by Dave Nordling, Secretary, Reaction Research Society
The Reaction Research Society (RRS) held it’s monthly meeting on November 8, 2019 at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, California. The society had a full agenda plus our annual nominations for the executive council. Frank Miuccio attempted to establish a teleconference at the meeting to connect our director of research, Richard Garcia, and an outside organization that wanted to address the society. This teleconferencing was successful and the society will consider having more of these to help bring in more participants on special topics.
[1] Treasurer’s report on membership and dues status
The RRS treasurer is conducting a review of our membership roster to not only update our records with the many new members that have joined us this year, but also to determine the dues status for each. Like in all non-profit organizations, regular annual dues payment is essential to keeping the society funded for the many projects we do and are planning. Upgrades at the MTA are also impacted if our membership does not keep their dues payments current.
Chris’s report was not ready at this month’s meeting, but he will be soon notifying some of our delinquent members that they need to keep their dues paid to remain in active status. It is the duty of all RRS members to keep their contact information current with the RRS treasurer. The society can not be responsible for missing communications if our members do not do their part by making communication possible. Also, members who are not current in their dues payment risk losing their active status with the society.
treasurer@rrs.org
I have always paid my dues to the society on January 1st of each new year. This greatly simplifies the process and I need no reminder to do so. Membership dues ($40 USD per year) to the society can be paid through the “Donate” button on the RRS.ORG website which links to Paypal.
We remind all of our donors and those paying dues in this manner to include your name in the “Notes” section along with the purpose of your donation. Without including your name, the RRS can not tell who has paid their dues.
The RRS.ORG website has more information on this subject. For any questions, please contact the RRS treasurer.
[2] Update on the next RRS MTA launch event with LAPD CSP and 99th Street Elementary School
Frank, Larry and Osvaldo are in the middle of another class, this time with 99th Street Elementary in partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Community Safety Partnership (CSP). The class is going well and the final launch event is still planned for Saturday, December 7, 2019.
At this same launch event, we are also planning to host the University of Southern California’s (USC) Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (RPL) with the launch of their latest solid motor powered rocket. USC has been making continuing progress even after their landmark flight to be the first university-built rocket to break the von Karman line into space.
[3] Preparations for the 2020 RRS symposium
With the society approving the symposium for our fourth year in a row, Frank is working with the Ken Nakaoka Community Center to establish the date. Tentatively, the 2020 RRS symposium will be held Saturday, March 28, 2020. The society has decided to try to hold the symposium earlier in the year to avoid the onset of the summer heat which makes the event very uncomfortable in the absence of climate control at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center.
Future site of the 2020 RRS symposium
More information on this subject will be posted as it develops. Our symposium coordinator for the 2020 event will again be our society vice president, Frank Miuccio.
vicepresident@rrs.org
[4] RRS solid propellant making classes at the MTA
The RRS has been approached by an outside organization about conducting solid propellant motor making classes. Many years ago, the RRS held a few of these events which became very popular. The RRS has not yet decided if we will restart these classes, but a group is examining the possibility and will report back to the society on the viability of such a project.
composite grain, before and after
[5] 2020 Constitutional Committee progress report
pending… carried over from October 2019 meeting report
[6] Annual elections for the RRS executive council
As required by our Constitution, the RRS appoints an election chairman to oversee and execute the process of nominations and balloting for each of the four executive council offices for new terms starting in the new calendar year. Larry Hoffing, again, agreed to be our election chairman for this cycle.
Nominations were held and were open to our administrative membership. Nominations were received and our election chairman will be sending out ballots by email. This is another good example of why all members should keep their contact information current and remain in active status with the society. Balloting will be closed prior to the next monthly meeting in December and the results announced at that meeting.
