Saturday (Feb. 24) is a Go

Be pre-paired all ye Rocket Junkies. We have a Rocket Launch, make-up launch this weekend, 24-25 February. ROCC Prez Ralph arranged with Mr.Kip Williams to let us come back out to the farm this weekend to have another launch. To give us another chance to fly under better conditions than last weekend. Unless Mr. Kip is actually working the fields, it is usually not a problem. So, anybody who wants a second chance to do some flying, come on out. Ralph and a few of the rest of us plan on getting out there early to get the range setup and flights can start as soon as setup is complete. Earlier, it looked like Sunday would be OK until later in the afternoon, but the weatherman just can't seen to makeup his mind on when the rain front is to move into the area.So we will fly Saturday and make a weather decision Saturday evening, so check your e-mail, or ROCC website, late that night or Sunday morning.

Click to read more ...

Sunday's launch scrubbed

Due to the weather, wind & cold, Sunday's launch has been canceled. HOWEVER, we are rescheduling to next weekend. Note that the new launch schedule has been updated to next Saturday & Sunday, the 24th & 25th. Keep an eye on the site for more updates as the week progresses. Thanks to all who braved the wind and cold on Saturday and we'll see you on the field next weekend.

Click to read more ...

This Weekend's LAUNCH

Launch is on Feb 17th and 18th Saturday 9:30-6:00 Sunday 11:00-6:00 (weather permitting) Confirmed Vendors on site (Feb 17th and 18th) Performance Hobbies - Ken Allen Giant Leap - Tim Durbin (Contact both prior to the weekend to expedite orders) Due to weather concerns we may try to fly Feb 24th and 25th the next weekend 11:00-6:00 both days. Need to confirm dates with the Williams. NAR Contest launch March or April, Contest have been decided, will post more tomorrow. Note: Early start time on Saturday due to front approaching later in the day. Thanks, Ralph Roberts

Click to read more ...

Sea Launch CATO

Bob Bernatchez sent me a link to this item on Youtube... a video of a spectacular CATO on 31 January. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxKxzMLMcQU Proof that even the pros can have bad days... Thanks Bob!

Click to read more ...

HELP

Ralph sent me a note to follow up on the idea of signing up for launch duties, and I think it's a great idea. Thing is we're looking for a good way to have a sign-up sheet on the site that can be written to by our membership. It's a bit of a sticky one, but we'll get it. In the mean time PLEASE if you can help out on Set-up on Saturday morning, handling a couple of hours of launch duties firing off AP, or tear-down on Sunday send me an e-mail at: wireknot@gmail.com. Thanks!!

Click to read more ...

Rapid, Unscheduled Disassembly

Every now and then I go by Flickr.com and type "rocket" into the search bar. It's kind of interesting what pops up now and then. Here's one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/47154864/ It's called a land shark, and it's both cool and frightening at the same time! See ya on the field!

Click to read more ...

Change in Launch START TIME

Due to the fickle nature of the weather forecast for Sunday, we've moved up the start time for Sunday to 9:00 A.M. So get up early and, for goodness sake, somebody bring some coffee!!

Click to read more ...

Launch update for 1-20 1-21

Everyone: The January Launch is a go at Williams Farm this coming weekend Jan 20th and 21st. Also, the 2007 membership drive is continuing, please renew or join in. We will start the launch at 11:00AM to extend the day. So we will be running the launch from 11:00AM to 5:00PM each day. Setup is at 10:30AM. Vendors: Saturday : Ken Allen from Performance Hobbies ( CALL HIM ASAP FOR ORDERS), & Sunday Brent Johnson from Hobbytown, USA, (New shipment of Estes and Aerotech motors in stock) Tim Derbin from Giant Leap We will have the Porta-A-Jon at this launch, please come out to support the Porta-Jon. We need as many people as we can to make our flyer fee goal. Last month we had a lot of flyers and met our goal. We need everyone and their donations so please contribute if you fly. At least try to make it out for a little bit. Remember our recommended donation is $8.00-$10.00 per flyer per day, families with lots of young flyers maybe a $10.00 donation would be good. Again, these are recommendations not harden rule. The requested weekend land fee from the land owner is $250, so we need everyone to drop a little something in the jar. Anyone needing to certify, please contact me ahead of time. Todd Haring or Terry Baucom can arrange to have the Level 2 NAR test delivered to the field and we can have others administer the test. New Launch Duty Roster will be available for anyone wanting to pull duty this launch. Plus, we will have one for the Feb and March launches for folks to sign up. One Last call for nominations for club officers, we will have a 5-10 minute meeting at 12:00 Noon Saturday to call for nominations and if we have enough folks we will have an elections for 2007 ROCC and TRA Offices. Our by-laws state we must make it official, so we will do that Saturday. Anyone wanting to run for club officers please step up. Note: Bob B will be taking over NAR advisor for Steve Bumgarner. Everything else is up for grabs. Would there be any interest in having another NAR contest as early as the Feb launch, we need to finalize what contest we want. (Bob B, Doc R., Brad S., if you could make a recommended list, that maybe a good start.) We also need to discuss schedules and hopefully get started on a 2007 summer flying site. Weather looks to be cold as of Wednesday afternoon!! Saturday 49 sw winds at 9, calm at dusk Sunday 47 light nw winds at 5, calm at dusk, 30 % chance of a mix late Bring you big coat this time. If you have any questions please email me at ROCCPREZ@bellsouth.net or call me at 704-568-1070. Thanks, Ralph Roberts ROCC Prez

Click to read more ...

State of the (Rocket) Union

Everyone: Well another year has flown by and we are part way through our 2006-2007 flying season. The 2005-2006 season was a great one, membership is trending up, slowly. Attendance is up. This hobby, through all the regulatory issues, is still hanging in there. We have a great group of folks who love to fly. Of course, all the buzz last year was Doug Knight's mentored TARC team winning the 'Nationals', that was truly the feel good story of the year. The guys gave their account of the contest last fall, it was truly a lesson in doing your homework, working hard, and having just a little "luck" along the way and you can succeed in what ever you put your mind to. I suspect we will have more folks attempting to qualify this year, will just have to wait and see. I want to thank Steve Bumgarner, Roy Potter, John Hood for being the ROCC officers for the year, again. You all do great work and are very appreciative. Again, the call to change leadership has not yielded any new candidates, unless I missed someone. However, a lot of support has been offered, to the point I am going to take people up on that. Colon, I be calling you. We did not have an official meeting for nominations last launch cause everyone wanted to fly, however, we had some discussions on moving some folks around. However, if you all would like to take 10 minutes at the start of the day, say around Noon Saturday Jan 20th to do the official "call to meeting" we will do so. Our by-laws do state we have an official nominating/elections for club offices each year. For the rest of you volunteers, here is my shout out to you guys and gals. You all make it easy at launches for setup and tear down, equipment clean up, etc. These launches can't be pulled off by just one person, it takes a village and we have a great one. Here's the list of current officers as of 1/1/07:

Click to read more ...

Soviet space pioneer Sergey Korolyov's 100th birthday

This, from the geek news site BoingBoing.net, posted by one of their regulars: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/13/soviet_space_pioneer.html Happy Birthday to the person who the Soviets thought so important that, if we had known his name, we'd have either killed or kidnapped him. They referred to him in the (few) press reports only as "the Chief Designer". There's a great Bio on his life by James Harford which provides some great insights into the USSR/USA race to the moon.

Click to read more ...