February 2002 Meeting Minutes (2/8/2002)
Club President Alan Estenson called the meeting
together at a bit past 7 pm. It was one of the larger turnouts
that MASA has had for a meeting, and the room was quite full.
About 30 people attended, there were many new faces and new
members. Welcome!
This month's launch will be on the 23rd at the White
Bear Lake field. Next month's meeting will be on March 12 (1
week later than normal). For the meeting activity, we will be
having a RSO / LCO training
session. We would very much like to expand the roster of
people volunteering for RSO and LCO shifts at the club
launches. If you're interested in finding out more about these
vital club duties, please attend the meeting. You can learn
not only how to spot mistakes that other people make, but also how
to make your own rockets better. If you can help run the
training side of it, please contact Alan!
On January 26th, MASA had a model rocket display at
the state Lego robotics championship. [Click
here to read about it.] This was to help promote the new Minnesota
Rocket League competition. MASA will be assisting this new
competition.
New / improved / more durable name badge holders
have been purchased. They won't be mailed out, but, if you'd
like one, you can acquire one from any club officer. We hope
that our supply will last a few years (they cost us $0.39
each). The new 2002 member badges are currently in work.
Ted Cochran reports that there currently aren't any
equipment issues. He hopes to get the first newsletter of the
year out in either February or March. He will be asking people
to write / submit stuff for the newsletters!
A motion was made by Ted Cochran, seconded by Jeff
Hove, and passed by unanimous consent. It was:
"Resolved, that any person maintaining the official MASA web
site (webmaster) be reimbursed for any personal expenses incurred in
carrying out that activity, or alternatively, at the sole discretion
of the webmaster, be designated RSO for all shifts for all MASA
launches."
Reminder, it's time to pay your 2002 dues!
You can pay them at a meeting or launch, or mail them in. Click
here for more info.
Alan Estenson brought in a scratchbuilt rocket
called "da beast". It was completely made from
"found" materials with no out of pocket cost. It
will fly on D or E motors. [It's on the table in the center of
the above photo.]
For the meeting activity, Jeff Hove spearheaded a
discussion on scratchbuilding rockets at little cost using
essentially "scrap" parts not intended for rockets.
He talked about where to find good tubes, how to make tubes,
centering rings, fins... what to use for shock cords, parachutes,
launch lugs, etc. Jeff has made some nice rockets completely
from cardboard at pretty much no cost. Jeff and other meeting
attendees brought along piles of supplies for creating rockets from
these "found" parts. The scavenging / building /
bull session lasted until nearly 9 o'clock.
Thanks Jeff!
(Alan Estenson)
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