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Status of the Upcoming December 7/8 Launches at Elsberry – RSVP Form Available

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The weather is likely to be very cold during both days with some moisture from Thursday remaining. There is a possibility of snow showers on Sunday. The temperature during the day is colder than normal for fall launches and may limit attendance. For this reason, we need to know the interest level in flying and helping out this weekend and for the following weekends.

An RSVP form has been created for all possible launch dates in December. You can indicate your interest to fly, certify, or help out on the possible three weekends before Christmas. The November RSVP form was helpful and we thank those who filled it out and encourage the same for December.

The form is available here: link

 

Elsberry High Power Launch For November 23 or November 24 Canceled

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After discussing the situation with Dan today, the weather for the next few days (rain) will make the field at Elsberry unusable for the high power launch. The land owner does not wish to have the dirt roads damaged when the fields are wet. Also the winds on Saturday are forecast to be high and Saturday/Sunday will be cold.

Given the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the next opportunity to launch will be December 7 or December 8. Thanks to those who filled out the RSVP form for the November launches.  It helped enormously to gauge interest. It also made it easy to email detailed info to those who provided their info.  I plan to create a similar RSVP form for December launches. Look for more info on possible December launches next week.

Information and Map For Tomorrows (Saturday November 16) Challenger Learning Center Event

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Fellow Rocketeers,

    It looks like we are going to be in the school gym on Saturday.  Follow directions on the attached PDF file.  let me know if you cannot open it and I will send you a jpg file instead..  Sounds like once we get setup, we can head over the the Challenger Learning Center for coffee and bagels.  For those volunteering on Saturday, thank-you!!  See you at 8:00 on Saturday morning!
Please email me to confirm you are still planning on helping out: apollo45th@gmail.com
Heino, please forward this email to the rest of the club members.
Happy Rocketeering!
Dave Kovar
Map for the event: map CLC 10th
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tasmyn Front <tasmyn@clcstlouis.org>
Date: Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 2:36 PM
Subject: maps & parking

Just a few more details for Saturday:

Attached is a map of the activities.
When you arrive, you can drive right up to the high school front doors to unload your items. The addresses are:
Challenger Learning Center
205 Brotherton Lane
Ferguson, MO  63135
McCluer-South Berkeley High School
201 Brotherton Lane
Ferguson, MO  63135
You can then park directly behind the Challenger Learning Center, come inside the Challenger Learning Center for some coffee and bagels and then head back over to the high school. We'll have staff at both locations to help direct you.
Thank you!!

Notes from Tuesdays (11/12/2013) General Membership Meeting

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We had 13 members and 2 guests in attendance.

Achievements: Congratulations to Dan Crank who achieved his Tripoli level 1 certification at the October 26th Elsberry launch  on a 5 lbs fiberglass Shapeshifter and an H120 motor. He has also passed his level 2 written exam and plans to attempt the certification at our next launch using the same rocket.

John Buckley reported on the October Fly contest on October 26/27. Saturday was very windy, but Sunday proved to be a perfect day. There were a total of 11 competitors and the results will be posted on the web site.

We discussed the high power launch on Saturday October 26 and discussed the how we schedule and assess interest. As previously announced on the web site, we now have an RSVP form to help schedule launches and will try to schedule more Sunday launches for those who can't make our normal Saturday dates.  The weather for this weekend may not be good so we are considering a rescheduled Sunday launch on November 24th. We have already received several RSVP forms (thanks) and that is helping with scheduling over the next two weeks. We also plan to have another launch in December.

Craig Klimczak attended the monthly GSLMA meeting. They were happy to see the rocket flights during their Extravaganza and want to encourage our continued participation in their events. They are interested in rescheduling the Boy Scout launch next year and we're looking at different options for scheduling the event. Craig also reported that Buder Park flying permits obtained in the rest of 2013 will be honored for 2014 also. Those who fly at Buder park are encouraged to obtain a flying permit and NAR or Tripoli membership can be used (as well as AMA membership) for the insurance requirement. The form for the permit is at this link. Craig also asked the membership to consider participating in the First Robotics competitions as volunteers (as reported in a separate post).

David Kovar gave a status on the Challenger Center 10th anniversary event on Saturday November 16th and asked for volunteers to help. He has also posted the information on the web site. He will also be procuring prizes for the event as a SLRA member's expense. There was another meeting held at the Science Center for the May 2014 event and there will be a volunteers dinner held Wednesday night with Gene Kranz on May 14th.

