Garden State Spacemodeling Society of New Jersey
National Association of Rocketry Section 439
"The primary source of information for GSSS"
Next Launch
Saturday August 21, 2010 10am-3pm
(If any GSSS event is canceled, an email notification is sent to the mailing list)
GSSS Launch Saturday 24 July 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM Weather Permitting
May 21, 2010
Please not that the NAR contest is at the June 12th launch not the May 22nd launch. Sorry for any confusion.
June 13, 2009
The Summer 2009 Issue of the Launch Rack is now available. Thanks to Jack Sarhage for all of his work putting this together.
June 13, 2009
Don't forget to attend the Mid Atlantic Open 2009 NAR Open meet on June 20 and 21, next weekend.
The GSSS with help from the Radical Rocketeers 4-H club will provide everyone with convenient times and locations to participate. You can attend on one or both days.
It is being held at two fields for the convenience - the GSSS launch at Northbranch Park on June 20 onward and Turkeybrook Park in Mt Olive, NJ on June 21. The starting time for both days is 10 AM.
Events:
- Parachute Spot Landing
- D Engine Dual Eggloft Duration
- 1/8A Helicopter Duration
- 1/2A Streamer Duration
Please see the NAR Spoting Code at www.nar.org for event and contest rules.
Note, to keep a standard spot accross both days, the Spot in the Spot Landing contest will be 25 feet from the lauch pad. Also remember there is only one flight allowed for Spot Landing and it must be your first flight at the contest.
Please reply on whether you are planning on attending and which days.
May 31, 2009
Open Skies 2009 results Place:
- 1st - Stephen Flynn: 88 points for a second place in Streamer Duration and a first in Streamer Spot Landing
- 2nd - Glenn Roth: 80 points for a first place in Streamer Duration
- 3rd - Bob Weis 4 points - flight points for Streamer Spot Landing
Unfortunately, the meet was reduced to a Section meet because there needed to be 5 competitors to hold an Open. Since Section meets have less events, we could not fly 1/8A HD in the contest. We NEED You NAR members to enter at least one event to be able to fly an Open meet. You can easily enter by bringing an Estes kit with a parachute and enter Parachute Spot Landing at the next meet in June.
The Mid Atlantic Open Meet for the next GSSS launch is in June. It looks good that we will be able to keep it an Open meet and not downgrade it to a Section meet. So bring your D Engine Dual Egglofters, Parachute Spot Landers, 1/8A Helicopters and 1/2 Streamer rockets and be ready to rumble in practice for NARAM!
March 1, 2009
NARCON 2009, The National Association of Rocketry Annual Convention, is being held nearby this year for the first time in a while. March 20-22 in Wethersfield CT. There are tons of classes, raffles, freebies, vendors, presentations and interesting rocket people to mingle with. It's always a great time. More information available at the NARCON 2009 website.
May 21, 2008
There is a new Yahoo! group for GSSS. Check it out at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/launchrack
August 26, 2007
The August launch was a mixed bag. The winds were light but the horse show the week before had torn up the field pretty badly. The mud and huge piles of horse poo combinded with the steamy heat had me wondering why I took the clothespins out of my range box. Regardless it was still a fun time and we signed up still more new members. Welcome to the club and we look forward to seeing you at upcoming launches. September and October can be some of the best months to fly. I can't wait!
July 29, 2007
Another great GSSS launch. The hot summer weather and light winds brought the flyers out in droves. I can't remember ever seeing so many flyers attend a launch. The pads were busy all day and Arnie did a great job keeping things running smoothly. Thanks Arnie!
We signed up six new members. Welcome aboard! Your support really helps the club keep flying. The Junior membership promotion is being extended one more month. We will have 12 kits to give away so if you are or know a new rocketeer stop by the next launch and join the club! Even if you have never flown a rocket before we can help you fly your first rocket and show you how much fun rocketry can be!
June 30, 2007
Great Launch! We had awesome weather and a huge turnout. I met a lot of new flyers and the club signed up six new members. Welcome aboard! I've posted some pictures in the photos section. If you took some nice shots with your camera feel free to send them to me. I prefer them to be scaled to 480x320.
