The monster pad may or may not be needed so having an understanding will help us with planning greatly.
Contact Mike Walsh (mrwalsh85@gmail.com) with your interest and/or any questions you may have regarding the upcoming launch.
As always please watch for weather related updates at https://www.stlouisrocketry.com
While this is an outdoor event where social distancing requirements are easily maintained most of the time, there may be instances at the RSO table and pads where a mask would be appropriate. Please BYOM (bring your own mask). If you are unable to maintain 6’ distance from others outside of your own personal group, please be kind and wear a mask. If you are feeling ill or have a fever, please stay home. There will be other high power launches you can attend.
Our waiver will be open from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. The range may or may not remain open until 4:30 pm, depending on how many people attend and how many rockets we want to fly.
Our waiver altitude is 6,500 feet AGL, with call-in windows to 14,500 feet AGL.
The club equipment trailer should arrive at the field around 9:00 am for us to begin setup. We would greatly appreciate as much help as possible with setup and cleanup, so please plan to arrive early if you can.
There will be neither food concessions nor restroom facilities at this site, but it is a very short drive into town for those needs.
Launch fees will be $0 for Low-Power Rockets (also called Model Rockets and class 1 rockets, with 1/4 A up to G80 engines) if you're a PAID SLRA member, and $3 if you're not a paid SLRA member; and $10 for High-Power Rockets (also called class 2 rockets) up to M.
We plan to have various sizes of launch pads set up, from the 1/8" model rocket rods up to 1515 rails. If you have any special needs, please reply to this email and we will see if we can accommodate you. In particular, if you need the "Monster Pad," please let us know ahead of time.
As always, please be courteous to our hosts and respectful of their property, including driving slowly on all farm roads. Once we get on site, we will clarify where it is okay to drive and park.
Location and directions to field:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1616154,-90.7682789,2917m/data=!3m1!1e3
Take MO-79 to Highway JJ, the first intersection south of the town of Elsberry.From this point, we should have signs up to guide you - but head east onto Old Missouri 79 (if you were coming north from the St. Louis area, this is a right turn) and continue straight onto the farm road where the main road takes another right turn.
SLRA is having our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday evening, October 26th.
It will be held at Bandana's Bar-B-Q, 11750 Gravois Road, Sunset Hills, MO 63127-1804.
Due to COVID-19, this meeting will also be held on Zoom:
Topic: SLRA October Business Meeting
Time: Oct 26, 2021 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81235278964?pwd=M1p6WlArdTR0K3RtMm9pV01LYm82dz09
Meeting ID: 812 3527 8964
Passcode: 819529
If you're a member of SLRA and are registered on the website, you can view minutes of previous meetings here: Meeting MinutesPage, The meeting minutes will be the basis of our "old business" discussion.
THE STANDARD AGENDA FOR ALL MEETINGS IS AS FOLLOWS:
1. Minutes
2. Treasury Status
3. Recognition of Achievements and Contributions
4. Members expenses
5. Old Business
a) Launch Report / Schedule,
1) Oct. 30th – Spooktacular at Buder Park
2) Nov. 13th – HPR Launch at Elsberry
6. New Business
Online and paper membership forms with payments received by mail to be processed by treasurer and president.
Please email admin@stlouisrocketry.com if you have new business for the meeting.
October Fly this year will be held October 2-3, at Buder Park.
Contest events
1/4 A SD
A PD
A HD
B ELA
B Alt
1/2 A RG
Sport Scale (Optional)
No returns required except as required by the event.
This contest will be sanctioned as an NRC competition, three of the NRC events are on the events list.
Set up starts 8AM
This contest will be sanctioned as an NRC competition, three of the NRC events are on the events list.
Contest hours will be 10AM to 5PM Saturday and 9AM to 3PM Sunday. The contest will end promptly at 3PM Sunday.
Sport flying will also be welcome,
Spectators are welcome, but are not allowed to approach the launch pads.
Launch pads are usually set up in the southeast corner of the park, but this may change based on wind direction and other activities nearby.
Anyone who is a current, paid member of the National Association of Rocketry or Tripoli Rocketry Association is welcome to participate. Due to insurance regulations, those who are not a member of one of the two national organizations will need to have a NAR or Tripoli member inspect and fly their rockets for them. Non-members will also be asked to sign a liability release. If you wish to fly your own rockets, please be prepared to show your NAR or Tripoli membership card, or a receipt of payment if you are a new member who has not yet received a card.
