Our first Spring 2014 launch on March 22 was a great success - thank you to all who participated! We may be able to have a second high-power launch in Elsberry this season, but this is not guaranteed. Several factors may prevent us from holding another launch, including the landowner's planting schedule, weather, and lack of flyers with projects to fly.

We have posted a new RSVP form to gauge interest for a possible second high-power launch. If you would like to attend, please fill out the form to let us know when you can come and what you would like to do at the launch. We will use the data to help us choose the best days to schedule a launch since our group is small, and we are so dependent on volunteers to make the launches successful. If we receive poor response, we will likely cancel any scheduled launches so this is the best way to avoid that situation. We can operate under regular commercial launch rules, or research rules and it is very important that potential research fliers fill in their preferences so that we can insure the launch is setup for research rules (and that we have the right people available for research fliers!). Spectators are always welcome at our launches and do not have to be members. If you are a spectator, it would be a good idea to fill out a form so that we can contact you directly if the launch must be canceled.

Please fill out the new form covering the new dates even if you submitted a previous form for the first spring launch.

The form is available at this link.

Thanks for filling a form out!

Since the weather conditions continue to be favorable (i.e., we have not had any significant rain this week), we are planning to hold a high-power launch at the Elsberry launch site on Saturday, March 22. I have been informed that the waiver will be open at 10:00 am, but if you would like to arrive slightly earlier to help set up equipment, I am sure your help would be welcomed.

If I get any additional details about a specific setup time or a pre-launch breakfast get-together, I will add them to this post, but I wanted to get the word out that we are planning for Saturday.

As always: please check this website for updates, up to and including the morning of the launch.

UPDATE: A few of us are planning to get to the site around 8:30 to start setting up and possibly get breakfast*.

(* - Breakfast not guaranteed, your mileage may vary, offer void in Maryland.)

A second RSVP form for Elsberry spring launch dates was published on March 13 (see previous post), since we ran through all of the dates on the first form without getting a launch in. If you are planning to join us for an upcoming Elsberry launch, please fill out the new form, even if you filled out the first (February/March) form. We have current RSVPs from Dan Adcock, Larry Terneus, Dan Welling, Mike Walsh, and me - thank you for the information! There were several other people who responded on the February/March form, from whom we haven't heard from on the new form, and it helps us with planning to know how many people want to fly and which days they can attend.

Please respond, ESPECIALLY if you are able to fly this weekend. At this point, the weather situation looks promising. We are hopeful that we are going to run a launch this weekend but have not yet determined whether it will be Saturday or Sunday. As always, please watch this website for updates.

P.S.: I have neglected to update the calendar on this website as we've been moving the launch date. I apologize if this has caused confusion. To clarify: we have not had suitable weather conditions for a high-power launch so far this year, and our next potential launch dates are March 22 OR March 23 (not both).

The RSVP form for Spring 2014 launches has been re-published with dates in March and April. If you plan to attend one of our high-power launches, please fill out the form to let us know when you can come and what you would like to do at the launch. We will use the data to help us choose the best days to schedule a launch since our group is small, and we are so dependent on volunteers to make the launches successful. If we receive poor response, we will likely cancel any scheduled launches so this is the best way to avoid that situation. We can operate under regular commercial launch rules, or research rules and it is very important that potential research fliers fill in their preferences so that we can insure the launch is setup for research rules (and that we have the right people available for research fliers!). Spectators are always welcome at our launches and do not have to be members. If you are a spectator, it would be a good idea to fill out a form so that we can contact you directly if the launch must be canceled.

Please fill out the new form covering the new dates even if you submitted the previous form with the February/March dates.

The form is available at this link.

Thanks for filling a form out!

Due to the heavy rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, it is still too wet to access the Elsberry launch field this weekend.  As many of you know, there is a strong possibility of damaging the gravel roads around the field if we go in when it is very muddy.  Our next opportunity to launch will be the following weekend, March 22-23.  Please continue to watch this site for schedule updates, particularly before traveling to Elsberry on launch day.

Due to continuing ground thaw and snow melt, it will not be possible to access the Elsberry launch field this weekend.  As many of you know, there is a strong possibility of damaging the gravel roads around the field if we go in when it is very muddy.  Our next opportunity to launch will be the following weekend, March 15-16.  Please continue to watch this site for schedule updates, particularly before traveling to Elsberry on launch day.