For 2015 the SoAR Officers are:
Congratulations!
Other details from the meeting will be reported later. Pizza was very good, Black Bean Salsa was astounding.
We did indeed have a launch at Mill Springs Academy on Saturday the 24th, with about a dozen people showing up to brave the temperature and the wind. The school that was going to be there did not come due to the wind, and we’ll reschedule them for a later launch, but those that did show up had a pretty decent day despite the wind. By the time I left we had only one or two rockets that were lost due to wind, and one boost glider that splashed down in the drainage lake, but was retrieved. Dan McMahill and family returned after being absent a year or so and flew a few odd rockets, including one that looked to me like Tom Servo from the old Mystery Science Theatre 3000 show. We didn’t bother with flight cards or record keeping today, so I have no idea how many rockets were flown, but I’m thinking close to forty by the time I left at 3:30PM.
Next launch at Mill Springs is on Valentine’s Day. Hope the weather starts to get warmer by then!
A little bit of non-club news that many will be interested in: Sheryl McLawhorn announced Friday that she has sold Semroc to Randy Boadway at eRockets.biz . In a post at Ye Olde Rocket Forum, Sheryl said, “We have known (Randy) since the beginning of Semroc. He wants to keep the quality of service and parts Semroc is known for so Bruce and I will be helping him get it up and running again. Please give Randy the kindness, patience, and understanding you have given us through the years. We will truly miss each and every one of you.”
UPDATE : Randy Boadway’s statement
The January 10th launch event at Mill Springs was conducted under blue contrail crisscrossed skies with light and variable winds. There were twenty-five participants making a total of 69 launches. The motor selections were as follows: 1/2A – 4, A – 8, B – 31, C – 14, D – 5, E – 7. We saw many excellent flights including Gabriel’s Estes Astron Skydart II making two very nice flights, March Briner’s Applewhite saucer with great flight performance, and Oliver Long’s Estes Leviathan flown by Nathaniel on an E16-6 with impressive results. There were fifteen rockets being launched for their first flight. Steve Bellio hovered nearby with his new camera drone taking launch videos and snap shots with results to be viewed later (pictures must be copied from the memory card). All in all it was a beautiful day with lots of moments enjoyed by all participants and their family members who came along to support them.
On a brisk and sunny November day at the Atlanta Dragway we had thirty-three participants who launched a total of 125 rockets. Motors ranged from 1/2A to J with the following distribution:
| Motor Class | Count |
|---|---|
| 1/2A | 6 |
| A | 13 |
| B | 22 |
| C | 32 |
| D | 14 |
| E | 19 |
| F | 8 |
| G | 12 |
| H | 2 |
| I | 5 |
| J | 1 |
Note: Total engine count is greater than launch count due to many multi-stagers.
There were both sport and scale models from many different manufacturers with some of these being flown for the first time at this event. A few of these higher altitude rockets lofted cameras and/or altimeters.
We enjoyed a good participant turnout with many family members who came along to enjoy watching numerous mid-powered launches on a blue sky afternoon.