For our club launch on May 12th the temperature was in the 60's and winds were from 10 to 15 mph. It was cloudy all day with a threat of rain.

   We had a nice turn out. We had 6 different members launch rockets, along with a group of about 5 Cub Scouts. Not including the scout launches, we had a total of 22 launches for a total of 1247 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were Bill Wojtyla with 7 launches and Don Kennedy with 482 Newtons. This was our first High Power launch of the year and we had Grant Zaharias get his level 1 certification on a rocket he named "Haulin Assteroids". He flew it on an Aerotech H165-M motor to about 2000 feet. It was a very nice flight and Grant had a long walk to recover it.

   We also had our first club contest of the year - clusters - we had 3 entries. They were Don Kennedy with his Fliskits "Deuces Wild", Dennis McAuliff with his Sunward "Eruption", and Brian Toone/Grant Zaharias with an Estes "Eliminator" (modified to use a 3 engine cluster). The winner of the contest was Don Kennedy. He won a $20 gift card to Hobby Lobby.

   There were a lot of great and entertaining flights for the day. Among them, Don Kennedy's Wildman "Wildman Jr." rocket with dual deploy on an Aerotech I161-M motor. Dennis McAuliff also had some nice flights with his Sunward "Eruption" which is a 4 engine cluster and his Fliskits "Acme Spitfire". We also had a nice group of Cub Scouts who were launching rockets for the first time and they all had a great time. For more details on who launched what, you can check out the launch logs. Please visit our photo gallery to see some of our launch photos, as well.

   We also had another club raffle. The mystery prize was 3 rockets ranging in skill level 1 to skill level 3. The raffle raised another $58 for the club! The winner of the raffle was Claire Krzyzewski who was with the Cub Scouts.

   Our next launch is scheduled for June 9th from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm and hopefully we will get some good weather. Thanks to everyone that made the launch and hopefully we can have more people out next month.

Dennis McAuliff -President

    For our launch on April 14th the temperature was in the upper 60's most of the day. It was overcast and we did have a brief shower for about 30 minutes right around noon. The winds were fairly light around 5 mph to 10 mph.

    We had a great turnout. We had 15 different people launch rockets. We had a total of 51 launches for a total of 1699.75 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were John Olevich with 7 launches, while Paul Parkes used the most Newtons for the day with 633 Newtons. We also had the TARC team from Neuqua Valley High School come out and do some practice flights before they head to Virginia in May for the national finals. They were one of the top 100 teams, their qualifying score was 3 with a perfect score being 0. Let's all hope they can do as well in Virginia! We had many great flights. Among them Bill Stearns with his Aerotech "Warthog" on an Aerotech G76-7 motor. The rocket left the pad very quickly. Paul Parkes had his usual interesting array of rockets and launches. We also have a new member who joined the club, Brian Toone, and we had a few guests launching with us - Bill Piva and also Jen, Caleb, and Cody King and last but not least Tricia Noblett, the TARC team's teacher at Neuqua Valley High School.

    For further details on what everyone launched please go check out the launch logs.

   We also had quite a few spectators including some cub scouts from the area. They are planning to come out to our next launch and might launch a few rockets with us. Our first attempt at a club raffle went very well. We raised $66 from the raffle. The mystery rockets that were raffled off were an Estes "Big Daddy" and an Estes X-Prize "Space Ship One". They were won by a nice young man who will hopefully build them and come out and launch them with us soon.

    Our next launch will be May 12th from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm. Hopefully we'll have good weather and can launch a lot more rockets. Thanks to everyone who came out to the April launch. I hope everyone had a good day.

Dennis McAuliff -President

    We finally got some decent weather and we were able to have a nice launch. For the launch on June 18th, we had a mostly sunny day with temperatures in the 80's. The winds were very light in the 5 to 10 mph range.

   We had a very nice turnout with 10 different people launching and we had about another 8 to 10 people watching. For the day we had 53 launches for a total of 1712.25 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were Don Kennedy with 11 launches and Bill Wojtyla with 10 launches. Don Kennedy used 525 Newtons followed by Paul Parkes with 496 Newtons. For further details on what everyone launched please go check out the launch logs.

