December 2008 Launch Report

Welcome All Ye December Rocketeers. It was the weekend before Christmas and we all huddled together in the Holiday spirit one last time before the current rocket year ends. Saturday, 20 December started out quite good, �T� shirt warm for many, and high altitude clouds and not to breezy. Good over flying conditions, and we had a pretty good flight crew, friends and spectators. We had 31 fliers sign-in on the flight roster and like I said, there were more people on site. At the end of the day, of which I will describe later, we had a total of 85 flights.

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Peace on Earth

just a link to one of the most beautiful and famous images in history, that's all. Happy Holidays to all... Doc & Jean

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November 2008 Launch Report

Welcome All Rocketeers, Before our December pre-Christmas launch, how bout I give a quick overview of last months launch. Nov 22nd, Saturday launch went off pretty well. I seem to remember that the weather was actually pretty good. Cool to cold enough for Ralph�s hot chocolate, and not too windy. We had 34 listed fliers, many competed in the NAR rocket contests. The winners were posted on the web site. I think we had just as many spectators. The 34 of us managed to put up a total of 95 flights. Most were really great, a few, like one of mine, became an excuse to justify building a new rocket.

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No ROCC Launch Sunday December 21st

Everyone: Despite the gloomy outlook for this afternoon�s (Dec 20th) weather we had a great turnout and a lot of great flights before, during, and after the rain. Clean up was really wet and a lot of equipment needs to dry out. Including the grounds around the silo. I got my truck stuck in the mud and special thanks to Brad for helping me out. Here is the deal. The grounds/runway will be too wet, especially if the rain does not end till mid morning, to drive on. Kip gave me another reminder today that we all need to make sure we travel up and down the runway on one side on the other to keep from making tracks. NO DRIVING DOWN THE MIDDLE This other issue is the winds are predicted to be 15-20MPH tomorrow afternoon behind the front. That�s above the safety threshold of 15MPH. There are just too many obstacles to try and overcome and fly so we are scrubbing the launch. See everyone in January. Sincerely, Ralph Roberts ROCC Prez and Prefect

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December Launch Announcement - Dec 20th Only

Everyone: Official launch announcement: Saturday and Sunday December 20th from 11:00 to 5:00 each day - Setup starts at 10:15 Setup will again be down at the old Windsock location. High Power pads even with the Windsock stand. ROCC Sport launch Vendors: Ken Allen from Performance hobbies will be there one possibly both days. I will confirm today Ralph Roberts and Family will bring out the Propane stove again for Hot Chocolate and Amanda will make some cookies, they were a big hit last month. Meetings: We will have a meeting both days promptly at 3:00pm, no slacking off this year. Topics: ROCC Elections, need to make final nominations for club offices. Election to be held at the end of the meeting on Saturday. During the November flier's meeting we took a number of nominations for club positions. A few changes happen since the meeting see below: President: Brad Shea Vice President: Doc Russell (Ralph pulled name to run for Prefect again) Club Secretary: Roy Potter Asst. Club Secretary: Louise Ferrell Treasurer: ????? - Louise please advise TRA Prefect: Ralph Roberts (I will opt back in for Prefect for this year) TRA Secretary: Doug Knight NAR Contest: Make recommendations on what kind and when for 2008-2009 season 2008 Membership drive continuation New T-Shirts are in make sure if we owed you on from last year, that you received. Roy, bring cash box as we owe Mark Ferrel money. NAR Contest Wnners from last month: Events were: Streamer Duration - Winner Roy P "A" Parachute Duration - Winner Bob B "1/2A" Boost Glider - Winner Bob B Spot Landing - Winner Emily S Drag Race - Winner Wayne H Prizes again this year are for a $10.00 giftcard from one of the Vendors and NAR Ribbons. (Bob B don't forget to bring the ribbons) Raffle: We had three winners not present to pick up their prices. I need to get the list of names I know Brad Shea was one of them. Note: Malcohm Smith has offered as a donation to the club a matching check for the total from the raffle. Roy, get me that number ASAP and he will bring us a check. Thanks a million Malcohm. The silent auction will continue this launch for the 29mm hobby mottor and the 38mm hardware set. Please bid as this money goes straight to the club. Duty Roster: I will have new sign-up sheets for the launches through April next year. Sign up to help, please. Porta-Potty: Will be serviced and ready to go. Flyer-Fees: Please come out and fly and pay your fees. Recommended $8-$10 donation a day per flyer. We still have to pay the land owner for the use of the land. Note: Keep an eye on email and the website WWW.rocketrycarolina.org for any changes regarding our launch. Questions, comments - Ralph Roberts @ roccprez@bellsouth.net Sincerely, Ralph Roberts ROCC Prez and prefect.

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ISS sighting ops

There are 2 GREAT opportunities to see the ISS this week, and the best one is on the 18th, Thursday morning at 6:56 AM. Starting from the southwest and moving toward the northeast, passing almost directly over Charlotte and visible for almost 6 minutes. Max elevation is listed at 82 degrees, or almost straight up. The next is on Saturday the 20th at 6:15 AM and visible for almost 5 minutes. This one has a max elevation of 66 degrees and is moving WSW to NE. for a more complete listing, go to the spaceflight.nasa.gov real-time data page and input your location. It'll give you your local sighting ops. Since they've been adding solar panels all over the station over the last few missions it's gotten very bright if you haven't seen it lately. DR

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End of an era, perhaps time for a new one?

On this date in 1972, December 14th, at about 10:30 PM, where were you? I was watching Harrison Schmitt and Gene Cernan do the last EVA of Apollo 17. The last of the Apollo missions to make the journey, the rest of the hardware scheduled for missions 18, 19 & 20 was used for the Skylab project after the budget for Apollo was gutted. Perhaps now, after 36 years, it is time to return to our closest neighbor in space. Question is, will we be in second place after China?

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Track The Bag

You all probably know about the various tracking systems that keep an eye on the (literally) thousands of pieces of trash & space junk that orbit our humble planet. Everything from old space ships, hardware, nuts & bolts, wrenches, etc. have all been left up there either on purpose or by accident. Well, there's another one recently left, this time a bag of tools worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-grand. Funny thing is, as painful as it might be, like all the rest of this stuff, they have to track where it is. If you're the curious sort, or just want to laugh at our wayward tax dollars whizzing around us, follow this LINK Ya gotta love this stuff! DR

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What's that Color?

A photographer & modeler friend of mine turned me on to this cool site that cross references real-world paint schemes of various agencies (Army, Navy, Airlines, etc.) to the different model paint manufacturers that are out there for those looking for that authentic paint scheme... it's here. DR

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Key found after launch

A single SCHLAGE key on a Red Guitar pick looking keychain was found at the ROCC Rocket Launch this past weekend in Midland, NC . Ralph has it at his house, email him at roccprez@bellsouth.net if it is yours. Thanks, Ralph Roberts ROCC Prez

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