It's time!

[Fuse Eh!]

My fellow Canadians, it's time.

It's time that we had a premier, destination-oriented rocketry event in the heartland of this vast and glorious country of ours.

After all, that great nation to the south of us (OK, and to the west of us too over in that ice plant state called Alaska) have a number of such events, like NYPOWER, LDRS and, uh, some event with a name that has something to do with meatballs. Oh yes, and let's not forget NARCON, NARAM and NSL.

But what about us up here in Canada? Oh sure, the west has Sullivan Lake, and the east has Rage At The Gage. But here in the heartland, here in what is still the corporate and cultural powerhouse of our home and native land, what do we have to show for ourselves?

Nothing.

And this, fellow toque wearing citizens, is nothing short of a national travesty. A tragedy even!

So I say that it's time! It's time that we had the opportunity to showcase our hobby/sport/industry/obsession not just to the nation, but to the world!

Consider if you will for a moment how history, fate and destiny have shaped this opportunity for us. Ontario is the home of world class rocketry manufacturers such as CTI and Sunward. It is also the home of major rocketry retailers such as Sunward, Canadian Rocket Store (allrocketengines.ca) and Sigma Rockets. And in the past few weeks, hasn't the attention of the nation's, the continent's and dare I say even the world's media been focussed right here on our very own Toronto ("Hog Town", "Muddy York"), the largest city in our country and the capital of this fair province?

It's a perfect storm of opportunity, eh?

So it's time that we find a suitable location in (or at least near) T.O. --this nexus of the nation -- to hold an annual rocketry event that would rival the best of the rest of the world, a place to showcase our passion for propellant power (LPR, MPR & HPR!), and a chance to nurture the next generation of Canrocketeers.

Can you imagine what that could be like? Rockin' on with Chris Hadfield. Chatting up Jay Ingram. Discussing engine thrust curve and delay selections with Dan Riskin. Photo ops with Ziya Tong. Oh, yeah, and maybe even launching a rocket or two.

Hey, I even have a potential name for the event. We could call it...

...wait for it...

"BIG SMOKE"!:wink:

 

[blackbrandt]

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAHHH!!!

Hold up a sec...
CTI is made in Canadia?



I just learned something...

 

[Fuse Eh!]

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAHHH!!!
Hold up a sec...
CTI is made in Canadia?
I just learned something...

Yes indeed, those Pro 29 cases and reloads you like so much come from beautiful little Gormley Ontario.

 

[Area66]

Ontario as not a single CAR Clubs ???????. Tripoli is more active in Ontario, the Club in Ottawa as new members at each launch, and they launch every 15 days. Well I decide to do the same here in Quebec, so I start a Tripoli Prefecture here, we gone have our first High Power launch in a week, I’m preparing a website to educate the peoples, we gone have rockets class, launch every 15 days, flyers and post sign everywhere.

To quote JFK, “ Don’t ask what your association can do for you but ask what you can do for it. “

Do something start a little Low Power Club, find a field, and recruit members.

 

[GDJ]

I just learned something...

Evidently not spelling. It's C-A-N-A-D-A.

And yeppers, CTI is Canadian.

 

[CF-105]

I don't wanna be too hard on the guy, but there's no "d" in "Black Brant" either

All that aside: There used to be HPR events in Ontario. ORG used to host Blazing Archer back in the early 2000's. First at CFS Mountainview, and later one or two times at the Picton airport. Rage at the Gage exists thanks to those launches (we even purchased ORG's old HPR launch system... and it's still going strong).

The big problem I suspect will be finding a site big enough for 10,000' + flights, and does not interfere with air traffic into & out of Toronto & Ottawa. If someone can solve that, you're 3/4 of the way there...

 

[Quixote]

The year 2015 will be the 50th year anniversary of the Canadian Association of Rocketry, perhaps we need to have a five day model contest/High-Power launch in Manitoba the Geographic center of the country. That might be something we could all rally around.

Garth Illerbrun
CAR S04 L3
NAR 26894 L2

 

[jason-and-his-toys]

That actually sounds like a great idea Garth! We just need someone/somewhere to do it.

Jason

 

[stealth6]

Evidently not spelling. It's C-A-N-A-D-A.

And yeppers, CTI is Canadian.

Surely you know this one, but.....

How did Canada get it's name? - They put a bunch of letters in a hat, then pulled some out, exclaiming as they went........
C eh?, N eh?, D eh?

s6

 

[GDJ]

Surely you know this one, but.....