Please note that these launches may be cancelled for a number of reasons, notably: weather conditions (rain, high wind), park conditions (mud, flooding), or scheduling conflicts (another group’s use of the park makes it impossible to safely launch, or not enough SLRA members are available to run the launch). Please check the “current launch status” on the front page of our website, https://www.stlouisrocketry.com, before making your way to the park. Also, the number of people in attendance has a bearing on how long the range stays open; if you plan to arrive after 11:00 am, please call ahead (314-630-7619) to make sure we’re still flying. We will continue to fly rockets past noon if the weather is good, our battery holds out, and people still have rockets to fly.
Buder Park launches are conducted under the NAR safety code as “Class 1” rocket launches. Class 1 launches carry the following restrictions:
Rockets must weigh less than 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) at liftoff, including propellant.
Rockets must contain no more than 125 grams (4.4 ounces) of propellant – this includes most motors up through G class (although see the note below regarding high-altitude launches). Only certified, commercial motors are allowed.
Rockets must be made of wood, paper, or breakable plastic, and contain no substantial metal parts.
Rockets must employ a recovery system such as a parachute, streamer, helicopter, glide, tumble or featherweight recovery
Decisions of the LCO (launch control officer) and RSO (range safety officer) are final with respect to these restrictions and safety in general. Our goal is safety for everyone involved.
The total size of Buder Park is approximately 2100 x 1200 feet, which according to the Model Rocket Safety Code is large enough to fly a G motor rocket. However, please keep in mind that we are usually not the only users of the park – we share it with radio control aircraft flyers, archers, sports teams, joggers, and many others. Also, the perimeter of the park is lined with very tall trees, and just beyond the north treeline you will find the Meramec River. Have some idea of how high your rocket is expected to go before you launch, keep the wind conditions in mind, and use common sense. Experienced SLRA members will be happy to advise you to make sure your rocket is safe and likely to be recoverable.
Finally, please remember to take adequate precautions in hot weather – use sunscreen and bring water or sports drinks to stay hydrated. One nice thing about Buder Park is that there is plenty of shade around the edges of the field, so please take shelter from the sun when you need to.
SLRA is having our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday evening, August 24th.
It will be held at Bandana's Bar-B-Q, 11750 Gravois Road, Sunset Hills, MO 63127-1804.
Due to COVID-19, this meeting will also be held on Zoom:
Topic: September SLRA Business Meeting
Time: Sep 28, 2021 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82955142901?pwd=TitBQmh4NDAxTWFSU2NuclVWYjJrUT09
Meeting ID: 829 5514 2901
Passcode: 933836
If you're a member of SLRA and are registered on the website, you can view minutes of previous meetings here: Meeting MinutesPage, The meeting minutes will be the basis of our "old business" discussion.
THE STANDARD AGENDA FOR ALL MEETINGS IS AS FOLLOWS:
1. Minutes
2. Treasury Status
3. Recognition of Achievements and Contributions
4. Members expenses
5. Old Business
a) Launch Report / Schedule,
6. New Business
Online and paper membership forms with payments received by mail to be processed by treasurer and president.
Please email admin@stlouisrocketry.com if you have new business for the meeting.
SLRA will hold their first ever night launch at Buder Park Saturday August 28th, 2021, starting at 6:00 pm and going till possibly 11:00 pm. Attaching glo-sticks to the outside of a rocket is easy. And some rockets have a clear payload tube in which to put glo-sticks. Or come up with your own unique way of illuminating your rocket. So come and enjoy the sights of Night launched rockets.
Keep your eye on the weather as rain could scrub the event.
If the sky is clear, Heino Pull and others will bring telescopes for viewing of the night sky. At sunset (7:35 pm) Mars, Mercury and Venus will be setting on the Western horizon and Saturn and Jupiter will be rising on the Eastern horizon. The moon comes up late (10:58 pm). The Milky Way will be high overhead. So the viewing of open and globular clusters and some nebula should be good.
Launch pads are usually set up in the southeast corner of the park, but this may change based on wind direction and other activities nearby.