[7] CSFM committee on amateur rocketry
Last month, the RRS and Mark Holthaus of the Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) met to discuss a list of proposed changes to the California State Fire Marshal’s (CSFM) definitions that govern amateur rocketry. This small group was intended to be made from active amateur rocketry groups around California to help advise the CSFM subcommittee on changes that would help improve regulation of amateur rocketry and make needed clarifications to help all groups continue to operate safely and legally.
from left to right, Mark Holthaus (Treasurer of FAR), Osvaldo Tarditti (RRS president), Larry Hoffing (RRS events coordinator), Dave Nordling (RRS secretary) meet to discuss proposed definition changes to CSFM laws governing amateur rocketry, 10/15/2019
The RRS and FAR held a second meeting at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center which included David Reese of the Rocketry Organization of California (ROC). ROC members, Chris Kobel and David Reese have been very helpful in providing helpful improvements to how the certain classes of rocketry are defined.
This amateur rocketry committee will be presenting their collective suggestions to the Fire Marshal in early December 2019. The RRS, FAR, ROC and the rest of the amateur rocketry groups in California are glad to assist the CSFM office in making these suggested updates.
[8] Social media updates
There was no report from Alastair Martin and/or Bill Janczewski this month for social media improvements for the Reaction Research Society. We hope to have more to discuss in the next month on this regular topic. As always, members are welcome to offer their advice and proposals to either or both of our media coordinators.
Alastair and I did have a conversation about expanding our following on Instagram. We will continue to show the highlights of our events and the people involved, but I hope to bring more technical content which seems to be our primary source of interest.
See the RRS on Instagram: reactionresearchsociety
Alastair and his production company, Production Tribe LLC, has created yet another podcast in the “Before SpaceX” series with special guest, rocket propulsion expert, author and RRS member, James R. “Jim” French. RRS secretary, Dave Nordling, and RRS director of research, Richard Garcia, supported this excellent discussion about the American Rocket Company (AMROC), a space start-up company in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The show is still in editing and will be posted very soon his website.
Several students from the Compton College STEM club attended the November meeting of the RRS along with their advisor and fellow RRS member, Kent Schwitkis. Jamie Alvarez, the STEM club president was in attendance. The Compton Comet is the project name for the liquid rocket projects that the Compton College team is working on. There are about 20 students in the group and the RRS is glad to support this team and the other university teams looking to compete or at least expand their range of practical skills.
The Compton Comet team has been holding meetings at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM) at the Compton/Woodley airport. They are planning a few trips to inspect launch and additional hardware assembly sites and make a report back to the RRS at the December 2019 meeting. RRS member, Waldo Stakes, has also been an important part of this program.
The STEM club is having another Estes rocket competition later this month. The first of these events was very successful. Part of the experience is getting practice with the simpler rockets and using OpenRocket simulation software to make and verify predictions.
IN CLOSING
RRS members, Frank Miuccio, Alastair Martin and Kent Schwitkis contributed to this report. The next RRS meeting will be December 13, 2019. If there are any corrections or additions to make for the monthly report, please contact the RRS secretary.
by Larry Hoffing, Events Coordinator, Reaction Research Society and Korey Kline (contributing)
In January 2019, Brandy (Robert “Bob”) Bruce-Sharp passed away. As reported by Mark Clark and Tripoli, Brandy went quickly from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. At the BALLS 28 launch this past September, Brandy and wife Abbie’s ashes were launched and spread in an Aerotech M1939 rocket.
from left to right; Robin Meredith, Jim Bornwell, Jane (Brandy’s sister), Mark Clark, Gary Rosenfield
Bob was my friend and fellow student at Los Angeles (Robert H. Goddard) Pierce College rocket club that I founded in the early 1970’s. Around this time we met a high school kid named Korey Kline, he was only fifteen at the time but already a veteran shop mechanic. His high school rocket club, inspired by the Pierce club, found a Korean War five-inch diameter HVAR rocket at a vacant military recruiting office.
