Tag Archives: meeting notes

Notes From Last Nights Membership Meeting (July 8 2014)

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1. There will be a launch on July 19th at Buder Park. Set up time is 8:00 am with launch starting at 9:00 am. The launch is planned until 12:00 noon and can be extended if the weather is good and people would like to continue flying. Anyone is welcome to come fly with us. The details are at this link.

2. We have scheduled our first fall launch at Elsberry. It is scheduled for Saturday October 11th. We will be hosting both an NAR regional contest (October Fly) and a Tripoli research launch. We plan to have a total of 3 launches this fall and will announce the dates for the remaining two launches later this summer. The launch has rollover dates if weather forces a cancellation.

3. A number of SLRA members are planning to attend the Argonia launch in Kansas on labor day weekend. Look for a separate post on the web site giving more details of this large regional launch.

4. Based on a motion from the current board of directors (Heino Pull, Dan Welling, and Rob Chapie), we have added the following directors: Don Hanson, Rodney Riederer, David Kovar, John Buckley.

 

Notes from Tuesday 6/10/2014 SLRA Meeting – Buder Park Launch Details

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1. We are planning to have summer launches - the first on Saturday 21 June 2014 at Buder Park. Additional launches are planned for the third Saturday of July, August, and September. With our recent work with the Science Center, we may have access to a much better field than Buder Park so stay tuned to the web site for additional details.

The launch on 21 June will have setup starting at 8:00 am with the launch starting at 9:00 am. We plan to fly to around 1:00 PM. Everyone is welcome to attend and fly rockets at Buder park. You do not have to be a club member or a member of the NAR or Tripoli and kids are always welcome with adult supervision.  This is a perfect place to get acquainted with the club, the national organizations (NAR or Tripoli) and learn the safe way to fly rockets. The park is not large which limits the size and power of models flown with the ultimate limit being a 3.3 lb rocket. We encourage much smaller models though because of the proximity to the Meramac river and the need to avoid landing on the R/C field which we share access. Flights over 1000 feet are allowed, but unlikely to be recoved safely if any wind is present at all so please ask if you have concerns about loosing your rocket.

Everyone who flies with us must also realize that the St. Louis County Parks requires organizations that fly there to have some form of insurance and we will be covered by NAR insurance which will protect our club and members and the property at Buder park as an NAR sanctioned launch. However, anyone flying without being members of NAR or Tripoli will not be insured directly and must fly under supervision of an SLRA member who is a member of either NAR or Tripoli. We will need to make sure all launches occur under the NAR safety code and must supervise the prep of the rockets for anyone not a member of NAR or Tripoli.  We are glad to do that - so feel welcome. It is to your benefit to eventually join either of the national organizations which will then cover your rocketry activity under their insurance - even at other locations. We  want you to try out the hobby first and to have fun flying with your family in a safe environment - as long as all the safety rules are followed. Members of the Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts and their leaders are covered by Tripoli insurance as long as the NAR safety rules are followed. If you have any questions please ask - you can comment on this post or email the club at admin@stlouisrocketry.com.

2. We had a lessons learned session with Dave Kovar after the very successful Apollo 11 45th Anniversary event with the Science Center and Missouri STEM organization. Dave Kovar (who organized the event) handed out Gene Kranz signed "Foundations of Mission Control" certificates to the club volunteers who helped out. Dave provided the following info on the history of the "Foundation of Mission Control":

"After the Apollo 1 fire, he (Gene Kranz) and others developed a charter, "Foundations of Mission Control." It was a contract or code of conduct, which in the NASA human spaceflight world was the closest thing to the Ten Commandments. Foundations very clearly spelled out the values, expectations and responsibilities that each and every employee in Mission Control was expected to understand, believe and live as a member of the NASA team.

As is the case with many others at NASA, I have a copy of Foundations on my bulletin board at United Space Alliance, where I am almost 10 years into my leadership role with the company. Foundations serves as a constant reminder of the traits of a competent and respected leader … one ultimately responsible for the outcome of their decisions. This is the kind of leader I aspire to be."

