Southern Arizona Rocketry Association
Tucson, AZ
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOUTHERN ARIZONA ROCKETRY ASSOCIATION NEWS SEPTEMBER 2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **HELLO AND WELCOME Summer is finally drawing to a close and the cooler Fall weather will soon be with us. I have been in and out of town quite a bit these past few months and this, unfortunately, has meant that this newsletter has experienced some lapses. Fear not . . . SARAnews is now back on a regular monthly schedule as we approach the prime flying season and there is much to tell you about. We had a very successful rocket building session in early August at the Pima Air & Space Museum. Coming up within the next few months, SARA is going to be conducting another general meeting for the benefit of all our members. This will be an important opportunity for all of you to shape the direction of how we conduct our monthly launches and who will be acting in our board of directors during the next year. 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. **MODEL ROCKET BUILD SESSION FINAL REPORT SARA conducted a model rocketry building session at The Pima Air & Space Museum's Challenger Center on Saturday, August 11, 2001. This event had been in the planning stages since early Spring. Estes Corporation provided rockets to us through Classic Hobbies here in Tucson. All in all, the event was a total success. 97 rockets were built and taken home by the young builders that participated. The Museum noted that their revenues were very good for what is generally a slow time of the year for them. There were also many smiling faces belonging to the SARA volunteers that made it all happen. Needless to say, we will be making this an annual event! Thanks to all the following . . . Estes Corporation: Ann Grimm Classic Hobbies: Roger Parker Pima Air & Space Museum: Debbie Howard . . . and, of course, The SARA Volunteers who contributed as builders and in other valuable ways . . . Steve Casillas, Paul Coltrin, Doug Forester, Mark Koenig, Ben Nead, Dan Shinkel, Ken Weaver, Chris Welborn, and Dave Williams. **UPCOMING MEETINGS SARA conducts a board of directors meeting at the beginning of each month. The meetings have been on the first Tuesday of each month but we have recently moved them to the first Thursday. The next one will be on Thursday, October 4th, 7PM at the cafe at Borders Books and Music, 4235 North Oracle Road. While these meetings are rarely attended by the general SARA membership, the board is happy to accommodate anyone that is interested. SARA is also going to schedule another meeting later this year . . . probably on the second weekend in December. The exact date, place and time yet to be announced but we will have those details firmed up shortly. This meeting will be specifically for the benefit of our general membership. Many important issues will be addressed: continuation of our alternating Saturday/Sunday launch schedule for the next calendar year (as opposed to holding launches only on Saturdays or only on Sundays), the number of FAA waivered launches that we conduct per year (currently four ), and other issues pertaining to our monthly launches. We will also be nominating and voting on SARA board of director officer positions for the year 2002. All of us on the board feel strongly that these issues should be openly discussed among everyone that will be affected. None of us want to make decisions that may impact any of you in a negative way. We encourage you participation and input. If you are unable to attend this upcoming general meeting in December, please feel free to address your concerns to any of the board members at the TIMPA launches over the next few months. Remember: This is YOUR model rocketry club! Benjamin Nead, SARA Membership Director -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **AUGUST LAUNCH REPORT SARA held a launch with an FAA waiver at the TIMPA site on Saturday the 25th of August, 2001. Flying conditions were excellent with clear skies and very low winds; it was pretty hot by the finish and there were several brief holds for aircraft. There were also a couple of brisk dust devils just as the range was being taken down. Thirty seven (37) people, many of them youngsters and new visitors, made 70 flights. There were 63 (90%) clean or nominal flights, with 4 separations, and one each ; lawn dart and early ejection. Chris Welborn and Shawn Simpson each made 5 flights. One person made 4 flights, seven did 3 each, twelve made 2 flights, and fifteen people made 1 flight each (several people participated in single flights as team members). There were many remarkable flights. Don Richards lead a Civil Air Patrol group that launched a LOC EZI-65 on a H242. The bright red bird had a nice boost and ejection but a most unusual separation where the chute flew off on it's own. The pieces of the rocket came down together, unfortunately, with considerable damage to the aft body and fins although the shock cord was fine. Don had much better luck with his nice Vostok which had a very impressive inaugural flight. David Williams and Mark Koenig each had good flights with electronic dual chute deployment. Curtis Farrel had 2 nice flights: one a scratch built of an early Estes kit, The Skyraider HD, which went on a long coast following the boost with an AeroTech F72. The other one was a nice scratch built scale Nike Smoke. John Gentry had a "hardened" Estes Fatboy look alike which was impressive on a G35. Paul Coltrin's Quest Flat Cat just glided on and on for the only boost glider flight of the day. John Wolfe had 3 successive good flights on his LOC Legacy which recovers in two parts on separate chutes. There were many new faces and many children present who made first flights. Many thanks to all the folks who provided assistance to the future rocketeers. A thank you to all the people who shared range duties and assisted with the setup and teardown. Helpful effort is always welcome and appreciated. Jerry King -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **SARA 2001 LAUNCH CALENDAR / TIMPA FIELD LAUNCH SITE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 NOTIFICATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27 NOTIFICATION SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18 WAIVERED SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 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 We are still in our hot weather season. Launches are currently from 8:00AM to 12:00 Noon until further notice. As the weather cools later this Fall, we will change the times back to a 9:00AM to 1:00PM launch window. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **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 / SARA MEMBERSHIP 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. For more information on SARA membership, please visit our website. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **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 can be reached at . . . tgonzo@uswest.net . . . 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **THANKS OF SUPPORT FROM HOBBY MANUFACTURERS AND RETAILERS, MUSEUMS, AND SCHOOLS The SARA Board would like to extend it's thanks to Roger Parker of Classic Hobbies, SARA member Chris Wellborn of The Pima Air and Space Museum, and Ann Grimm of Estes Corporation for helping make possible the upcoming youth build session on August 11th. We also want to extend our Thanks to the teaching staff of Donaldson Elementary School for their generous support. Thanks, as always, to Pete Riddell and his wife of Space Modeling Solutions in Phoenix. They 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 . . . riddell@prodigy.net . . . or by phone at (480) 497-1960 or by fax at (703) 832-3237 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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