AARG Meeting Minutes

Saturday June 9, 2001

We had an AARG meeting at the Pizza Hut in Pflugerville on Saturday, June 9, 2001. In attendance were:

  • Luis Salinas - President
  • Rick VanVoorhis - VP
  • Lou Catozzi - Treasurer & Prefect
  • Dan Miner - Secretary
  • Melissa Miner
  • David Urban
  • Jim Parker
  • Brian Wheeler
  • Steve Rogers

The most important item was taken care of first: Ordering (and eating) the pizza!

First topic of discussion was Launch Dates

These are AARG events at PPP:

  • July 4: "Pfire on the 4th" NO FIREWORKS PLEASE.
  • First Saturday of each month will be TRA experimental launches. These are for motors that are NOT certified by TRA or NAR but are manufactured locally. Since there are only a few people in the Austin area making their own motors, these launches are expected to be VERY low attendance. Motors must be K or lower. A note to those that don't know about experimental motors: Yes, this is legal and yes, our TRA insurance covers this. You can talk to Lou Catozzi if you have questions about this.
  • Second Saturday of each month will be our normal sport launch for both low and high power (except Sept. & Oct. - see below)
  • September 8 & 9 "Roquafest" regional contest. Limited HPR. Further details to come from Luis at a future date.
  • October 13 "Pfire in the Sky 2" A focus on High Power just like Pfire in the Sky 1 was.
  • November 10 normal sport launch PLUS an outreach event with some local Boy Scouts (Rick V. is coordinating)

Other events we are aware of:

  • Houston TSC regional June 30 & July 1
  • DARS Third Saturday of June, August and October will be a McGregor HPR launch.
  • DARS NTHP (North Texas High Power) will be September 1 & 2 (Labor day weekend) at Windom.
  • DARS Shoot for the Stars (Fall date unknown) at Windom.
  • Challenger (Houston) CanSat and All Scale contest July 21 & 22.
    (Steve Rogers - The dates in the newsletter are wrong. But other than that, the June 2001 newsletter looks GREAT as usual!)

Treasurer's Report - Lou Catozzi

$ 413.59  Opening balance on January 1, 2001

Income
$ 103.00  Contests
$ 300.00  Dues
$ 423.00  Launch Fees
$ 540.75 (*) Merchandise Sales  (T-shirts and stickers)
--------
$1366.75  Total Income

Expenses
$ 155.00  NAR and TRA charter fees
$  92.01  Launch Expenses
$ 675.00  Merchandise Purchase  (T-shirts and stickers)
$ 149.64  Newsletter
--------
$1071.65  Total Expenses

$ 413.59  Opening balance on January 1, 2001
+$1366.75  Total Income
-$1071.65  Total Expenses
--------
$ 708.69  Balance as of June 8, 2001

(*) Only 14 T-shirts remain - get yours before they're GONE!

There are currently 27 paid members.

Jim Parker talked about the Totally Tubular order. Some of the extra glider kits are still unclaimed. Discussion suggested that we consider donating them to the club as prizes (this was suggested by Jim Fackert from TT). (My scribbled notes don't indicate that we resolved this 100% but I recall that all present thought this was a good idea.)

Outreach Report - Steve Rogers

  • NARCON 2002 Proposal looks good. Trip Barber from NAR has responded and said that there is 1 other club has put in a proposal also. (We think it may be the Massachusetts club) Trip says he'll decide which proposal to accept before July 4. Lou brought up 1 item from the proposal that may need modifying: The T-shirts item didn't include the $100 artwork prep fee.
  • Steve Rogers and Jim Parker helped out at the recent Austin Children's Museum event. The event went very well and all of the rockets flew despite some "creative" fin placements, etc.
  • Next week Monday to Thursday there will be a UT rocket design and building class taking place. The students start with a list of available materials, how much they cost, and a FIXED budget. Next, they use RockSim to design the rocket then build (and fly?) it over the next few days. The rockets will be up to C motor size.

Report on Launches - Rick van Voorhis

  • We all know PPP has a limited life and we'll probably be kicked off by the end of the year. Rick has located a possible new field between Hutto and Taylor.
  • (Discussed Nov 10 Boy Scout outreach launch listed above)
  • Rick went over our launch equipment list (I was writing fast but may have gotten this wrong - please check)
    • 3 HPR (Monster) pads
    • 1 HPR rail
    • 4 PVC mid power pads
    • (some?) low power pads
    • 12 position launch controller
  • Rick requested that sometime BEFORE the July 4th launch, we have a work party to help prepare the launch equipment. Things like cleaning the rods and rail, checking/replacing the igniter clips, etc.
  • Discussion about getting a club trailer for the equipment. Rick has a trailer frame that he's willing to let the club use on a semi-permanent basis. What the club would need to buy is a dry box to put on the trailer. Rick didn't have prices yet but would get them soon and bring the number to the AARG board for a decision.
  • We need a more formal sign-up for range duties (RSO, LCO, etc.) Pfire in the Sky 1 (PITS1) was too informal in this regard.

All in attendance at the meeting heartily agreed that James Duffy went "above and beyond the call of duty" for his heroic LCO effort on Saturday, May 19 of Pfire in the Sky 1.
THANK YOU JAMES!

Rick brought 2 rockets for show-and-tell.

  • The rocket he has built that will be the prize for the July 4th "most patriotic" contest.
  • Coral Snake - to show Rick's new R-DAS altimeter.

Dan brought in his RCee Thunder for show-and-tell.

The meeting was adjourned and all continued to chat about rockets even as we got to the parking lot.

Dan Miner, AARG Secretary