   The launch was attended by Michael Seibert, Bill Stearns, Don Kennedy, Bill Wojtyla, Dennis McAuliff, Paul Parkes, Sean Butler, Julika and Marika Potter, Gary Kawabata, and Jim Finks. We also had many spectators for the launch.

   For the day Paul Parkes had some very nice launches with his Wildman "DarkStar Mini" and his Loc Precision "Onyx Extended". Paul also had one very fine pinpoint landing when his ejection charge failed to eject his Wildman "Dark Star Mini" nose cone. Thanks to all of the rain we have had and the soft ground - even with his rocket being buried close to 2 feet in to the ground - there was no damage to the rocket. Don Kennedy and Gary Kawabata also had some nice looking flights and Michael Seibert had some very nice looking rockets that he launched. There were some pictures taken, so please go and check out the pictures from the launch in the photo gallery.

    I think our new launch location at 119th Street and Book Road is going to work out very well for now. I hope everyone had a fun day and will be able to make out next launch on July 9th from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM.

Dennis McAuliff -President

   The launch on September 11th started off very cloudy and cool but as the day moved along it cleared up. The only negative was that the winds picked up to around 15 mph.

   It was a very special launch, it was the club's first High Power Launch. Congratulations to Angel Cooper on her successful level 1 certification flight, which also happened to be the first High Power launch for Prairie State Rocketry.

   We had a nice turn-out for the day. We had a total of 37 launches for a total of 1674 Newtons. We had 4 High Power launches for the day with the largest being a Cesaroni 261H120 motor. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were Neil Potter and family with 10 launches, and Don Kennedy with 472 Newtons. For more information on who launched what please check out the launch logs.

   The launch was attended by Don Kennedy, Bill Stearns, Derek Baston, Dennis McAuliff, Gary Kawabata, Bill Wojtyla, guest Cally Soukup and our newest members Neil Potter and family, and Angel Cooper our newest level 1 rocketeer.

   We had many great flights for the day, of course among those was Angel Coopers level 1 flight in her Midnight Shadow rocket on an H73 motor. Another highlight for the day was Don Kennedy's scratch-built Guardian which flew great on an H123. Bill Stearns also had a couple of nice flights with his NCR Corona on an H238, and his imitation Sumo ( an Aerotech G-Force that had been rebuilt and is now the size of a Sumo) which flew on a G64-7 motor. We also had a couple of real Aerotech Sumo's launch - one by Cally Soukup on a G79-4 motor, and Don Kennedy flew his on a G53-4 motor. Don also flew his Semroc Gee Hod rocket on a C6-5 motor. There were also many excellent flights from Bill Wojtyla, Gary Kawabata and Neil Potter and his family. A few pictures were taken, so please go and check out the pictures from the launch in the photo gallery.

   Thanks to everyone who made it out to the launch. Hopefully we get decent weather for the October launch which is scheduled for October 9th from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm and everyone is able to make that launch.

   Also, coming up in October for anyone who is interested: The IHobby Expo 2010 October 23-24 and Midwest Power 8 October 29-31.

Dennis McAuliff -President

   We had decent weather for the August 14th launch. It was hot - in the upper 80s to low 90s - and there was very little wind.

   We had another great turnout with a total of 36 launches for the day for a total of 1160 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were Bill Wojtyla with 10 launches. He also launched a total of 295 Newtons. Dennis McAuliff was next with 7 launches and Angel Cooper was next with 236 Newtons. For further information on who launched what, please check out the launch logs.

   The Launch was attended by Bill Wojtyla, Bill Stearns, Dennis McAuliff, Marc Rushford, Jon Rushford, Colleen Rushford, Don Kennedy, Angel Cooper, Gary Kawabata, Sean Butler, our newest member Paul Parkes, and guest Brian Gile and family. You can find pictures from the launch and all of our previous launches in the launch gallery. All of the Launches for the day were excellent, there were no crashes for the day and everyone had a lot of fun. Bill Wojtyla had some great launches for the day. Among them, he launched his Aerotech Arreaux on an Aerotech F52-5 and it just hung in the air and seemed to take a good 5 minutes to come down. Angel Cooper launched her Midnight Shadow rocket on an Aerotech G76-10 which is a great motor. The parachute failed to eject completely, but the rocket came down undamaged. There were many other great launches for the day by everyone who launched.

