Meeting attendees:
Treasurer’s Report: the previous balance was $484.42. Launch and contest fees for October was $55.25. Dues paid $34.50. Money spent on launch equipment: $38.73 This brings us to $534.94.
The meeting was called to order at 1:22PM by the President, Bob Wingate. We discussed the required number of members for a quorum; at the start of the meeting we had 20 members in good standing. The square root of 20 is 4.47 or four persons. A quorum was present.
We started the meeting by discussing rechartering the club. We discussed the cost of the charter, and insurance for the field. We also attempted to determine if we had the needed five members that are members of the NAR and decided that we did. We discussed (briefly) field insurance. Tim B. made a motion that we recharter for 2003, and in doing so purchase insurance from the NAR for both the Case Farm and Tickwood Ranch. The motion was seconded by Randall J. Motion carried unanimously. Total cost is $25 + 15 +15 or $55.
We then discussed launch locations. We chatted briefly about the Case Farm getting smaller, and that the new neighbor to the South has been less than friendly. We also have become aware that the property to the North has been purchased and building is planned but that Trish met the new owner flying rockets with his son. We’re hoping that this will allow us to use that field too during launches. There are several opposing views regarding the Case Farm. Two or three of the club members have vowed to fly their no longer due to run ins with the new neighbor and misgivings about potential trespassing issues. On the other hand, it is close for many people and still very usable. Finally, we have been launching there for a long time and appreciate the use of the field, and James getting a waiver several weekends every year for us. This is too valuable a resource to give up easily. To sum up, Bob stated that for the nine regular launches that we normally hold during the year we have three fields: Tickwood, Case, and Shawnee Mission Park. Bob suggested three launches each. May 10th is the Challenge America in Virginia - we need a launch for the local teams to test their designs. Also, we want to time our launches around LDRS, NARAM, the NSL, etc. Bob had a listing of available weekends next year, and we looked through the Extreme Rocketry Magazine brought by Randall for dates for the major launches this year. After a good deal of deliberation and thought, it was felt that it would be good to move the launches to the fourth Saturday of every month. The reasoning is that it is easy to remember the weekend if it’s always the same one; the second weekend would conflict with holidays and other major launches three or four times during the year. We briefly discussed having the meetings on the launch field before or after the launches or closing the range at lunch time and having the meetings with our sandwiches. We also discussed having fewer meetings. No decisions were made regarding these ideas.
Our tentative launch schedule, then, is:
We discussed getting a tower launcher for various things, mainly for competitions, but also since it would be a good addition to our upgraded launch equipment. Currently we haven’t been able to find a tower, BMS used to carry the Gold Medalist but has gone out of production temporarily. Tim has exchanged e-mail with BMS concerning a tower with the result that they have none to sell and no idea when they might produce a few more. Tim will ask again. We decided that maybe it would be a good idea to go ahead and vote to spend the money in case they change their minds. Randall J. motioned that we spend aprox. $175 for a launcher. Seconded by George S. Motion carried unanimously. We discussed the current launch equipment and Tim stated that it would be great if we could get one of those big Hornet pads from Yellow Jacket. George stated that he thought Jim was out of launchers and one may not be readily available. Tim also stated that the rails will be ready for the next launch. (Note from the Secretary: these rails were at the last launch but the half-inch dowels wouldn’t slide into the Wasp pad head due to a weld line inside the square tube holder. This has been corrected by grinding a flat spot on one side of the dowel to allow it to clear.)
We discussed officers and requirements for officers. We also discussed what each person does (for Randall’s benefit and in answer to his questions.) Tim indicated that while he doesn’t mind being the Secretary/Treasurer that he thinks it is someone else’s turn. Bob stated that he felt the same way about being President. Tim nominated Bob for Sec/Treas. Bob nominated Tim for President and George for Sr. Advisor. Randall volunteered to be Member at Large. A vote was taken. As it stands Tim Burger will be President; Bob Wingate will be Secretary Treasurer; George Scheil will be Sr. Advisor, and Randall Jessee will be Member at Large. The VP position is at yet unfilled.
We briefly discussed some of the ideas we have for the next year including the idea of holding a raffle for the people that help on the range with equipment and switch flipping to encourage participation, ideas about what events to sponsor for competition launches, ideas concerning modifying the launch fee to a flat one or two dollars, and a raffle at the end of the year for a mondo big kit from Apogee or Aerotech for those who have helped with making the club run, etc. No decisions were made, nor were there a lot of details about them given. We also discussed how we might continue with the lost momentum of HPR.
These minutes are written from memory and notes. Please feel free to e-mail us to point out any inaccuracies, updates, or changes. Please be kind as my memory isn’t what it once was! And please forgive me for misspelling names; I can’t even remember my own, most days.
Tim Burger
Secretary/Treasurer
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Email: nar505@yahoo.com
Last updated: November 24, 2002
