Launch Report – 9th November 2008

The most popular flights of the day belong to Shane's 7 foot long inflatable rocket called The Dude.

When people weren't watching rockets or talking about rockets they were taking advantage of the on-site catering. The sausage sizzle was sold-out around 10:00am and the hot beverages supplied by Coffee Angels were a hit too.

We had another fantastic crowd of more than 350 spectators. This was largely due to the fabulous publicity generated by a number of local newspapers (i.e. Courier Mail, Brisbane Times and Jimboomba Times). The QRS would like to thanks them for their generous support.

The QRS had one new member sign-up on the day. A couple of other people expressed interest in joining too. Hobby One, at Mount Gravatt, reported a dramatic increase in rocketry sales around the time of the launch. So we are very likely to see a few new people at launch days in 2009.

The QRS committee would like to thank the many, many members and their family and friends, who volunteers and made the day such a success. This included setting up the range on Saturday, handing-out flyers, selling raffle tickets, cooking up a storm on the BBQ, range safety duties, talking to public or even just launching rockets.

The next big public launch day is scheduled for Sunday 8th March 2009.  We hope to see you then!

Ari heading off to LDRS 27

Ari said: "I'm going to study very closely all about dual deployment and everything involving the use of altimeters. Basically anything that is HPR (high power rocketry). Meeting of Board of Directors from the Tripoli Rocketry Association is high on the list too. At the same time I naturally want to enjoy the actual launches happening and looking forward to all that for sure."

One of the highlights this year will be a 1/25th scale Saturn V rocket. It stands 15 feet high, weighs 89Kg and is expected to reach about 4,000 feet altitude. We understand why Ari exclaimed: "I'm already drooling... badly!"

David Wilkins from Victoria and David Couzens from Western Australia are also attending LDRS this year.

Check out the LDRS 27 website for more details: http://www.ldrs27.org/ (new window)

You can view some highlights from last year’s LDRS event on this short movie from Liberty Launch Systems:
http://www.libertylaunchsystems.com/Video/2007-LDRS26/ldrs26.wmv

* LDRS stands for "Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships".

Launch Report – 13 July 2008

A great launch yet again. We had a wide variety of rockets and motors being flown. More and more people are moving up to bigger and bigger things. Forum thread and pictures can be found here, and gallery with a selection of pictures can be found here.

Launch Report – 8th June 2008

Todays launch went off with very little dramas. We had another good crowd of spectators who came along to check out our obsession, some of which may have contracted our illness and will be back for more. We had approximately 100 to 150 people all up.

Although we only had eight members launching, we managed to get around thirty rockets in the air. Most of these were low powered flights, as the usual composite fliers were absent from this launch. Still, there were plenty of flights to make up for this.

Special thanks go to : Brendan for doing the grass again and not to mention photos. Petar and Len sharing RSO and LCO duties not to mention great commentary on the PA. It is so good to see our latest "recruits" like Jonathan, George with Taylor, Robin and Trevor doing most of the launches. Jonathan had an array of new rockets going up. Can't forget Asher as his rockets flew really well and this young man has come a long way in a short time, good on you mate.

All and all, another great day of rocketry for sure.

Thanks also go to Robin, George's "crew" and Jonathan for helping with the set up and dismanteling of the various pieces of launch gear.

Thanks to all who participated and we can look forward to the next one.

Forum thread (starting at posts made after the launch) and photos can be found here (new window).

Report – Logan “Grand Fiesta”

Events at the festival kicked-off at 12:00 noon, but the crowd really started to build around 2:00pm.  The festival marquees were quite widely dispersed around the gardens, so it was difficult to get a true picture of the size of the crowds.The QRS presentation included 16 rockets on static display.  We were also showing photographs, electronics, rocket motors, technical drawings, rocketry kits, a cut-away rocket and a 6-minute video of rocket launches.  We also handed flyers to anyone who seemed genuinely interested.  All up, we spoke in-depth with more than 100 people who are keen to come to the next public launch day on 8th June.  About 12-15 people said they were interested in rocketry as a hobby.  Although we wanted to reach an even greater audience, a whole lot more people now know what model rocketry is all about, where they can see rockets in action and how they can get involved.

One of the big hits of the display was an opportunity to play with Mike’s foam pump-action rocket.  Lockie and some other kids had a great time; and that’s what rocketry is all about.

We packed-up just before 4:00pm.  Everyone went home that afternoon very happy to have raised the profile of model rocketry in Queensland.

The Queensland Rocketry Society would like to thank Katherine Buchanan, Projects Officer with the Logan City Council, for inviting us to participate in the Grand Fiesta and helping us raise the profile of this great pastime.

 

{gallery}News/2008_Logan_Grand_Fiesta{/gallery}

Launch Report – 11 May 2008

Yet another great launch. A bit less hectic, which was a good change of pace. More people are venturing into the world of composite reloads. That first countdown certainly gets the ol' adrenalin pumping as you try and remember if you assembled everything correctly before pressing that big red button.
You can see the day in pictured in the photo gallery.  The forum thread can be found here (new window), starting at posts made after the launch.

Launch Report – 13 April 2008

This launch went off without a hitch thanks to the usual dedicated efforts of the QRS guys and girls. A great mix of low and mid power rockets were flown. We had a total of 43 flights, of which 27 were low power and 16 were mid power.

We would like to thank everyone for coming along and showing interest in our hobby, and hope to see you again at our future launches.

The gallery for this launch can be found here (new window), and the forum thread can be found here (new window), starting at posts made after the launch.