Bob Bruce, Michael Gill and Larry Hoffing of the Robert H. Goddard Rocket Society of Pierce College in Los AngelesBob Bruce and Larry Hoffing stand at the launch rail for a row of model rockets in the 1970’s
We proceeded to convert it to a zinc-sulfur rocket which required bolting some ports of the multiport nozzle shut, adding fins, and a payload section- I think Bob’s mother sewed the parachute. I did most of the machining in the school’s metal shop while some of the welding students added the fins. I remember hauling the thing, which weighed about 40 lbs unloaded, for a show-and-tell presentation at the Pacific Rocket Society (PRS) which met at the (now defunct) Northrop Institute of Technology in El Segundo. B. J. Humphreys was the PRS president at that time.
B.J. Humphreys, past president of the Pacific Rocket Society and builder/pilot of the first rocket-powered wheelchairBob Bruce and Larry Hoffing in September 1972
Bob named the rocket “Bifrost” (pronounced “BIF-roast”) which is the old Norse term for the rainbow bridge to Asgard. Our mission was to fly Bifrost at the Mojave Test Area (MTA) near the town of Cantil, CA, where the RRS, FAR and Polaris Inc. (under the direction of Dave Crisalli) currently test. In those days the bunker was covered with telephone poles that had been trucked out by RRS member John Mariano and his cousin in the 1960’s. There’s a pile of them still laying at the MTA to this day! Access to the site was by dune buggy. The yellow blockhouse with its ballistic glass windows still stands at the RRS MTA.
This sets the scene for the launch of the missile on a wooden home-built Bruce rack – 3 aluminum fins had been welded onto a cowling over the casing as we hadn’t realized the launch racks were built for four-fin rockets (Hint: let your new members know about the launch rack configuration ahead of time). The PRS had most of the pyro-op’s at that time. The PRS pyro-op in charge was afraid we’d blow up the rocket and surrounding area so he made us fill the casing half way with sand. It must have weighed 80 lbs.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition! The rocket lifted off, flew a short distance, and crashed. The failure to go the distance was attributed to the multi nozzle ports, we didn’t bolt enough of them shut to build pressure. There is a photo of it flying, I gave it to my machine shop professor, and unfortunately don’t have a copy.
Bob was a consummate modeler and draftsman. He won top prize from Estes in 1972 for his remote control Space Shuttle which was a thing of beauty.
Bob Bruce wins first prize in the Estes rocket modelling competition for his space shuttle design
Bob started a rocket kit company with Korey in the mid 1970’s called California Model Rockets, a precursor to large/high power rocketry. One of my biggest regrets in life is not joining them in this endeavor. Bob and I had previously invented the largest model rocket in the world we called “The Wopper” . The California State Fire Marshal rules at the time was that model rockets had a weight limit of 1 lbm including the motor, so designing it was no easy task. We got the brilliant idea one day of enclosing foam rings and horizontal balsa slats with construction paper to create giant tubes. The biggest F-sized motor at the time was F-100’s made by Flight Systems Inc. The large model rocket flew spectacularly to about 300 feet.
Bob relocated to Arizona sometime in the 1980’s to pursue drafting, and afterward I lost touch with him. However, my memories are vivid of us mixing and testing “Blue Knight” candy fuel (sugar motors), and launching model rockets at Half (Hof) Mile Square in Fountain Valley, CA (a former air ship site) with the Westchester YMCA Rocket Club. Hof Mile was a trip. Wheeled sail cars raced around on the landing strip as we launched rockets. We’d even have to pick up the gate keys from the local base commander. It was here while looking for a rocket in the tumbleweed that I stumbled upon a huge, beautiful red fox when the area was still wild back then.
Korey remembers Bob as his earliest mentor for rocketry. “By example he taught me to think outside the box!” Korey says he was only fifteen when he met us and we (and his mother) had to drive him to the rocket club meetings. Bob also introduced Korey to B. J. Humphreys of the PRS and Gary Rosenfield at the RRS.
One project we all worked on together was building the Hang Loose Bi-Plane, a one-man glider made of bamboo, wood, wire, & plastic sheeting. We cut and bent bamboo spars for the airfoil wings at Korey’s house over his mom’s gas stove. The glider had around a 14-foot wingspan and a 12-foot rudder. It was Korey that drew the short straw to fly first. With Korey hanging in the center and the two of us at the wing tips we took off running from the top of a hill in Granada Hills. Korey lifted off about 10 feet in the air and started sailing down towards a school fence at the bottom where he bailed out before hitting.