Ken Gianino reported that we have obtained our incorporation documentation from the state of Missouri. We are now incorporated and we will have to prepare an annual report in August 2014.

The nomination process for 2014 SLRA officers will start in December. Members can nominate themselves or other members for the following offices: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Equipment Officer. The election will be held at the January meeting.

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting.

 

FIRST Robotics Volunteers Needed

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Subject: FIRST Robotics Volunteers Needed

Greetings All:

I am writing to solicit your help in making a difference in the future of our region and our economy. As many of you know, I am involved in the regional FIRST Robotics’ (http://www.usfirst.org/ ) efforts to stimulate our youth to get interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Through robotics, we believe that we can make science, technology, engineering and math fun and exciting. By hosting competitions and celebrations, FIRST aspires to achieve its goal outlined in its acronym “For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology.” You can help us achieve this goal by becoming a volunteer at any number of our competitions.

Over the last five years, FIRST has expanded exponentially in our region leading to a demand for more competitions and tournaments. This demand is outstripping our ability to staff and run these events. If you are interested in helping us meet this demand, you can help by visiting our local website http://stlfirst.org/ and signing up to be a volunteer. I am involved in the FTC program of FIRST.

If you are interested, please visit this link to sign up and become a part of something that I think is truly amazing for our youth and community. Sign up for FTC program events can be found at http://stlfirst.org/GetInvolved/EventVolunteers/FTCVolunteers/tabid/255/Default.aspx. Click Here

Thanks,
Craig

=========================================
J. Craig Klimczak, D.V.M., M.S.
Vice Chancellor for Technology and Educational Support Services
St. Louis Community College
300 South Broadway
St. Louis, MO 63102

Elsberry Launch Status, New Sunday Launches, and the RSVP Process

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The high power portion of our launch on October 26th almost packed up early because it wasn't clear who was coming and what time they were coming. The wind was somewhat high and the fliers who attended didn't arrive until a few hours after the official start.  After our Tuesday Nov 12 2013 meeting, the group decided to add an RSVP process so that those wishing to fly at our launches can communicate when they would like to fly or dates that don't work.  A form has been created that allows anyone to notify the organizers that they can or can't attend, and projects they wish to fly. You'll be required to submit the form in the following circumstances: plan to fly research motors, plan to fly in a waiver window (above 5500 feet AGL), plan to attempt certification for NAR or Tripoli, need to take the Tripoli level 2 written test. You're highly encourage to fill the form out if your planning to fly any kind of rocket so that we don't pack up a launch early or cancel due to light attendance. You'll be able to enter the days you can attend/can't attend and the approximate time you'll be arriving. The information you enter on the form will appear in a shared spreadsheet among the officers of SLRA and not visible to other individuals. Please note - there are no guarantees that we can accommodate all requests.  This is a new way to gauge interest, maximize our resources, and foster communication between the fliers and the launch organizers/schedulers.

The form is available at this link. The form is also available from the "About Us" menu item. You can submit multiple forms if your plans change and we encourage you to do so. All entries are time tagged as to their time of entry.

The group has also decided to accommodate Sunday launches at times - alternating between our three week scheduled launches. We will start planning Sunday launches based on RSVP input, weather concerns, and with the goal of alternating between planned Saturday and Sunday launches.

The weather does not look good for the weekend of November 16/17th but these launches have not been canceled yet. Please fill out the RSVP if you were counting on flying this weekend since there were only a few members who expressed interest in flying at these launches. Final determination will be made Thursday night.

 

 

 

Challenger Learning Center 10 Year Anniversary this Saturday – Volunteers Still Needed

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This Saturday November 16th, from 10 am – 5 pm, the St. Louis Challenger Learning Center (CLC) will be celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary. CLC Director Tasmyn Scarl Front has invited us to participate by putting on a static display and paper helicopter building session/duration competition.  Model rocket kits and club t-shirts will be given out to the top finishers.  Let me know if you would be interested in helping out, it should be lots of fun! CLC will be providing lunch for the volunteers.  My contact information is: email-kovardad@gmail.com phone – (314) 296-3171

Please email or phone me if you would like to help out.  Let me know if you need any further information.

