January 31st, 2010
The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday February 13th at Samson, AL. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info
The special event theme is egg loft day. Fly any of the special events on a green flight card and your card may be selected in the 3 PM drawing for a pick from the prize pool.
- General Event: Egg Loft Day (fly any egg loft rocket)
- Youth Event: Decorate eggs as Eggstronauts and have a picture taken for web site.
- Challenge Event: Egg Loft Duration (without cracking the egg)
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January 3rd, 2010
The launch is on for 10AM to 3PM due to the cold weather. The potty will not be serviced. We will scale down launch gear. Dress for the weather multiple layers consider long johns and definitely something for the head covering the ears.
The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday January 9th at Samson, AL. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info
General: Streamer Day
Youth: Make a colorful streamer and fly in a rocket
Challenge: Streamer duration contest
Advanced: Land a egg payload with a streamer
Posted in Announcement, Launch | 4 Comments »
December 22nd, 2009
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas!


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December 18th, 2009
All,
To all, the Pea River has flooded the sod farm, therefore the launch is off. See you all on 9 January 2010 for our next launch.
Greg
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December 5th, 2009
JonRocket.com’s Virtual Vendor program offers discounts to SEARS and its members. The Virtual Vendor program offers 5% off our regular discounted prices on orders up to $50, 10% off on orders of $50 to $250, and 15% off on orders over $250. These discounts are available to each club member as well as on group orders and are in addition to our Free Shipping offer (we offer free shipping on orders of $40 or greater). We encourage your club members to get together and place one large order to get free shipping and a larger discount. It’s almost as good as having a rocketry vendor on-site.
In addition, we’ll keep track of the total amount of orders your club generates. We’ll use this information to occasionally provide rewards to your club. These rewards may include things such as special offers for your members or free merchandise for use as club prizes or fundraisers. We will also work with your club to fill any special requests.
SEAR’s special Coupon Code is VV-SEARS. The proper discount will be applied to the order by entering the Coupon Code on the payments page when checking out of JonRocket.com’s online store.
Roger (and Bracha)
jonrocket.com
Posted in Announcement | 1 Comment »
October 29th, 2009
The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday November 7th at Samson, AL. There will not be a Novemeber 14th launch. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go until about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info
General: Cluster Day
Youth: Paint a rocket the same color as a pumpkin
Challenge: Modify a rocket to take three motors instead of one
Advanced: Cluster 7 or more motors
Posted in Announcement, Launch | 1 Comment »
September 13th, 2009
SEARS572 held its monthly launch on 9/12/9 at Green’s Sod Farm in Samson AL. The weather was gloomy with 50% rain prediction. This caused most flyers to stay home, but those who showed up had a great time. We had cloudy skies and 10MPH winds from the East. The wind direction was consistent throughout the day, which allowed us to pick a great setup spot. Some rockets drifted quite a bit, but all were recovered on field. Our monthly theme was Sci-Fi and Warp Factor.
Read the rest of this entry »
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August 3rd, 2009
The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday September 12th at Samson, AL. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go until about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info
Launch Events:
General: Sci-fi / Futuristic / Alien Day
Youth: decorate a rocket to have aliens on-board
Challenge: Fly a Mars Lander type rocket
Advanced: Warp Factor (See the definition of Warp Factor at end of this post)
Special: Snitch Mass Launch
Use a green flight card for any event flight and you will entered for a draw from the prize pool.
In addition we will have at least two large rocket launches on M motors. This is an excellent launch to invite new people, especially any student or teacher who might consider the Team America Rocketry Challenge.
Greg Lane
SEARS President

WARP FACTOR
This will be a fun event, and was one of my suggestions for this year. Warp Factor flights are achieved by flying a production kit using motors exceeding the total impulse that the kit was designed for. This usually involves modification to add larger motor mounts or clusters. Some kits can be flown Warp Factor without modification by using 18mm D or 24mm F Aerotech motors. The Warp Factor of the flight is determined by how big of a motor you fly. The Extes Fat Boy is a good example. The stock motor mount is for C motors. Fly an Aerotech D for Warp Factor 2. Seven Cs gives a Warp Factor of 7. Five Ds is a Warp Factor 10. Fly an H for a Warp Factor 32. Flyer with the highest Warp Factor wins bragging rights. Sometimes Warp Factor flights do not return from hyperspace and are lost forever.
Remember, more motor in back means you may need more weight up front, so don’t forget to check your CG / CP relationship. An easy way to do this is to find the CG on the stock kit, and add nose weight to make sure its in the same place with the bigger motors. Maiden voyages or unproven designs should go through RSO inspection.
Russ Roberts
Posted in Announcement, Launch | 3 Comments »
July 4th, 2009
The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday July 11th at Samson, AL. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go untill about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info
Jul 11, 2009
General: Glider Day
Youth: Bring a hand glider and fly it
Challenge: Glider Duration
Advanced: Fly an glider with 24 inch wingspan or greater (Maybe R/C)
Use a green flight card for any glider rocket and you will entered for a draw from the prize pool.

Posted in Announcement, Launch | 1 Comment »
June 1st, 2009
The next monthly S.E.A.R.S. Launch is Saturday June 13th at Samson, AL. We setup at 8:30 AM, the waiver opens for launches at 9:00 AM. We usually go untill about 4:00 PM. Beginners are welcome. Bring the whole family!. Everyone is also invited to Crews BBQ in Samson after the launch. For more info see http://www.sears572.com/sears-launch-info
Jun 13, 2009
General: Multi Stage Day
Youth: fly a two stage rocket and find both the booster and sustainer
Challenge: fly a three stage rocket
Advanced: fly a four stage rocket
Use a green flight card for any multi-stage rocket and you will entered for a draw from the prize pool.
Note: We depend on everyone’s good judgement about keeping their rockets safe and stable and on-the field. Most but not all multi-stage commercial kits are good designs. If you are scratch building be sure to research the principles and tips that will keep your rocket safe and stable. We will require a check by a RSO for multistage stage rockets at this launch to identify rockets that should not be flown or need to be flown at the away cell. Low power multi-stage need an RSO by a Level 2 club members. Mid and high power need an RSO by a Level 3 club member. Every multi-stage rocket is a HEADS-UP Flight. So keep your eyes on the rocket and remember the booster will be decending separate from the sustainer.

Gary Goldenbaum’s cluster two stage.
Tip: CHAD (Cheap and Dirty) Staging is direct staging and requires no
modification to an existing rocket. This is where you add a booster
motor with a -0 delay behind the ususal motor. This is done by attaching
the top end on the booster to the bottom on the usual motor. You can do
this with one wrap of cellophane tape. I would use CHAD staging where
the weight of the extra motor does not change the CG that much. Remember
CG must be forward of the CP. I have found that the Estes Snitch can be
CHAD staged C6-0 to C6-3.
Greg Lane
SEARS President
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