Another thing we did that I can mention now was flying model rockets out of Korey’s in ground swimming pool. We sealed the motor and electric igniter with wax and lowered the rocket and launch pad to the bottom of the pool with the controller on deck. All I can say is that a sea launched rocket is pretty cool when it breaks the surface!
There were many interesting things we did with Bob and we remember him dearly. He loved his muscle car too, I remember other drivers on the 405 Freeway coming along side trying to race us, but Bob wasn’t a speeder, just a tinkerer. I often wonder what became of that car.
Mark Clark further reports on the Tripoli members forum:
“Brandy [aka Bob] started flying rockets in the 1960’s and at Miles Square Park and very early Lucerne launches. Getting into high power in the late 1980’s, he had moved to the Phoenix area and was a founding member of Arizona High Power Rocketry Association (AHPRA).
Brandy started Sonic Systems that locally sold reloads and nationally 7 1/2″ sized mosquito-type nosecones. Those who saw the ads in High Powered Rocketry (HPR) magazine will remember them. Brandy was also involved with the BALLS launch for the 18 years AHPRA was involved and a frequent poster to these forums. Brandy was a great friend for nearly 30 years.”
www.ahpra.com
www.ballslaunch.com
Brandy “Bob” Bruce-Sharp at the BALLS 25 launch with his up-scaled Centuri Enerjet 2650 rocket
The RRS met for our monthly meeting on Friday, May 10, 2019, at 7:30pm at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, CA. We were not as well attended this month, but we did have three new people join us at the meeting. With Mother’s Day weekend and graduation ceremonies happening at this time of year, many had other commitments.
The RRS welcomed David Minar and John Krell to the May 2019 meeting.
I must admit my error this week. I did realize too late that my monthly email to announce the meeting was not sent this week. Typically, I do send an email reminder to our active membership list (or anyone else who wants to know) on the Monday before meeting which also contains a copy of the agenda. Next month, I will not forget as this unintended experiment has shown that our reminder emails can be valuable to our membership.
The RRS has our monthly meetings always at 7:30pm on the 2nd Friday of each month. I usually mark my whole calendar each year with all of the 2nd Fridays to avoid schedule conflicts, but this is only a suggestion. Our meeting location is at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, unless otherwise announced in advance.
Also, in about the week prior to the meeting around the first of the month, I will gather up the agenda topics expected for the next month and post . All members are welcome to send their suggestions and ideas for agenda topics. We especially want short topics (5 minutes) on things related to rocketry, chemistry, payloads or just any kind of project you’re working on. The society is about sharing knowledge. Send an email to the RRS secretary or any of the executive council and we can put it on the agenda. Some of our members who aren’t in town have submitted things to be presented at meetings in the past which is also something the society can share in our meeting if the materials are clear enough and sent well in advance.
After calling the meeting to order and the reading of the treasury report, we began our agenda for May and covered most of the topics leaving some for June 14, 2019.
Waldo Stakes (left reclining) and new RRS member, Kent Schwitkis, a professor at Compton College. Kent joined us at the 2019 RRS symposium and we bid him welcome at the May 2019 meeting.
(1) Discussion of the 2019 RRS Symposium
The 2019 RRS Space & Rocketry Symposium held on Saturday, April 27th, was a success. We had a few different presenters this year in our lineup, welcomed a few new exhibitors and were very well attended over most of the day. According to Frank, we broke last year’s attendance by a small margin. RRS president, Osvaldo Tarditti, was very pleased with the amount of support we got from our membership in the night before and early morning of the symposium. Also, the RRS was very glad to have support we did at the end of the symposium in tearing down and cleaning up at the close of the day. These often overlooked simple details make running the symposium a real pleasure even at the end of a long day.