The Challenger Learning Center is located out by Lambert Airport at 205 Brotherton Lane
St. Louis, MO 63135

For more information on CLC, go to http://www.clcstlouis.org/

Happy Rocketeering!

Dave Kovar

Tuesday November 12, 2013 General Membership Meeting Announcement

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Next Meeting: SLRA is having our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday
evening, November 12th, at our new meeting location: Google Map Link

Bandana's Bbq Sunset Hills
11750 Gravois Road
Sunset Hills, Missouri, 63127

We are continuing to meet at  Bandana’s BBQ Sunset Hills. Lets us know what you think about meeting at this location. Even though Bandana’s Sunset Hills doesn’t have a minimum food purchase, we are encouraging members to purchase something to support the use of the room. We have the room from 6:30 to 9:00 and we’ll need to leave promptly since 9 pm is the closing time.

 

The room will be availabe at 6:30 PM and  the business meeting will start at about 7:00PM. We'll need to be out of the room by 9:00 PM (closing).

If you're a member of SLRA, the meeting minutes from the October meeting will be available here: Meeting Minutes Page,

Topics for discussion at the November 2013 Meeting (partial list - filled as items come up).

1. Treasury Status.

From Oct 26th launch:
Mark Grant club membership (I have no paperwork):  $10.
Greg Rusbarsky membership (with form) check received $20.00
Launch fees:  $15 - cash
$9.41 after fees ($10) Paypal
Merchandise sales (1 hat):  $20
Total:  $55.

1 Membership received $10

2. Recognition of Achievements

3. Members expenses.
4. Review launches - October 26th high power, October Fly Contest
5. Upcoming Elsberry launch status November 16th - new survey form for fliers
6. Upcoming Challenger Learning Center event  - Nov 16th.

7. Successful club incorporation - work on bylaws

8. Upcoming elections for club officers

 

 

On line and paper membership forms with payments received by mail  to be processed by treasurer and president.

Please comment on this post or email me at heyno@heino.com if you have anything to add, or questions or comments.

Heino Pull
SLRA Secretary

Information on November 16th Challenger Learning Center 10 Year Anniversary Event -Volunteers Needed

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On Saturday November 16th, from 10 am – 6 pm, the St. Louis Challenger Learning Center (CLC) will be celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary. CLC Director Tasmyn Scarl Front has invited us to participate by putting on a static display and hands-on activity. My thought for the activity is a paper helicopter building session/flight duration competition. I will be providing rocket kits to give away for the competition prizes. Let me know if you would be interested in helping out. it should be lots of fun! My contact information is: email-kovardad@gmail.com phone – (314) 296-3171

The Challenger Learning Center is located out by Lambert Airport at 205 Brotherton Lane
St. Louis, MO 63135

For more information on CLC, go to http://www.clcstlouis.org/

Happy Rocketeering!

Dave Kovar

 

Additional info from Dave:

Here is the text of an email that I received today from Tasmyn Front (Director of the Challenger Learning Center)

Thank you all for agreeing to be a part of our November 16th Celebration Day event. As a reminder, the event will last from 10 am – 5 pm. We are suggesting that people plan on arriving here at 9 am so you can get set up.

We will be having many of the activities take place in the high school next door, including our portable planetarium, rocket workshops and all of our participating organizations. FYI–There is a chance that the high school (McCluer South-Berkeley) will have a playoff game that day, in which case the parking lot will most likely get very full. We have made arrangements for overflow parking at the church (Our Lady of Guadalupe) as well as the Schnucks located just West of Brotherton with a shuttle to pick people up at those locations.

I am attaching a flyer, which is also available here: http://www.clcstlouis.org/10-year-anniversary to the anniversary events, and if you can help spread the word about it we would be very appreciative.

We will plan on having a table and 2 chairs for each of you (besides the MySci, the flight simulator trailer from the AMA, and the Science Center’s EVie).

We will provide lunch for all of you, so if you could please confirm how many people will be here for each organization, that would be helpful.

In addition, if you could please email me a cell phone number that we can get a hold of you on the day of that would be helpful as well. My cell phone number is (314) 541-6036.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please let me know.

I look forward to seeing you all here on the 16th.

Please email me at apollo45th@gmail.com if you would like to help out. You can also call me at (575) 312-2893. SLRA will be putting on a static rocket display and paper helicopter building session during this event.

Happy Rocketeering!

Dave Kovar