Tomorrow's Spooktacular Night Launch Event has been cancelled due to the cool and rainy weather forecast that's predicted for tomorrow evening. The winds are also predicted to be out of the Northeast which means we would not have use of the pavilion. There's a possibility that we may schedule a night launch event in early December if weather conditions are favorable.
Happy Rocketeering everyone!!!!
Secretary Dave
Fellow SLRAers,
The forecast is not favorable for Saturday's Spooktacular Night Launch event, The rain chance for Saturday evening is now 88% and the winds are still projected to be out of the North/Northwest. That means we will not be able to use the pavilion for shelter. We'll need lots of shade/rain canopies. We should have a pretty good idea on Friday evening what the weather is going to be Saturday for our event. Keep your eyes peeled to the SLRA website and I'll strive to get the notice out late Friday or early Saturday.
Let me know if you can provide any of the following: Generator, canopy, tables for hot dog/chili feast, hot dogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, relish plates, napkins, plastic utensils, bowls.
The Wash U contingent is bringing chili.
NOTE: There is no backup date for this event as the Night-Launch Permit is only good for Saturday and Sunday looks to be rainy throughout the day/evening
Happy Rocketeering!! Secretary Dave
Unfortunately, our bad streak of weather luck continues. The high-power launch in Elsberry today is cancelled due to a Red Weather Alert - high winds and dry conditions make it a fire hazard. We will post here if we are able to reschedule. The next regularly scheduled high-power launch will be December 16.
After a long dry spell (or, more accurately, lack of a dry spell) we have an opportunity to launch high power rockets this Saturday in Elsberry, MO and the weather forecast is looking good.
Range setup will start around 9:00am. If at all possible, please arrive between 9:00 and 10:00 to help with setup - the more people we have, the easier it is on everyone and the sooner we can start flying! 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. For those unfamiliar, this means that you can fly up to 6,500 feet at any time the range is open, but if your rocket will go higher than that (or if it's going to be close to 6,500, or if you're not sure), please speak with the launch control officer, who will call FAA TRACON (air traffic control for the area around Lambert Airport) and clear the window when you're ready to launch.
Although we do not expect any rain this week, it's always a good idea to be prepared to walk in mud, which means boots and possibly a spare pair of shoes. Even though it'll be cool, don't forget sunscreen and something to drink. There will be neither food concessions nor restroom facilities at this site, but it is a very short drive into town for those needs. There is also no rocketry supply / motor vendor at our launches.
Launch fees will be $0 for Low-Power and Mid-Power Rockets (up to G motors) if you're a paid SLRA member, and $3 if not; and $10 for High-Power Rockets (H to M motors).
We plan to have various sizes of launch pads set up, from 1/8" model rocket rods up to 1515 rails.
As always, please be courteous to our hosts and respectful of their property, including driving slowly on all farm roads. Find a place to park along the side of the road, but do not drive into any field.
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). Once across the train tracks, Old 79 turns again to head back south, but you won't - keep straight onto the dirt road that leads across a wooden bridge and into the field.
Only one word describes last Saturday’s SLRA Buder Park Sport Launch event….Wow!!! The weather was perfect with low wind conditions, clear blue sky, and temps in the mid to upper 80s.
We had a couple of records broken for the 2023 Buder Park Launch season; the most rocketeers in attendance, at 32, launching a total of 117 rockets. It was really gratifying to see all the families in attendance enjoying launching rockets together. Ten of the thirty-two rocketeers were Junior SLRA members.
Event Highlights:
- SLRA members Greg Roorda and Darrell Weber made their first appearance at a 2023 SLRA Buder Park launch. Darrell brought a bunch built and un-built rockets for donation to SLRA’s Take-it/Fly-it program. His donations were put in the hands of youth in attendance and were sent skyward/homeward. Hopefully these rockets will to be seen again at future SLRA Launch events.
- Three members of the Washington University Rocketry Club were in attendance as well: Maeve Lomax, Lilly Fisher, and Alexa Wienoff. They were all given a rocket from Darrell’s donation collection. Darrell assisted them in prepping their rockets for launch, filling out Flight Cards, and placing the rockets on the Launch Rack for their inaugural liftoff.
- The third and fourth SLRA Junior NAR membership awards were presented to Victoria and Dakota Drake. Congratulation to the both of them for receiving this well-deserved recognition!!
