It would be hard to capture all that happened at Southern Thunder 2008. However, I will make some notes. The launch was well attended by SEARS members and friends that have flown with SEARS. Chris Short and family attended. Chris was selling lots of motors. He flew the War Eagle Rocket on a N3300 research motor on Friday and on a N2020 on Sunday.

Chris Short’s War Eagle on an N2020

Clark Word was there taking a lot of videos. I saw Sarah Gifford as well. We learned that Halley Allen of the Auburn USLI Team is engaged to Kerry Huff. She will be attending Georgia Tech this August and Kerry will be working for Huff Construction in Birmingham. The wedding is a couple of years off. By the end of Southern Thunder, Hally, Kerry and Kerry’s Dad, Don, were all Level 2. Chris Crews attended with his family. His Dad, Richard was a big help on recovering rockets. More on that later.  Bob Mullins and Whitney were there. Bob had some bad luck when he fell at the motel brusing his ribs. Daymon Campbell had a big time flying his fleet and he bought a 1/4 Scale PML Patriot for Level 1.

John Hansel had an excellent flight of his 10 inch diameter Nike Smoke on the AMW M1730 Skidmark on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Nike drifted into the woods and it took several hours to locate it. John bought some machetes to beat a way into the woods. Richard Crews spent alot of his time helping in the search and chopped a tree down to free the rocket.

 John Hansel’s Nike Smoke on M1730

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We all know that ozone in the stratosphere blocks harmful ultraviolet sunlight, and perhaps some people know that ozone at the Earth’s surface is itself harmful, damaging people’s lungs and contributing to smog.

But did you know that ozone also acts as a potent greenhouse gas? At middle altitudes between the ground and the stratosphere, ozone captures heat much as carbon dioxide does.

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 TARC is Team America Rocketry Challenge.  The contest is for middle and high school students. Teams may be formed for schools or youth organizations. The pictures below are from the finals held in Virginia last Saturday for the top 100 qualifying teams.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Click here for a press release. SEARS will gladly support all teams in our area with mentors and our launch site.  If you would like to participate in TARC 2009, it is a good plan is to attend a SEARS launches and learn the basics this summer.  Also visit the TARC web site for more info.

Greg

Mrs Wilson’s 3rd grade class at West DeFuniak Elementary capped their science study of Space Exploration with a fun filled morning of model rockets this past Thursday, May 15th.

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The post below was copied from The Rocketry Forum.

The Dragonfly Monocopter takes model rocketry in a new direction, a tight, skyward spiral. It leaps off the launch pad with a loud growl and tears into the sky leaving a unique, corkscrew smoke trail. At apogee it hovers for several seconds and flutters gently to the ground. Unlike most rockets, it actually flies better on windy days. It will land close to the launch pad under all flying conditions and it’s nearly impossible to get this rocket stuck in trees or power lines.

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Read all about it on Rocketry Planet! Congrats to the Auburn Team on the successful Flight and nice paint job too. Note Chris and John in photo.

Photo by Ray Cole.

Greg

Our newest SEARS member Daymon Campbell A.K.A. Eagleman has purchased a canopy, a range box and built an Estes rocket for the May 10th Launch. He tested out the gear at his home in Chipley and sent along some pictures.

See more pictures here. Way to Go Daymon!

Greg

I finally found out the name of this Bob Hewes rocket thanks to the post Who the heck is Friedrich Zander? on the Rocketry Blog.  Bob Hewes was a member of SEARS who passed away and his widow donated his rockets to SEARS.

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Rocket Challenge originally aired in 2003. It was filmed at LDRS 22 in Argonia, KS.