Anyone who is a current, paid member of the National Association of Rocketry or Tripoli Rocketry Association is welcome to participate. Due to insurance regulations, those who are not a member of one of the two national organizations will need to have a NAR or Tripoli member inspect and fly their rockets for them. Non-members will also be asked to sign a liability release. If you wish to fly your own rockets, please be prepared to show your NAR or Tripoli membership card, or a receipt of payment if you are a new member who has not yet received a card.
Please note that these launches may be cancelled for a number of reasons, notably: weather conditions (rain, high wind), park conditions (mud, flooding), or scheduling conflicts (another group’s use of the park makes it impossible to safely launch, or not enough SLRA members are available to run the launch). Please check the “current launch status” on the front page of our website, https://www.stlouisrocketry.com, before making your way to the park. Also, the number of people in attendance has a bearing on how long the range stays open.
Buder Park launches are conducted under the NAR safety code as “Class 1” rocket launches. Class 1 launches carry the following restrictions:
Rockets must weigh less than 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) at liftoff, including propellant.
Rockets must contain no more than 125 grams (4.4 ounces) of propellant – this includes most motors up through G class (although see the note below regarding high-altitude launches). Only certified, commercial motors are allowed.
Rockets must be made of wood, paper, or breakable plastic, and contain no substantial metal parts.
Rockets must employ a recovery system such as a parachute, streamer, helicopter, glide, tumble or featherweight recovery
Decisions of the LCO (launch control officer) and RSO (range safety officer) are final with respect to these restrictions and safety in general. Our goal is safety for everyone involved.
The total size of Buder Park is approximately 2100 x 1200 feet, which according to the Model Rocket Safety Code is large enough to fly a G motor rocket. However, please keep in mind that we are usually not the only users of the park – we share it with radio control aircraft flyers, archers, sports teams, joggers, and many others. Also, the perimeter of the park is lined with very tall trees, and just beyond the north treeline you will find the Meramec River. Have some idea of how high your rocket is expected to go before you launch, keep the wind conditions in mind, and use common sense. Experienced SLRA members will be happy to advise you to make sure your rocket is safe and likely to be recoverable.
Finally, please remember to take adequate precautions in hot weather – use sunscreen and bring water or sports drinks to stay hydrated. One nice thing about Buder Park is that there is plenty of shade around the edges of the field, so please take shelter from the sun when you need to.
SLRA is having our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday evening, August 24th.
It will be held at Bandana's Bar-B-Q, 11750 Gravois Road, Sunset Hills, MO 63127-1804.
Due to COVID-19, this meeting will also be held on Zoom:
Topic: August SLRA Business Meeting
Time: Aug 24, 2021 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82307643123?pwd=Z3kyNElVMllwbWtkZU5ycXdpbS91QT09
Meeting ID: 823 0764 3123
Passcode: 744570
If you're a member of SLRA and are registered on the website, you can view minutes of previous meetings here: Meeting MinutesPage, The meeting minutes will be the basis of our "old business" discussion.
THE STANDARD AGENDA FOR ALL MEETINGS IS AS FOLLOWS:
1. Minutes
2. Treasury Status
3. Recognition of Achievements and Contributions
4. Members expenses
5. Old Business
a) Launch Report / Schedule,
b) Trailer Status,
c) GSLMA report,
d) Wireless Cellphone Weather Station
e) NARAM Update
f) Swap Meet / Garage Sale
g)
h)
6. New Business
a)
b)
Online and paper membership forms with payments received by mail to be processed by treasurer and president.
Please email admin@stlouisrocketry.com if you have new business for the meeting.
Please see the wonderful article written by Carmelo Turdo with The Aero Experience. He documented our Commemorate Apollo 15 and Liberty Bell 7 Mission launch we had recently.
The Aero Experience is a celebration of Midwest Aviation and aerospace achievement. We believe that aviation is best appreciated through direct experience, and so we encourage everyone, especially general audiences, to participate in the many aviation activities available in the region. The Aero Experience supports organizations and events that enhance the capability and effectiveness of Midwest Aviation, and we partner with our sponsors and advertisers to strengthen the Midwest Aviation business climate. The results of our work are posted regularly on our website, The Aero Experience blog.