Our membership promotion was a success. We still have four kits left to give away so we will be running the same promotion next month to the first four junior flyers who join GSSS. Again, welcome to our new members and hope to see you at the next launch.
May 24, 2007
We will also be promoting NARTREK Bronze at our June 30 Launch.
May 9, 2007
New Awesomeness
April 27, 2007
Due to heavy rains the field is too soggy for flying. We've had somewhat of a crummy April but hopefully the May launch will make up for it!
April 19, 2007
Announcing the June 30th GSSS Junior Membership Promotion. We are looking to increase our Junior membership by offering a free Estes rocket (Ready To Fly), 2 rocket motors and assistance flying to new junior members! This offer is limited to the first 12 new rocketeers 15 and under who attend the June 30th launch and joins GSSS. Junior membership for the year is 5.00 (Cash and exact change is appreciated) and new members must be accompanied by a parent or legal gaurdian. Come join the club and learn to fly your first rocket!
April 14, 2007
I have posted the new issue of The Launch Rack with coverage of our Silver Anniversary Local event. It was a great event and the coverage is thorough and worth a read especially if you didn't get a chance to make it out for the launch. Members should receive a copy in the mail in a few days. If you are not receiving your copy and are a paid member please let us know so we can update our records and correct the situation. Non-members can subscribe for
10.00 but at that price you should just joing the club!
We are working on a fantastic promotion for kids at our May launch. Check back soon for all of the details.
April 3, 2007
I have posted the results for the Silver Anniversary Local. This was the first contest in many years to be held by the Garden State Spacemodeling Society. Though not as large as those of the past it was a success all around. A total of 8 entrants including a couple that traveled a great distance to fly the event; Glenn Feveryear (Delta, PA). Alex DeMarco (East Greenbush, NY) There will be more details in the upcoming issue of The Launch Rack. In the meantime check the Contests section.
March 31, 2007
What a nice day for a launch. It may have started out chilly but it soon warmed up, the winds drop to almost nothing and the sun even came out. For a March launch I'll take it. We had 3 minute A-PD flights landing comfortably in the field. The Contest was a big success with numerous competitors in all four events. I hope to post the results soon.
I have recently made some improvements behind the scenes with regards to the launch photos section. This means I can post photos much more quickly. If you would like to submit them to me via email for posting please follow these guidelines.
- Choose only your best files to submit. I would prefer not to have to sort through them. If you pick three or four nice shots they will probably all get posted and posted quickly.
- Resize the photos to either 320x240 or 240x320 pixels. This will save me a good deal of time as I can upload them directly.
- .jpg files only
I saw a lot of people snapping pictures. Let's see 'em!
March 11, 2007
At NARCON 2007 the NAR board extended the program which allows NAR members to fly old, decertified motors at NAR sanctioned launches. The program is designed to help the NAR safety committee collect data on old, out-of-production motors to see if they can be safely flown. If the data show that certain out-of-production motors are safe they may have their decertifications revoked for sport flying. In order to fly old motors that have had their certifications lapse you must contact me at least 1 week prior to the launch and let me know what motors you plan to fly. I will then pass this information along to Ted Cochran . You must keep careful records of which motors you fly, their designations, any serial number and/or lot codes and the results of the flight. I will then submit the launch reports to Ted. There are a few more rules we must follow:- Approval must be given by the NAR safety committee so requests to fly old motors must be submitted 1 week prtior to the launch date.
- Only age decertified motors may be flown. Motors decertified for safety reasons are not eligible.
- All flights must be treated as a heads-up flight with double the minimum safe distance
- Only one decertified motor per flight. Clustered or staged flights may contain at most one old motor
This is good news. It let's us fly our old motors in exchange for submitting launch reports. All around not a bad deal.
February 10, 2007
We are having a Silver Anniversary Local meet on March 31, 2007 in celebration of our 25th year as a NAR section. The events will be Open Spot Landing, A Streamer Duration, A Parachute Duration and 1/2 Boost-Glider Duration. There will be a
1.00 entry fee per event with prizes and ribbons for top placers. Model rocket kits kindly donated by Quest Aerospace and Tom Whymark. Since this is a NAR sanctioned event you must be a NAR member to compete.
For older news go to the Old News Archive