St. Louis Rocketry Association High Power Rocket Launch

Launch Director: Mike Walsh

Contact info: mrwalsh85@gmail.com

When:

12/16/2023 OR 12/17/2023 (see note below)

10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

If a cancellation is made, we will do our best to communicate by Friday evening. 

The current weather forecast as of 12/11 is as follows:

Saturday 12/16: High of 52 degrees, increasing winds to 5 mph around 1pm, mostly cloudy.

Sunday 12/17: High of 55 degrees, increasing winds to 8mph around 2pm, partly cloudy.

PLEASE CONTACT MIKE WALSH by Wednesday 12/13 5:00 PM with a preference as to which day you’d like to fly, if you are planning to attend. The decision will be made Wednesday night, and communicated at that time. Please review the weather forecast for Elsberry prior to making your pick (Mike uses Weather Underground for his forecasts).

Location:

Elsberry, MO.

Our waiver is as follows:

Our waiver will be open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The range may or may not remain open until 4:00 pm, depending on how many people attend and how many rockets we want to fly.

Our waiver is 6,000' AGL with call-in windows to 14,000' AGL. 

Note: We would like to try to minimize impact to FAA traffic, so please email Mike Walsh if you will need a window for your flight so we can try to group the flights together. 

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 ten minute drive into town for fuel, food and restroom.

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 up to an M motor.

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, such as the monster pad (M capable), please contact Mike Walsh as soon as possible so we can arrange to have the monster pad there. 

If you are wanting to make any of the following flights, please reach out to Mike Walsh (contact info above) as soon as possible:

- a certification attempt, whether with NAR or TRA. Please include details such as Name, Certifying Agency, What level you want to attempt, and if you are wanting to do a L2 attempt, please indicate if you have already taken the test, or need to take it onsite.

- a multi-stage flight attempt that is not black powder (i.e. using composites and electronic staging) with details of your flight.

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. 

Elsberry, MO. Launch site location and directions to field:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1616154,-90.7682789,2917m/data=!3m1!1e3

Take MO-79 to Rt 920, located immediately north of the railroad bridge on the south side of town, and turn east onto 920, also known as Hatfield Rd, then turn right onto the access road on the east side of a large row of trees. We will have signage out. Please utilize the map attached for guidance to the launch site.

The December 9th Buder Park Launch has been changed to a day launch only due to the potential of increased winds in the evening. The launch time has been changed to 11:00 am - 3:00 pm.

We're passing this along from the Columbia Rocket Club:

The Columbia Rocket Club is calling a High Power Rocket Launch for this upcoming Saturday December the 9th from  12 noon to 5pm. We may shut down early if all rockets have been flown. We have 10,000ft AGL and a large recovery area. Anyone flying L or larger contact me in advance. Infrastructure will allow rod to 1/2 inch and 1010/1015 rail.
If it rains Friday night the field could be wet but it has been pretty dry and there is only a 50% chance of rain for Friday and very little change Saturday. Sunday will be too cold so this could be our last chance for 2023 to launch.

Mark Grant

Directions: We begin our instructions at the 151/22 intersection in Centralia, Missouri (I take Route B up from Columbia. B becomes 124 which becomes 151 as you cross 22.) At the intersection you head North. You come to a curve that turns you 90 degrees to the left (you are now heading West). Not much further and you see EE which you take right (you are headed North again). In 4-5 miles you see 124 where you take right (you are headed East). We will be on the side of the road about 1/2 mile down this road. Stay on the road. No driving in the field.

Day of the launch only I am on my cell 573-881-0122. Email me the rest of the time (markgrant@socket.net). Texting is fine if my phone is on.

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.