- Dakota and Victoria Drake;s Dad, Doug, flew his first mid-power rocket, the LOC Precision Mini Magg. The first flight was a bit underpowered (D12-5), reaching an altitude of approximately 30’. With the help of a larger engine (F24-7), the second launch was a huge success. Congrats Doug
A BIG Shout-out goes to:
- Dave Pape and Doug Probst for getting all the launch equipment to and from Buder Park and as always did an outstanding job of orchestrating set-up.
- Chris Lagemann for assisting with set-up and take-down
- Charles Barnett for being the Launch Control Officer for most of the launches. Thanks Charles!!!
- Darrell Weber and Peter Seddon for taking some great pics at the event, showing attendees having a great time and lots of rockets ascending skyward.
What an amazing day!!!! Thanks to everyone in attendance for making this such a great event!!!
Happy Rocketeering!!
Secretary Dave
Link for Downloading Flight Cards
The November 18th Elsberry Launch has been cancelled due to our launch date coinciding with the Missouri Firearms Deer Season. There are lots of deer blinds around the Elsberry site and we have no idea on which way the rockets will be drifting on launch day. To eliminate any chance at all of a bad situation occurring, the only true choice is to cancel the November HP Launch.
Note: The October and December Elsberry HP Launches are not impacted.
There is also an opportunity to launch High Power November 10-12 at the National Association of Rocketry's East National Sport Launch that's being held near Pence, Indiana. The host for this event is the Indiana Rocketry Society (Section #711). The launch ceiling is 17,999'. There will be vendors, Food Trucks, and Raffle winning opportunities. Hopefully SLRA will have great representation at this event!
Happy Rocketeering!!
Secretary Dave
SLRA is having our next general meeting on Tuesday September 26th, 2023 at Fallon’s Irish Bar and Grill located at 9200 Olive Blvd, Apt 116, Olivette, MO
6:00-7:00 PM - Rocket Talk Social Hour
7:00 PM - Meeting Start Time
More Post-Meeting Rocket Talk up until 9:30 pm
If you’re a member of SLRA and are registered on the website, you can view minutes of previous meetings from our website’s Meeting Minutes Page, The unresolved discussions from our previous meeting will be the basis of our “old business” discussion at Tuesday’s meeting.
Meeting Agenda
New Meeting Attendee Recognition
Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting
Recognition of Achievements and Contributions
Treasury Status
Members expenses
Recent/Upcoming Launch Events
Old Business
New Business
A rocket from the Mike’s Fischer Memorial Collection and a “still in the package” unbuilt rocket kit will be raffled off at the end of the meeting.
Please email secretary@stlouisrocketry.com
if you have new business for the meeting.
Zoom connection no longer available
The August 27th SLRA Buder Park Launch was well attended despite being moved from Saturday to Sunday morning due to rain. Due to overnight rain, the field was pretty wet upon arrival. A total of 16 SLRA members brought rockets to launch. The final launch tally was 56 flights. It was great to see Michael Ikemeyer at a Launch. He took full advantage of the opportunity by having the most launches at seven. There was a tie for the second most launches (six) by Junior members Peter Seddon and Creighton (Cray-ton) Reeves. Peter had several successful flights of his Estes SLS rocket, in between taking great photos of other rockets being sent aloft. With rocket-prep assistance from Don Hanson and Dave Kovar, Creighton launched his collection of Mike Fischer Rockets, ranging from a two-stage 13mm rocket to two 29 mm rockets. Note: Creighton renamed two of his rockets Fischer I and Fischer ll. What a great/thoughtful tribute to Mike “Rocket Man” Fischer.
There were lots of great launches with Brian Hamilton’s dual D-engine cluster Flame Thrower rocket being my nomination for the most impressive flight. This was also Brian’s first-ever dual-engine rocket launch. Nice job Brian!!
The no-doubt highlight of the morning was the deserving presentation of a SLRA Junior NAR Membership award to Creighton Reeves in recognition of his enthusiasm for model rocketry. Creighton joins Peter Seddon as dual 2023 SLRA Junior NAR recipient recipients. Congrats to you both!!!
Happy Rocketeering!!!!
Secretary Dave
Mike Fischer Memorial Raffle : A portion of Mike’s “still in the package” unbuilt rocket kits will be raffled off at the end of the meeting.
Please email secretary@stlouisrocketry.com if you have new business for the meeting.
Zoom connection no longer available