Southern Arizona Rocketry Association
Tucson, AZ
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------------------------------------------------------------------------ SOUTHERN ARIZONA ROCKETRY ASSOCIATION NEWS FEBRUARY 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **HELLO AND WELCOME Wind . . . the final frontier! While the weather conditions have generally been fabulous for flying, our last launch was plagued by strong gusts that prevented many from getting their rockets in the air. Jerry King makes note of this in his January Launch Report below. Also included in this month's SARA News is Jerry's 2001 Annual Launch Summary. Aerotech, who suffered a disastrous fire this past Fall, is now recovering from their losses and recently announced that many of their most popular mid and high power motors again being manufactured. While higher impulse motors will probably be scarce for our upcoming FAA waivered launch this Saturday, most of your favorite motors will be generally available later this Spring. **SARA MEMBERSHIP As the new calendar year is upon us it's time, once again, to consider joining SARA by contributing your financial support. We initiated a paying membership in 2001 and 32 of you joined up. The money accrued in 2001 (over $630.00) went a long way in helping us make launch site improvements, maintaining a website, conducting a Summer youth build session, and generally keep the organization on a solid financial footing. Beyond standardized memberships, we also received some generous cash donations and this is always welcome. We have the following suggested annual membership levels . . . Junior/Youth (under 18) . . . . $10.00 Single . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . $25.00 You can join at the next launch and be paid up for all of 2002. Beyond the satisfaction of knowing that you will be keeping SARA functioning and growing, members are entitled to a $2.00 reduction on the $5.00 monthly launch fee. This $3.00 member launch fee, by the way, is paid directly to TIMPA for use of the field and is not used for other SARA activities. Annual memberships and other donations are what keep us going. Please remember that this is YOUR rocketry club. We want to hear your ideas and thoughts on how we can make SARA more responsive to your needs. Thanks for your support! **2002 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Here are the folks that keep everything running. If you are new to SARA, please feel free to introduce yourself to any and all of the board officers and appointees at the next launch. President . . . . . . . . Mark Koenig Secretary/Treasurer . . . Doug Forester Vice President . . . . . Ben Nead Member At Large . . . . . Curtis Farrell Appointees selected for 2002 NAR Senior Section Advisor . . Jerry King Range Operations . . . . . . . . Tony Gonzales **WEBSITE Much of this information is already posted on our website. Those of you reading this on email can go there directly by clicking the URL below . . . http://www.sararocketry.org When you get there, add it to your web browser as a bookmark or favorite. Check back often to keep yourself up to date with what SARA is up to. Even if you don't own a computer, you can visit your local public library and log on for free. Your librarian can help you connect to the SARA website if you are unsure how to do it. Benjamin Nead, SARA Membership Director/Vice President ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **SARA 2001 LAUNCH SUMMARY During 2001 SARA held 9 of 12 planned launches (4 with FAA waivers, 5 with FAA notification); 2 launches were scrubbed because of weather, although during one (December) an informal launch of the rockets brought by a group of Cub scouts occurred in the intermittent rain, and the September launch was cancelled at the FAA's request. Eighty eight (88) fliers made 599 flights during the year. Of the 599 flights 513 (86%) were clean: there were 44 separations, 12 tangled recovery devices, 5 early ejections, 5 kicked motors, 4 lawn darts, 3 each CATO and unstable flights, 1 shred, and 6 assorted other failure modes including some flights with multiple failures. The busiest launch was March with 92 flights and the quietest was October with 26 flights. Our most frequent flier was Thomas Gonzalez who made 38 flights. Other activity was (# fliers-#flights each): 2-34, 2-25, 2-21, 1-16, 4-15, 1-14, 2-12,2-10, 4-9, 2-8, 7-7, 7-6, 7-5, 8-5, 5-4, 8-3, 10-2 and 20-1. Motor use was: 1/4 A-13, 1/2 A-19, A-62, B-80, C-167, D-49. E-29, F-54, G-70, H-37, I-13, and J-6. There were two successful High Power certification flights; Abe Randolph Level 1 and Jerry King Level 2. There is hope that 2002 will bring better and more typical launch weather. **JANUARY LAUNCH REPORT SARA held a launch at the TIMPA site on 1/27/02 with FAA notification in effect. The weather was pleasant with somewhat cloudy skies and a nice temperature; however, the wind was not cooperative and there were many gusts of over 25 mph although by noon the velocity had slacked considerably. There was a good attendance, but the number of fliers and flights was limited by the conditions. Sixteen fliers made 52 flights of which 48 (92%) were nominal; there were 2 each tangled recovery devices, and separations. Dan Shinkel was the most active flier with 10 flights, the remainder of the flying was (# of fliers-# flights each): 1-8, 2-5, 2-4, 1-3, 4-2, and 5-1. The motor use was: 1/2A-2, A-5, B-7, C-20, D-8, E-5, F-2 and G-3. There were several flights of note. John Gentry flew his 'Lamp Shade' on a E18 for a very nice flight. The Quest Area 51 Saucer was very popular in the wind accounting for 11 flights. Jerry King flew his version of George Gassaway's Tri-F-O; this together with the saucers and the Lampshade made for 13 tumble recovery 'flying saucer' flights. Ricardo Fimbres came up from Nogales and had a very nice flight of a Estes Mercury Redstone on a B6-4, it was slow and not very high with a perfect two part recovery at a low altitude. Steve Lubliner flew his Mean Machine on a E16 and had a long tail slide before ejection even though there was only a nominal 4 second delay. Jennifer Koenig, with Mark, flew a Estes Eliminator on a E9-8 and had one of the longest recovery walks from our field---nearly to Manville Road. Once again many thanks are due to all who helped with range set-up and tear down as well as range duty this past month and throughout the previous year. Jerry King, NAR Senior Section Advisor ----------------------------------------------------------------------- **SARA 2002 LAUNCH CALENDAR / TIMPA FIELD LAUNCH SITE Please note the correction of a typographical error from previous listings . . . Sunday May 19 instead of Saturday May 18. We may also have to reschedule one of our Fall 2002 launches so as not to conflict with a large R/C model airplane event already scheduled. Please check the SARA website for last minute updates on all launches. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2002 WAIVERED SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2002 NOTIFICATION SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2002 NOTIFICATION SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2002 WAIVERED SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2002 NOTIFICATION SUNDAY, JULY 21, 2002 NOTIFICATION SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2002 WAIVERED SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2002 NOTIFICATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2002 NOTIFICATION SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2002 WAIVERED SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2002 NOTIFICATION Notification launches are where SARA notifies The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that we will be flying models up to 3.3 pounds of launch weight and/or containing up to 4.4 ounces of propellant. Waivered launches are where The FAA grants approval to SARA to launch models that exceed the launch weight and/or propellant load noted above imposed by standard notification launch requirements. Our site dimensions support models that are limited to a maximum altitude of 4500 feet above ground level (AGL) and use a K impulse motor or less. The Winter launch window of 9:00am to 1:00PM is now in effect. This will be the standard launch window for our TIMPA events until the hot weather returns this next Summer. We then switch back to an 8:00AM to 12:00 Noon launch widow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **DIRECTIONS TO TIMPA FIELD LAUNCH SITE . . . . from I-10 and Speedway, Exit 257 . . . 1) Travel west on Speedway past all building developments. Proceed with caution as Speedway crests over Gates Pass and turns into Gates Pass Road. The road is very narrow, winding, and often used by bicyclists. Enjoy the view. 2) Continue on Gates Pass Road until it ends at the "T" intersection, Kinney Road. Turn right here as if you were headed towards the Desert Museum. At about 1 mile past the museum entrance (about 10 miles past I-10 and Speedway), Kinney Road changes it's name to Mile Wide Road. 3) The next intersection, about 6 miles past the Gates Pass/Kinney "T", is Sandario Road. Come to a complete stop as the north/south traffic does not. Proceed through, heading due west. You will eventually cross 2 bridges. After the 2nd bridge, Mile Wide Road turns into a dirt road. 4) At about 3.5 miles past the Mile Wide/Sandario intersection, Mile Wide Road makes a forced turn to the right and changes it's name to Reservation Road. You are now heading due north. 5) The main TIMPA Driveway (marked by a sign) is on the right at about 1 mile past the forced right turn. Go another 1/2 mile past this and turn onto the next right turn. At this point, you should be able to see rocket launching activity. Please park to the north or east of the launch range. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- **STANDARD LAUNCH PROCEDURES Anyone may launch model rockets with NAR or Tripoli approved motor at a SARA launch. All models first require inspection by The Range Safety Officer (RSO) and a SARA flight card must be completely filled out for each individual launch. After this is done, the model and flight card can be taken to The Launch Control Officer (LCO). It is here that a launch pad will be assigned to you. A range fee of $5.00 is to be paid at the beginning of the launch day. This fee for SARA members is $3.00 for the day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **TIMPA FIELD USAGE Use of the TIMPA site is only permitted at club events or by prior arrangement. To access the TIMPA field outside of scheduled club events you must be either a current National Association of Rocketry (NAR) or Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) member. The TIMPA caretakers have been instructed to call The PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF and to pursue trespassing charges if no previous arrangements exist. Tony Gonzales is The Range Operations Director for SARA. He recently changed his email address so please update it if you still have his old one on file. He can be reached at . . . tgonzo64@msn.com . . . or by phone at (520) 790-1006 Tony will need to know how many models you intend to launch as well as their respective launch weights and propellant loads. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **FIRE SAFETY 1) Please note that there is NO SMOKING permitted on the range area. Smoking is only permitted on the dirt road adjacent to the launch site. Cigarette butts and ashes are to be placed in a metal container or ash tray. 2) Fire is something that needs to be taken seriously. If you see smoke or flames, yell it out loud and clear. If we have fire on the range, EVERYBODY needs to drop what they are doing and assist in containing the fire. There are water bottles, ABC rated fire extinguishers, and shovels on hand at every launch. The 55 gallon drum near the launch control area is also filled with water. 3) Unless you are using a Nomex parachute heat protection cloth in your rocket, you will need to use a FLAMEPROOF wadding of some sort. Toilet paper and paper towels are not acceptable. If you need clarification on what to use, check with the Range Safety Officer. Many flyers will have extra wadding on hand and they will be happy to lend you some. -------------------------------------------------------------------- **SPACE MODELING SOLUTIONS Pete Riddell and his wife of Space Modeling Solutions in Phoenix attend almost all of our launches and offer rocket kits, motors, and other hard to find building supplies. Contact Pete in the days leading up to the launch and he deliver that special order to you at the launch site . . . launch@smsrocketry.com . . . or by phone at (480) 497-1960 or by fax at (703) 832-3237 |
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