Next launch dates November 20 & 21

Gentlemen: We are on for the November Launch, Kip had no reservation about us flying. The family, I believe, is pleased with our support and the kindness offered by us. I keep offering any help we can give, so far, they have no addtional requests. Times are yet to be determined but it looks like around Noon till 5:00 both days. Tune in for up-to-date info closer to that weekend. If you want to volunteer to do anything please contact Ralph at: roccprez@prodigy.net. We want to make this launch effortless for the Wiliams family. I went out to see the Williams yesterday and to inspect our stuff. When I called the Williams earlier yesterday Mrs. Williams said that someone had gone in and stole a pig and messed around in the buildings. They started yesterday beefing up the entrance and installing an electric fence around the house and sheds. First thing is, we are going to need to coordinate with Kip about getting keys to unlock the gates and according to his brother-in-law we will need to disable the electric fence and re-connect when we leave. Also, if anyone goes down there to look for stuff they are going to need to check in with them. They have a lot of help with running the farm and they don't know everyone. So, there will need to be a little coordination effort. Stay in touch, more to come soon. Ralph Roberts ROCC President

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Memorials for William (Squibb) Williams

Please remember that donations to the Crooked Creek "Cemetery Fund" should be mailed to: Maurice Broadway 5219 Rocky River Rd. North Indian Trail, NC 28079 Attn: Crooked Creek Cemetery Fund Please feel free to send money directly to the church. We had a fairly low turn out at the HobbyTown collection and it would be nice to remember Mr. Williams and the family at this time. The family requests that memorials for Mr. Wilburn Franklin (Squibb) Williams be sent to church. Thanks, Ralph Roberts ROCC Prez PS: Anybody ever hear what the "Squibb" was a nickname for?

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Donation Site at Rocket Display at HobbyTown

Eveyone: Ralph Roberts 620 Aintree Rd. Charlotte, NC 28215-2055 Steve Michael, owner of Hobbytown USA at Cheshire Shops at 3710 W. T. Harris Blvd. Charlotte, NC, has given us permission to use their store as a drop off location for Mr. Williams' memorial between 12:00-2:00pm.on Sat. Oct 16, 2004. We will setup a table out front to collect donations between those hours. If you can't come please mail any donations to me, see address below or directly to the Church. I have the address, however, let me call today and see how we should address the donation. We'll post that information ASAP. Joe Grosjean and his family has gone ahead and sent a card on behalf of the club to Mrs. Willaims. Mrs. Williams had asked that memorials be sent to Crooked Creek Primitive Baptist Church's "Cemetery Fund" at Crooked Creek Primitive Baptist Church in Monroe. I was unable to talk to Mrs. Williams yesterday, I'll try again today to find out Kip's condidtion. On a side note: I was going to bring a table, some rockets and brochures to hand out to folks who may be interested in joining the club. I may also have the new T-Shirts available as well, depends if they are ready by Friday. Please come by if you can I would like to collect a significant donation so we can get it to them as soon as possible. Sincerely, Ralph Roberts ROCC PREZ 704-568-1070

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Latest October Launch Info:

To all our members and friends; You are probably wondering about the reversal of excitement and cancelation of October activities in such a short time. The reason for canceling the October launch is that there has been a terrible tragedy in the Williams family, the landowners of the field. Mr. Wilburn "Squibb" Williams and his son Kip were in a traffic accident last Monday, Oct. 4th. Mr. Williams was killed and Kip was seriously injured and is still at Carolinas Medical Center this week. Out of respect for the family we felt canceling the launch was the only thing to do. They were responsible for opening up the gate and the house plus mowing the runway for us to use. This obviously will not be done. Moreover, we will need to check into our Tripoli and NAR Insurance to see if we will need to make changes to our policy since both Mr. Williams and Kip are listed as the land owners. So, at this time we are suspending launches until we have time to speak to the family about being able to fly at the Williams Farm Site. My hope is that we should be able to continue flying, however, now is a time to pay our respects and pray for family that has been so supportive of Rocketry going back to 1994. As a club we will be gathering contributions for a memorial for their church's "Cemetery Fund". The church is Crooked Creek Primitive Baptist Church in Monroe. NC. I will have more information on this later today. Please contact Ralph Roberts if you have any questions. 704-568-1070 or 704-560-0147. Sincerely, Ralph Roberts ROCC Prez

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October Launch Cancelled

Details to follow.

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Details for October Launch

Everybody: Well, finally we are back on schedule for the fall portion of our flying season, the Fall campout rocket launch 2004 is coming next weekend Oct 16th and 17th. Launch Times Saturday 12:00-Dark, Sunday 8:00am-6:00pm all day. We had two Summer Workshops at David Deason's Heating and Air Shop to focus on building techniques in July and August. They were successful, just wish more of you could have made it out. The hurricanes really messed our schedule up for September, nothing we could do about that. So here we are. I hope everyone can make it out. It should be a fun weekend.

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October Launch Dates Confirmed

Everyone: I had a conversation with Mr. Williams Sunday night to firm up the October Launch Dates, October 16 and 17th. Most of the field is cleared, all but the lower area next to the creek that was flooded out by Jeanne's rains. He is OK for us to fly our standard third weekend. He is also OK for us to Campout. I know this is also the race weekend which will may cause traffic headaches for people coming in via Concord. Hopefully, having the option to camp will provide people an option to stay Saturday night. The actual race will be Saturday night, not Sunday. Please encourage all friends and neighbors to come to the launch. We will need their support. More details are to follow as soon as I get confirmation on Ken's status from Performance Hobbies and status on the NAR contest. Thanks, Ralph

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Rutan To Go For Second Flight

Burt Rutan's Mojave Aerospace Ventures team will attempt the second flight in their attempt to win the $10 million dollar XPrize. The flight is scheduled for Monday morning. XPrize press release. For the first attempt on Thursday, space.com and nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv carried streaming video of the launch. NASATV also carried it. So check this out for Monday's attempt.

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44,000 feet PLUS

Here's one... a new world altitude record for TRA member John Rockdale in setting a new Tripoli Rocketry Association record for 'M' class altitude. John flew his "Tupelo" rocket at the Mudroc launch held at Nevada's Black Rock Desert on Saturday June 19, 2004. The flight was also a record for all Tripoli motor classes. According to the on-board RDAS GPS instrumentation, John's rocket achieved a maximum altitude of 44,958 feet (13,707 meters) AGL. Both stages were recovered intact. Check out his website for details: http://www.jrockdale.com/tupelo.htm

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TV for Rocket Fans

As Ralph mentions in the story below, Discovery has been running the LDRS rocket shows again, but we might have missed all except "How High Can You Fly" which runs Saturday, September 25th at 1pm. However, in trying to get the schedule for these, I ran across another show that may be of interest to everybody: Black Sky: The Race For Space

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