The event was very successful and hope to have similar events in the future to support science education and STEM. Thanks Dave Kovar for organizing the event.

3. We have not yet set up a fall launch schedule for Elsberry and high power rockets. We anticipate flying at Elsberry in October and John Buckley will hold another "October Fly" contest. Look for more details on the web site in the coming months. We also plan to continue having flier surveys to gauge interest for scheduling purposes.

4. If you need to pay for t-shirts, hats or club membership - you can always send money through PayPal at the email address: admin@stlouisrocketry.com.

As always, feel free to comment on this post or email admin@stlouisrocketry.com if you have any questions.

Heino Pull
SLRA Secretary

 

Notes From the General Membership Meeting – Tuesday, March 11, 2014

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We voted for the rewritten 2014 bylaws which were adopted with 1 absentee ballot and unanimous vote of all members present. The bylaws are now in effect and can be viewed at the member's bylaws and meeting minutes page on the web site.

David Kovar briefed the membership on the upcoming Apollo 11 event in May. He'll provide detailed status on the web site, but he confirmed that there will be a volunteer's dinner for Gene and Marta Kranz at the Moonrise Hotel on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 and we are invited to attend. The dinner will be about $30 per person and Dave passed a signup sheet at the meeting. Volunteers will be needed for a May 3rd practice launch at Buder, and at the Science Center Friday May 16, and Saturday May 17th.

The field owner at Elsberry indicated that the conditions were ok as of Tuesday night for Saturday if we don't get any rain. Unfortunately,  it seems there was significant rain over night. Dan Welling will contact the landowner on Thursday for final determination.

Thanks to everyone who attended.

 

 

Notes From Tuesday’s (2/11/2014) General Membership Meeting

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1. Election results. All in attendance plus one absentee ballot confirmed the ballot and officers.

2. New bylaws - based on the work of Ken Gianino and a Saturday bylaws review session (Heino Pull, Ken Gianino, David Kovar, Rodney Riederer and comments from Rob Chapie and Dan Welling), we have a proposed new document for the membership to review and vote on next month. The new bylaws are oriented towards a simplification and a necessary report for the corporation due towards June 2014. The corporation requires a board of directors which already have 3 members when we submitted in the paperwork to the state: Dan Welling, Rob Chapie, and Heino Pull. The new bylaws allow up to 9 directors and will be voted on by the membership. The board of directors will then in turn elect officers which now are President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The equipment officer position is now an equipment committee and there is also defined an IT committee both authorized by the board. Detailed rules for running elections and the timing have been removed from the bylaws and will be determined by the board of directors.

As per the current bylaws, it is required that the new bylaws be available for review by the membership and will be voted on at our next meeting. We intend to switch to the new bylaws after the vote and will have a board of director election later in the year.

The bylaws are available at the following link if you have membership status on the web site.

3. A weather committee email list will be created this weekend for launch weather decisions. Anyone who is a member and wants to discuss the weather decisions is invited to join. Send an email to me and I'll add you to the list (heyno@heino.com).

4. I'll be adding launch surveys to the web site this weekend. Fill this out to let us know when you want to/are available to fly at Elsberry.

5. The web site status of 2013 members who haven't renewed will be change to non member status on 1 March 2014, or on the Saturday of our first Elsberry Launch, which ever comes first. As a reminder, you have to be a member of SLRA to participate in high power launches at Elsberry. Model rocket fliers who aren't members can still fly if they have proof of insurance - (NAR or Tripoli membership). Spectators are always welcome and don't have to be members of the club.

6. Look for more details of the Apollo 11 event at Buder Park and the Science Center. Retired Apollo launch director Gene Kranz and his wife will be coming to St. Louis and we will need club volunteers to help with the events. This will be an exciting event and should be a great deal of fun.

Heino Pull
SLRA Secretary

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.