Message from the Prez (8/19/1999)
From the August 1999 "MASA Planet" newsletter.
MASA Members,
Our summer launch season is in full swing and our numbers keep
growing. Our paid membership is around 60 members and if you
include the family members, that number is near 110. Over the
last year, MASA has doubled its membership and has become one of the
larger rocket clubs in the country.
As you may have already suspected, our growing numbers also have
caused some difficulties, mostly regarding access to our Blaine
field. More and more people are attending our launches and we
feel that the landowner may ask us to leave. I believe that we
nearly reached that point this spring. At the April and June
launches, about 50 cars were parked on the field, and 75-100 people
attended each event. In conversations with the club officers
and the landowner, it became clear that everyone is concerned with
the growing crowds. So, we have to change how we operate in
Blaine or lose the field altogether. Instead of losing access
to the site completely, we decided to stop holding our regularly
scheduled launches at the Blaine field.
We will still use the Blaine field periodically but only for
smaller events such as summer or weeknight launches. For the
time being, our regularly scheduled Saturday launches will take
place at Sunrise Middle School in White Bear Lake. Our goal is
to eventually locate several sites that we can choose from for our
launches.
The White Bear Lake field is fairly small, but will allow rockets
up to E impulse in good conditions. The vast majority, about
87%, of our rocket flights are E impulse and below, so our limited
access to the Blaine site will not cripple the club. We all
enjoy seeing the larger rockets fly, but without access to a much
larger field, we will be seeing fewer of them flying at our launches
for a while.
Having access to good launch fields is the single most important
goal for the club. I have been following up on every
potential launch site that I can find. If you are not happy
with our current field situation, you can help by joining the search
for new launch fields. We carry NAR sponsored insurance and
can pay for similar insurance for the landowner. Please
forward any leads to me
Keep in mind that our field difficulties are the result of our
own success. We have created a fun, safe, and friendly rocket
club. The club is thriving, people are flying a lot of
interesting rockets and having a great time doing it. We have
had good national exposure and are in demand with local school
groups and organizations. None of this happened by
accident. Every club member has had a part in this
success. Whether you are giving demo launches to schools,
RSOing, welcoming a new visitor to the launch, or helping someone
pack their parachute, you are paying forward. We don't
need a huge flying field to do this...but it helps.
Russ Durkee, MASA President
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