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October 2005 Meeting Minutes (10/7/2005)
The October 2005 MASA meeting was held on the 6th at
the Science Museum.
13 people attended the meeting.
- MASA received another thank-you letter from the Dakota County
4-H Federation.
- MASA received a letter from Apogee Components, and a demo
version of Rocksim that we may copy and give away.
- MASA has been asked if we'd like to have a model rocket
display again at MarsCon (SF convention) next March.
- NARCON 2006 will be on March 10-12. For the third
year, it will be in Kenosha, WI.
- NARAM in 2006 will probably be in Tucson, AZ (but it's not
official yet).
- Due to an event at the Excel Energy Center, the November
meeting may be pushed back a week. Watch the web site and
mailing list for an announcement.
- It's time to start thinking about a location for the
December holiday party!
- Alan has started laying out the 2006 MASA calendar.
Some meeting dates may be shifted due to Wild games at the
Excel. Discussed the idea of having the picnic in June
instead of July.
- The 2006 officer nominations will open at the November
meeting. S/T David Whitaker has indicated that he is
willing to serve for another year. Prez Mike and V.P.
Stuart haven't decided yet if they will retire or go for another
year.
- We are going to attempt to get going early on the 2006 MASA
badge art selection. Hopefully, we can select a choice at
the January meeting.
- Ted Cochran and Rick Vatsaas made a rocket presentation at
the Bell Museum of Natural History in conjunction with a
screening of "October Sky". An outreach report should be
forthcoming.
Show -n- Tell
Alan Estenson brought along a pair of Sputnik-style oddrocs that
he made from little plastic Halloween pumpkins. Thus ... (wait
for it) .... "Pumpniks". [groan] He gave away a couple
more lil' pumpkins so other people could create their own Pumpniks.
Kit Bash
Glen Overby organized a kit bash session using the Estes "GBU-24
Paveway III" kit. The goal, of course, is to build a rocket
(other than a Paveway) using only the parts that come in the kit.
Twelve people elected to participate by purchasing kits at the
meeting at a special reduced price. The participants were:
Glen Overby, David Whitaker, Mike Erpelding, Alan Estenson, Ted
Cochran, Seth Cochran, Stuart Lenz, Buzz McDermott, Caleb Boe,
Robert Rech, Dan Keppel, and Robert Herndon. [If you weren't
at the meeting, you can still participate by purchasing a Paveway
kit on your own.]
Some people started to actively build their kitbash creations
during the meeting while others contemplated what they could do with
the parts from the kit.
The rules were:
- Can use any part that comes with the kit - including the
instructions, face card, and plastic bag itself.
- Can substitute a shock cord & parachute of the builder's
choice.
- Builder may substitute a 5" piece of bt-50 for one of the 5"
pieces of bt-20 that come in the kit, but resulting rocket must
then have a 24mm "D" motor mount.
Kitbash participants are encouraged to bring their completed
creations to the November meeting. Rockets must be in a
flyable condition, but do not need to be painted. Each person
bringing a completed Paveway kitbash will get to throw their name in
a hat, and we'll draw for a nice prize!
(Alan Estenson)
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