Southern Arizona Rocketry Association
Tucson, AZ
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------------------------------------------------------------------------ **HELLO AND WELCOME We are now within some of the best flying weather as Winter turns to Spring. Take advantage of this while the temperatures are at their best and bring along a friend or two. We also have some some of the driest conditions on record for this time of the year. Please take a few seconds to revue the fire safety portion of this newsletter if you haven't done so in a while. SARA flyers and members have an exemplary safety record as far as dealing with fire. We can continue this by setting a good example for the new and younger participants. Keep up the good work. The weather forecast looks great for this next Sunday's launch. See you there! **SARA MEMBERSHIP Please consider becoming a contributing member to SARA. 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 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 Appointees selected for 2002 NAR Senior Section Advisor . . Jerry King **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 FEBRUARY 2002 LAUNCH REPORT February 23, 2002 was the occasion of a SARA launch at the TIMPA site with a FAA waiver obtained through heroic effort by Tony Gonzales (many thanks). When it was time for range set-up there was a considerable breeze and there were fears of a repeat of January's launch conditions; however, it soon became a day with bright skies with some thin high clouds and very low winds. This was our busiest launch since I have activity records (Oct l998). There were 32 fliers making 113 flights. The group did
well with 101 Several notable flights were made. Mark Koenig flew his Patriot on an I motor with perfect electronic dual recovery deployment and reached a reported altitude of 2857 feet. Riccardo Fimbres had a successful level 1 certification flight using a PML 1/4 Patriot and a AT H128w. Congratulations to Riccardo, who also had a really nice helicopter flight. Tony Gonzales had a truly spectacular unstable flight of his scratch built Seawolf (apparently the nose weight became loose from the acceleration and the CG moved aft). Abe Randolph had a nice flight of a 2 D motor cluster in a scratch built rocket. There were 2 multi-stage flight attempts and both failed when the first stage did not ignite the second; Jacob Dennis had a 2 stage Apache and Dale Anderson had a beautifully finished 3 stage Comanchee 3. Paul Coltrin had a really nice flight of his Flat Cat which went on to glide for a very long time, fortunately there were no thermals at the time or it would be gone. We had many new fliers this launch and several
enthusiastic children. Among the names I have not seen before (but in some cases
the faces were Once again thanks are due to everyone who helped with the range. Jerry King, NAR Senior Section Advisor **SARA 2002 LAUNCH CALENDAR / TIMPA FIELD LAUNCH SITE Here is the launch schedule for the remainder of the calendar year. We may 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. SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 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. We now have a collapsible sign posted on launch days at the intersection. Please park to the 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 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)
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