Frank Miuccio, RRS Vice President and Symposium Coordinator. The RRS thanks to Frank for all of his hard work in bringing together many people and many things to make this 2019 symposium another success.
We had our first opportunity to discuss the positive things at the symposium at the May meeting and this took up most of our meeting time. We were very happy to see so many groups come out including Spaceport LA, ROC and two organizations within the US Air Force (SMC at LA AFB and AFRL from Edwards AFB). The food truck vendor was also a great success. Many people enjoyed the pleasant weather and good food we had on site at lunch time. The outdoor exhibits were also a big hit. We are also thankful to LAPD CSP and the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department. The society will take notes to help with improving and expanding our next symposium still in planning for April 2021.
Some things that could have been better was sound quality. It was generally agreed that better speaker placement and the cloth barriers behind our audience rows was not sufficient to dampen out the noise from several running exhibits and the general foot traffic. It was my suggestion that we return to the 2017 format of having our presentations in the separate meeting room in the back and keep our exhibitors in the ballroom and at the main entrance.
We have also discovered that our exhibition seems to do well starting first thing in the morning and lasting until mid-afternoon. However, our audience attendance for our speakers tended to be better starting in the late morning and lasting all the way to the end of the day. The RRS is considering having fewer presenters but keeping the duration and range of content the same. Our audience seems to enjoy the topics that our speakers have been offering, so we will continue in this direction. The RRS will likely discuss more of our member and attendee impressions of the symposium at the next meeting on June 14, 2019.
(2) Terry Price’s presentation on composite materials used in rocketry – delayed to next month
Terry was unable to attend the May meeting, however, he did say that he could join us next month. Terry gave a great hour and a half presentation of composite materials at the EAA 96 monthly meeting in April. I hope he can bring some of the same excitement that he generated at the Compton Airport to our June 14 meeting in Gardena.
Terry Price, retired, formerly at Cerritos College and a nationally recognized expert in aerospace composite materials
(3) Upcoming events at the RRS Mojave Test Area
The rocket build event with Spaceport LA planned for early May was cancelled. We hope to reschedule a similar event with them very soon. The RRS is always interested in supporting these rocket build events with public and private groups if there is sufficient interest. Larry Hoffing is our events coordinator and the point of contact for setting up these kinds of events.
events@rrs.org – Larry Hoffing
UCLA will be having their rocket launch event at the end of the Spring Quarter 2019 on Saturday, June 1st. Several model rocket motors will be fired as part of Dr. Mitchell Spearrin’s undergraduate class. We have been glad to support UCLA for three years running in hosting this event. The RRS has also been glad to support their liquid and solid rocket motor teams over recent years.
At this same June 1st launch event, Osvaldo and I talked about securing the alpha thrust stand and having a series of static hot fires to generate more thrust curves for our micrograin alphas. From the one and only thrust curve we made, it appears that the RRS standard alpha qualifies as an “I” sized motor. We had a setback last year when the concrete slab to which the rocket and thrust stand was secured proved to be an insufficient foundation to react the swift impulse loading of an alpha. We have this footage of this defective hot-fire test on our Instagram account. It’s almost comical, but we must do better for the sake of safety and good science. Further, we need more data. The RRS does not intend to commercialize the standard alpha, but for the sake of future projects using this vehicle as a test bed, it would be good to have more recent motor performance measurements.
First of ten alphas right at liftoff
Some of our membership had indicated interest in building payloads to fly inside of the RRS standard alpha rockets we fly at each of these school events. Nearly all of these payload tubes are empty and are available to members able to build and supply their payloads before the event. Contact the RRS president for more details on alpha rocket payload tube specifications.
president@rrs.org
Frank has confirmed another rocket build event starting this summer in June through the LAPD CSP program. LAPD has been an ardent supporter and our rocket build programs are a big hit with the kids. The final part of the project is the launch event at the RRS Mojave Test Area (MTA). This will likely take place on Saturday, July 13th. We often have at least six alphas and sometimes as many as a dozen rockets at these events.