   Thanks to everyone who was able to attend and either launched or just came to watch. Hopefully everyone will be able to make some of our future launches. Our next scheduled launch is September 11. With some luck, we will continue having good weather and everyone will be able to make it out and launch with us.

   Also, for all of you who are interested in other NAR or TRA sections having launches, here are some sites to check out: NIRA, Fox Valley Rocketeers, Tripoli Quad Cities, Central Illinois Aerospace.

Dennis McAuliff -President

   The launch on November 14th went well. The weather ended up being nearly perfect -- it was mostly sunny at the start of the launch and was overcast by the end of the launch. The temperature was in the upper 50's to low 60's. The winds were light around 10 mph and they dropped as the day went on, to around 5 mph.

   We had 35 launches for the day, with a total of 645.5 Newtons. That was the largest number of rockets launched at a single launch this year. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were Mark Grisco with 13 launches, followed by Dennis McAuliff with 12 launches, and Bill Stearns who launched a total of 203 Newtons. For further details on who launched what, you can check out the launch logs.

   The launch was attended by Darren Morton, Mark Grisco, Dennis McAuliff, Bill Stearns, and Jim Finks. You can see pictures from the launch in the photo gallery. Jim Finks brought out his helicopter. It is very impressive and he pilots it very well. We had many great launches and a lot of very long walks. Among them, Darren Morton launched his Loc Precision Lil' Nuke on an Aerotech G40-10 to around 3000 feet. He also launched his Estes Mercury Redstone a couple of times, which looks great launching with its slow liftoffs.

   Bill Stearns launched his Aerotech Mustang on an Aerotech F12-5, which is a perfect motor for the Mustang with lots of smoke and slower lift-off than what you normally see with a Mustang. He also launched his Estes Big Daddy on an Estes E9-6 with some not so good results. The ejection charge went off but failed to eject the nose cone, so the rocket came in and actually hit a sidewalk. You can see the results in the launch gallery. The rocket actually hit a joint in the sidewalk and stuck there. I have never seen a rocket come in and end up like this one did. Bill also launched his Estes Blue Ninja a few times on Estes E9-4 motors and had some very long walks to recover the rocket.

   Mark Grisco had many good launches for the day, among them was his Apogee Aspire on an Estes C6-5. The rocket flew great but landed a bit hard with only a streamer for its recovery. He also launched a Dr. Zooch Ares 1-X on an Estes C6-7 motor. This is a very nice looking rocket and also flew great. Dennis McAuliff also had many good launches. Among them, an Estes Hi-Flier on an Estes C6-5 motor. The rocket was actually recovered and launched again later on an Estes A8-3 motor. He also launched his Estes X-Prize Canadian Arrow and X-Prize Rubicon both on Estes D12-5 motors. There was a great variety of rockets launched for the day with good results for the most part. Everyone who attended had a great time.

   I am not sure when the next launch will be. If we get very lucky, we will have a launch on Saturday, December 12th from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. If we don't have a launch in December, we will probably not be launching again until March or April of 2010. If this was our last launch for the year, I want to thank everyone who made it out there this year and hope everyone had a fun year. I hope everyone comes back out to launch with us next year again and maybe we can get a few more people to come out and join us.

   Also, continue to check out the website for any updates about the club and feel free to email me with any suggestions you might have on improving the club. Thanks again to everyone for making this a successful year for the club.

Dennis McAuliff -President

   The Launch on August 8th went very well. The weather at the start of the launch looked a little questionable, but by 11:00 the skies had cleared. We did have some wind blowing around 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to around 20 mph on occasion and, of course, it was very warm out - the temperature was in the low 90's.

   We had a total of 25 launches for the day, with a total of 462.5 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were Mark Grisco with 10 launches, and Brian Smith who launched a total of 185 Newtons. For further details on who launched what, you can check out the launch logs. You can see pictures from the launch in the photo gallery.

