UK's premiere rocketry event scheduled for August 2009

LARGS, Scotland UK — The 24th to the 31st of August will find United Kingdom rocketeers converging on the Farlie Moor Rocket Site outside of Largs, Scotland for the 24th annual International Rocket Week. The event has been held in Scotland each year since the first Scottish Rocket Weekend in 1986, an event inspired by the Paisley Rocket Weekend back in May 1985, organized by John D. Stewart and the Paisley Rocketeers’ Society. IRW 2009 will offer more than a week of exciting sport rocketry flying, were veteran rocketeers boost beginners, according to the event website, one of the U.K.'s best and most scenic launch sites, which sports a 16,000 feet waiver. The close proximity to the town of Lars offers many attractions for rocketry families, including a large range of shops of all sorts. Rocketeers worldwide are invited to attend.

TRA seats new board of directors member, Debra Koloms

POTTER, New York USA — At the LDRS Banquet Saturday night at LDRS 28, the 2009 Tripoli Rocketry Association Board of Directors election results were announced. A total of 970 ballots were received, which is close to 30% of the membership, a significant improvement in voting participation over years past. With Pat Gordzelik not seeking reelection, this year was guaranteed to see a new member on the Board. In addition, with Pat having served as Vice President this past year, the officers on the Board were due for changes, as well. Congratulations to Debra Koloms on her new position on the Tripoli Rocketry Association Board of Directors, and to Bob Schoner and Dick Embry on their reelection. Thanks to Frank De Brouwer and Rick Dickenson for tossing their hats into the ring.

Saturday at LDRS 28: Clearer skies, bigger flights

POTTER, New York USA — With the ground mostly dry and the sun out pretty much all day, Saturday, July 4 at LDRS turned out to be pretty big. Steady winds between 5 and 15 MPH discouraged some fliers and kept the overall volume of flights down, but this was still the biggest day yet at LDRS 28. A number of M flights and two-stage flights really impressed the crowd. A large N-to-N two stage rocket (not the one pictured below) was a fantastic failure, with the long-burning sustainer skywriting and eventually falling to the ground in flames.

Extreme Rocketry July '09 issue #82 now available

LAKEWOOD, Colorado USA — The April issue #80 of Extreme Rocketry magazine is now available for purchase from retailers or from the Extreme Rocketry webstore. The newest issue features a wide variety of articles from advanced experimental rocketry subjects to getting started in rocketry. interview with Ed Dawson, creator of a beautiful Saturn V rocket which flew at Mile High Mayhem; Mile High Mayhem 2009 Launch Report, rocketeers braved the rain for four days to witness one of the breathtaking flights of all time; and the Spider/Rover Project Report, Steve Ainsworth and Tim Gubbins create a unique robotic rover and mechanical payload module.

Day Two of LDRS 28 sees blue sky and flights from A to N

POTTER, New York USA — After a frustrating first day at LDRS 28 in upstate New York, the rocket gods decided to smile on the assembled fliers from all across the country and from around the world. Thursday saw almost one hundred flights made after an extremely slow start, almost all of them in the afternoon. Flying picked up on Friday as more fliers showed up, the rains held off and the sun started drying out the road into the field, allowing most vehicles to get to the flight line. Everything from A's to N's were flown and the flights ranged from great successes to tremendous failures.

LDRS 28 opens with mud and rain, not smoke and flame

POTTER, New York USA — LDRS 28 began today and started with a lot of mud and rain, not smoke and flame. The catchy title came with the first installment of LDRS 28 coverage, via special correspondence submitted by Brett Keller, who is onsite at the event taking photos and grabbing the latest buzz. The first day found the field and surround areas soaked by the recent heavy rainfall in northern New York, and the resulting muck made opening day a little anti-climatic. Not much flying this morning, Keller said in his opening report, as the field has gotten pretty constant, heavy rain for several days and while the parking area is fairly solid, the road coming in is pretty incredibly muddy.