(X1) A brief word to potential users of the RRS MTA
Our membership is welcome to bring more tests and flights to the manifest. The only requirements the RRS has is that all participants download and submit a Standard Record Form available from the RRS.ORG forms library. This document provides a basic description of the project that members or other authorized attendees intend to execute at the RRS MTA. Supporting illustrations and documents are encouraged to help explain the task and operations for the supervising pyrotechnic operator. Approval of all activities at the RRS MTA are at the discretion of the supervising pyrotechnic operator and the RRS.
For those outside of our membership wishing to use the RRS MTA, the society requires submission of Standard Record Forms for all proposed activities. These must be submitted to the RRS president at least 14 calendar days in advance of the planned MTA event. Details of these tests can be held confidentially, but the RRS must have the opportunity to review, understand and approve all activities at the RRS MTA well in advance of the event. The RRS would prefer to have at least a month’s notice if not more. The RRS has been glad to assist more and more groups particularly with universities, however, we can not always support events particularly when we get little or no advance notice.
In the professional aerospace industry, it is a common practice to schedule a date with the testing site many months in advance and use this calendar deadline to help motivate the team to achieving meaningful results in time for the pre-set date. Scheduling a test date as an after-thought in executing a project often leads to disappointing results. Also, the society strongly recommends that users consider using times of the year other than at the end of semesters or quarters. If an event is planned well in advance, we will keep it on our calendar and can more easily have the personnel and resources ready.
The RRS must coordinate our activities with several parties and the better informed we are and the more notice we have will result in the RRS being better able to serve our prospective membership and clients. For any questions about RRS policy or practices, please contact the RRS president. The RRS is a volunteer organization and will always make our best effort to support rocket programs and projects.
(4) Pyrotechnic Operators for Rocketry in California
The RRS has been on a campaign to get more of our membership to apply and attain their pyrotechnic operators license. We’ve enjoyed a lot of support from many of our licensed membership in getting the necessary letters of recommendation for the application process. The RRS has also been glad to have the advice and assistance of the California Fire Marshal’s office. Osvaldo Tarditti, Larry Hoffing, Drew Cortopassi, Chris Lujan and myself have been in the application process for the rocketry pyrotechnic operators license. At the May 2019 meeting, Alastair Martin indicated his interest in becoming a pyrotechnic operator also. With more pyrotechnic operators on the state roster, there is more opportunity for more groups to conduct events throughout California. The RRS plans to remain active in our support to the public.
It’s with pleasure that I announce that I have attained my 3rd class rockets pyrotechnic operator’s license from CALFIRE this month. This annually renewable license allows me to buy high powered solid motors and supervise launch events within this class of solid motors. I hope to soon announce more pyrotechnic operators at the RRS very soon. The RRS is also very glad for the support of the licensed pyro-operators in our society and outside of our society at Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR). It is through the mutual support of all rocketry organizations that we expand our voice in the state and maintain a high standard for safety and the bold tradition of experimentation made possible in the Golden State.
RRS’s newest pyrotechnic operator, Dave Nordling
It’s my intention to upgrade my license to rockets 2nd class to be able to supervise and manage the unlimited category of solid rocket motors. The RRS is an organization that regularly conducts flights and testing in the unlimited class of solid motors. Our proud tradition of responsible experimentation in solid rocket technologies has one of our perrennial activities for over seven decades from micrograin to composite motors.
For more information on the licensing process for pyrotechnic operators as it pertains to rocketry, please contact CALFIRE directly.
(5) RRS Constitutional Committee
Now that the 2019 RRS symposium is complete, the RRS Constitutional Committee will begin their task of systematically revising and updating the RRS constitution. This task was approved by the society earlier this year and the committee comprised of two regular members (Larry Hoffing and Bill Janczewski) and one executive council member (Frank Miuccio) were appointed to begin this task over the summer.