   The launch was attended by Mark Grisco, Dennis McAuliff, Michael McAuliff, Mark Smith, Brian Smith, and guest Darren Morton. There were some very nice launches for the day. Among them was Brian Smith launching his Estes Mean Machine on an E9-6 which seemed like it never wanted to come down. Guest Darren Morton launched an Estes Phoenix and it flew great on an Aerotech E15-7. Mark Grisco flew a scratch built Goblin on an Aerotech D10-7 motor that also flew great. Overall, all of the launches went well and everyone had a good time.

   The next club launch will be on September 12th, from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. Thanks to all of the members and guest who were able to attend the launch. Hopefully everyone is able to make the next launch and the weather will continue to cooperate so we are able to get a few more launches in before the end of the year.

Dennis McAuliff -President

   The Launch on July 11th was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect - it was in low 80’s and winds were blowing out of the north around 5 to 10 mph. It was slightly overcast.

   We had a total of 24 launches for the day with a total of 459 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers for the day were Dennis McAuliff with 11 launches, and Bill Stearns who launched the largest amount of Newtons, 154. For further details on who launched what, you can check out the launch logs. You can see pictures from the launch in the photo gallery.

   One of our newest members, Mark Grisco, launched some very nice looking rockets. Among them was a DynaStar Snarky which looked and flew great. He also had a Semroc Texas Firefly that is a 2 stage rocket that flew nearly out of sight on a B6-0, B6-6 motor combination.

   The launch was attended by Mark Grisco, Bill Stearns, Dennis McAuliff, and Michael McAuliff. We also had some guests come and watch and they also launched a couple of rockets with us. The local assistant pastor and his wife and their three children came and watched and his son Jonah launched a Quest Nike-K on an Estes C6-5 motor. We also had Brian Slatton and his son Baron stop by and watch, and Baron launched an Estes Shuttle Xpress on an Estes C6-5 motor.

   The next club launch will be on Saturday August 8th from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. Thanks to all of the members and guest who attended the launch, hopefully more people will be able to make the August 8th launch.

Dennis McAuliff -President

   The June 27th launch went well. The weather was nearly perfect - it was a bright, sunny day with winds 5 to 10 mph.

   There were a total of 16 launches for the day, with a total of 446.5 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers of the day were Dennis McAuliff, he launched 8 rockets, and Bill Stearns who launched the largest amount of Newtons, 224. For more details on who launched what, you can check out the launch logs. You can see pictures from the launch in the photo gallery.

   The launch was attended by Tyler Stearns, Bill Stearns, Dennis McAuliff, and Michael McAuliff. We also had some spectators who stayed and watched most of the launches for the day. The local church’s assistant pastor and his children came out to watch. Other spectators included Dion Santi and his son. Hopefully, they will all be able to attend more of our launches and maybe even fly some rockets with us.

   The next launch will be on Saturday, July 11th from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. Thanks to all of the members and spectators who attended and hopefully more people are able to make the July 11th launch.

Dennis McAuliff -President

   The first club launch of 2009 happened this last Saturday. The bad news is there are no pictures from the launch as I was unable to attend due to being ill. The good news is that everyone who was able to attend the launch had a good time.

   It was a sunny day, but it was a bit breezy. My understanding is that one of the more entertaining flights of the day was the canopy taking off across the sod farm being chased by Bill Stearns and Mark Smith.

   There were a total of 13 launches for the day with a total of 386 Newtons. The most prolific rocketeers of the day were Tyler Stearns, he launched 7 rockets, and Brian Smith who launched the largest amount of Newtons, 152. For more details on who launched what, you can check out the launch logs.

   The launch was attended by Bill Stearns, Tyler Stearns, Mark Smith, Brian Smith, Derek Baston and his girlfriend Christy. Thanks to everyone who was able to attend and hopefully more people will be able to make the next launch.

   Next month's launch will be on Saturday, May 9th from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. I will be there and there will be pictures from the launch. Anyone else who feels like bringing out their camera and taking pictures are more then welcome to and can submit them and they will be posted in our photo gallery.

   Also, just a couple of reminders since it is a new launch year - we need to remember to follow all NAR safety rules during launches, and please Do Not Drive on the grass at the launch site.

Dennis McAuliff -President