In September, LUNAR celebrated its 10th anniversary at the monthly launch. It was a low-key affair since, being on a Sunday, attendance was lower than our Saturday launches. Still, we managed to fly a couple of "St. Louis Arches" (though not very well) and commemorated the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks by keeping Pad 11 empty all day. Bill Orvis set up a large flag on the rod, which got quite a workout with the wind. Bill also was able to debut our second phase equipment upgrade with the new launch equipment on Pads 13 thru 18, which now work exactly like pads 19 thru 24, and the local continuity testers for Pads 1 thru 12.
We also had our annual silent auction that had quite a few items, not the least of which was eight of the 50-foot extension cords, on reels, which were no longer needed by Pads 13 - 18. I didn't get a good count on the take since not all of the bid sheets were turned in, but it was on the order of $100. We also hosted BayNAR's auction as well, but that was a completely separate operation with their own items.
We have wo big events coming up this month.
Night Launch - This is our big deal for the year. The October launch is always the best attended since the weather is (usually) still nice. For those of you who are new to the club (or just new to night flying) here's a brief overview.
As with regular day flying, we divide the models into those that need an FAA waiver (i.e. 1,500 grams gross liftoff weight and/or 125 grams of propellant) and those that don't. Models flying under the waiver have to comply with the FAA requirement for anti-collision flashers. This is easier than it sounds as a disposable cameral strobe in a clear section, or a couple of strobes strapped to the outside on either side of the rocket, flashing between 40 and 100 times a minute does the job. The strobes are usually white, but red and green are also allowed under the rule. You can add all the other lights you want as long as you also have the strobe. Rockets not needing the waiver can have any sort of lighting system as long as it's visible during the whole flight. We call "night rules" about 30 minutes after sunset.
Rocket Jamboree - The weekend before the night launch, the Boy Scouts are holding their annual "Rocket Jamboree." This is a two-day event, and they have tentatively received permission to fly it from Camp Parks again (after being denied last year). Their fallback position, should anything come up to cancel their use of the Army Base, is to fly with us the next Saturday (one day only). Even for the event as planned, they could use some help. They need a few experienced LUNAR members to help out as SCO's (they expect to have hundreds of boys at this event), and to put on demos of big rockets at lunch time and early evening. I'm not how big, but it's up to the base commander since, being federal property, we don't deal with the Fire Marshal. There are barracks available if you want to spend the night, as well as the Mess Hall for dinner & breakfast (partially, but not completely, subsidized by Uncle Sam). If you can help out with this program, contact Mike Gentile at SMMIKE1@aol.com who has coordinated these events for the Council since the beginning.
On Wednesday, October 2, Bill Orvis and I attended a meeting of the Livermore Flying Electrons R/C airplane club. We were invited to help explore the possibility of sharing their field north of the freeway as our launch site. Their board was very attentive as Bill and I went over the history of our hobby, and showed some of the models that Bill had brought. We told them what the average attendance was at one of our launches and how many rockets are launched. They asked a lot of very good questions about the technical and legal (insurance) aspects of the hobby, and were favorably disposed to rocketry in general by the time it was over. However, the whole thing boiled down to usage conflicts. Even though we fly only once a month, and their field is open to their members every day (imagine that!), the majority of their members fly, as you might expect, on Saturday mornings. Their president said that he would be willing to let us fly "occasionally" from their field (without defining what that meant, exactly) but not on a regular, scheduled monthly basis.
Well, the permitting process (fire permits, FAA waiver, insurance, etc.) is too painful for just "occasional" use, so we are not going to pursue it. There is a ray of hope, though. Their flying field is city land, as are most of the parcels around it (one of them is the old city dump). Since they are quite friendly with the appropriate city managers, they will start a dialog with them to see if we might be able to get the use of an adjacent parcel. Our reputation within the city government is quite good, so this might be the way to go, especially since we need no permanent facilities.
This one goes back two issues. In the May/June issue we ran a photo of my birthday cake that had an image from the George Méliès film From the Earth to the Moon on it. After seeing it, Greg Wong responded:
"I saw the picture of your birthday cake. Since you didn't exactly say how old you are, I have to ask: How long did you camp out to see the premiere screening of the movie depicted on your cake?"
Jeeze, everyone's a comedian. Actually, the number is right there on the cake, but in Latin (I didn't want it to be too easy). That reminded me though. This year is the Centennial of that film, and I think we ought to do something to commemorate it. Greg went on to suggest:
Personally, I like the third and last suggestions the best. Since it's too late to do anything for this month's launch, I'd like to do it in November. Any more suggestions?
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