The RRS Constitution has been updated periodically through amendments and notices over the years. The society has decided that a full review and incorporation of all changes be made in an update to the constitution to be voted and approved by our active voting membership near this year’s end. The main intent of the committee is to examine the constitution and recommend changes to better reflect how the society operates today. RRS president, Osvaldo Tarditti, did offer a word of caution that the Constitution should not be too specifically worded to over-regulate our operations. He has recommended that the committee take a minimalist approach and the committee will take this under advisement. Frank already has copies of the last edition of the RRS Constitution and amendments. These materials are available to all society members and some may already be on the RRS website.
This new revision will be known as the 2020 Constitution. It is a big effort and the society looks forward to the committee’s draft to be presented at the September 13, 2019, monthly meeting where suggestions and discussions will first commence.
(6) RRS Social Media Improvements – Recurring Topic
Alastair Martin was able to talk a little bit about RRS social media improvements and advertising of RRS events in general. One of his suggestions was that the society examine the use of EDDM (Every Door, Direct Mailers). These are the large postcard advertisements that organizations use to go into the mailboxes of targetted audiences throughout a region. Alastair has used these in the past with some of his events and had great success. The cost is substantial, but the results could be many more people getting notice to come to future symposiums and other large events with the RRS.
RRS media officer, Alastair Martin, discusses his ideas for marketing future RRS events at the May 2019 meeting
I had offered a suggestion that the RRS consider the use of more forms of electronic payment to help our ability to sell items at events or take membership dues and application fees. Venmo is a smartphone application that can be convenient for some to make direct payments to the RRS. The society seemed open to the idea, but it seemed to require further discussion and a vote to implement the change. There may be other means of electronic payment to consider however we must be cognizant of the fees involved and how practical each means would be for the society. We can bring this subject up again at the next meeting on June 14, 2019.
Currently, the RRS only has a PayPal account which is connected to our “DONATE” button on the RRS.ORG website. We encourage new applicants to use the “DONATE” button to tender their application fee ($40) if they desire associate membership at the RRS. Also, for our current membership, annual dues payments are much easier if made through PayPal or using our “DONATE” button. The only we ask for online donors is that they make a note of what the contribution is for and who we have to thank.
The RRS still accepts payments by direct mail to our post office box shown in our RRS.ORG website. The mailbox is not very frequently examined so it is strongly advised that all persons making payments to the RRS by direct mail contact the RRS president or RRS treasurer by email in advance to let them know to inspect the mailbox soon after the mail arrives. It is not uncommon for our direct mail to sit for a week or more.
Lastly, Alastair made mention of the next Rocket Talk Radio podcast which Richard Garcia and I will be a part of on Saturday, May 25th. The subject of this hour-long program will be Robert Truax. Truax was a key figure in 20th century rocketry and an important pioneer in the decades before the so-called “NewSpace” movement.
(7) RRS Participation with the CALFIRE committee on rocketry
The RRS was invited to attend CALFIRE’s review of the state’s regulations and laws on rocketry. Both the RRS and FAR have been reviewing regulations and preparing suggestions for improvements and clarifications to CALFIRE legislation governing the practice of amateur rocketry in California. The state has been very open to hearing from the amateur rocketry community about ideas and common sense changes that would make regulation better for all participants. Osvaldo has been involved with this activity and will soon schedule a separate meeting for RRS pyro-op’s to share and review our ideas. The CALFIRE committee will meet again in November 2019 and the RRS will offer our views on how the law can best serve the public.
(8) Topics for next meeting
Time ran out in the May meeting. Next month’s agenda will include further discussion about the RRS involvement with the base11 organization and the liquid rocket project (LR101) at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM).
Richard Garcia has indicated his interest in getting the first prototype of the RRS standard liquid rocket motor built and tested.
RRS members have been helping different university groups on their liquid rocket projects and we expect to greatly expand our activities in this area as this year unfolds.
Lastly, the quarterly update for the SuperDosa project will have be made at the July 12, 2019, meeting.
Our next meeting of the RRS will be Friday, June 14, 2019. We will likely have something to share from the MTA launch event with UCLA by then. If there are any corrections or additions to be made to this monthly meeting report, please notify the RRS secretary.