How did Canada get it's name? - They put a bunch of letters in a hat, then pulled some out, exclaiming as they went........
C eh?, N eh?, D eh?

s6

Ha Haha ha ha.

 

[shrox]

Surely you know this one, but.....

How did Canada get it's name? - They put a bunch of letters in a hat, then pulled some out, exclaiming as they went........
C eh?, N eh?, D eh?

s6

Where did the "i" come from then?

 

[GDJ]

The year 2015 will be the 50th year anniversary of the Canadian Association of Rocketry, perhaps we need to have a five day model contest/High-Power launch in Manitoba the Geographic center of the country. That might be something we could all rally around.

Garth Illerbrun
CAR S04 L3
NAR 26894 L2

That actually sounds like a great idea Garth! We just need someone/somewhere to do it.

Jason

I agree. It's time to shake things up.

 

[Eric1]

All I can say is Bravo! Get me past the Mountie's I would come fly with you!

 

[GDJ]

All I can say is Bravo! Get me past the Mountie's I would come fly with you!

If you can make it, keep a kit or two handy. Somebody will definitely buy one.

 

[Fuse Eh!]

The year 2015 will be the 50th year anniversary of the Canadian Association of Rocketry, perhaps we need to have a five day model contest/High-Power launch in Manitoba the Geographic center of the country. That might be something we could all rally around...

That sounds like a great idea Garth! There's certainly lots of wide open spaces in Manitoba that would likely be suitable for such an event. Of course, since it would be in Manitoba there would have to be lots of Mosquito oriented contests -- upscale, downscale, drag races, most number recovered versus launched, etc. And although it would be a budget breaker for most of us, it might be kind of fun to arrange for a side trip up to Churchill for the launching of a commemorative full scale Black Brant... as long as it was done before the polar bears were due to arrive in the area.:y:

 

[Fuse Eh!]

All I can say is Bravo! Get me past the Mountie's I would come fly with you!

I would consider it an honour to vouch for you Eric!

 

[nh4clo4]

I would attend a launch in Manitoba. I bet many other flyers from the Midwest would make the trek as well.

Just make sure to watch out for the polar bears when retrieving your rockets.

 

[GDJ]

I'll pull out my grandfather's old 30-30 just in case......altho' that would just piss off the bears.

 

[Fuse Eh!]

...There used to be HPR events in Ontario. ORG used to host Blazing Archer back in the early 2000's. First at CFS Mountainview, and later one or two times at the Picton airport. Rage at the Gage exists thanks to those launches (we even purchased ORG's old HPR launch system... and it's still going strong).
The big problem I suspect will be finding a site big enough for 10,000' + flights, and does not interfere with air traffic into & out of Toronto & Ottawa. If someone can solve that, you're 3/4 of the way there...

Hey Kevin, thanks for the background info. It's nice to think that we could have something like that happen again here in Ontario in the near future.

I think you're quite right that the major challenge would be finding a suitable site that was close enough to the GTA. To that end, I'll toss this idea out onto the table for folks to consider:
Canadian Forces Base Borden (CFB Borden) is located approximately 100 kilometres north of Toronto, in the heart of Simcoe County, one of the major tourist areas in Ontario. The base comprises 21,000 acres of land, including a 6,000-acre training area and approximately 460 buildings. Now here's the really interesting part, as per the base web site:

**********
Non-Defence Agencies, including other Federal Government Departments, Foreign Military Forces, Provincial, Regional and Municipal Governments as well as the Public may be provided access to certain training programmes and some physical assets held by the Canadian Forces Support Training Group (CFSTG). Spare capacity in under-utilized physical property, infrastructure or capability maintained by the CFSTG for strategic purposes, may occasionally be available due to cyclical workloads. Where a request does not conflict with the primacy of military operations or place the Department of National Defence in unfair competition with private industry, arrangements may be made to access to Base Borden facilities and services. Please contact Base Operations for further inquiries.

Contact information
Business Development Office
Canadian Forces Support Training Group
P.O. Box 1000, Station Main
Borden, ON L0M 1C0
Telephone: 705-424-1200 extension 5355
Fax: 705-423-1212
Web: https://www.forces.gc.ca/en/caf-community-bases-wings/borden.page
**********

I'll leave it to those actually involved in the operation and administration of the CAR and/or Tripoli to consider if this might be a suitable venue option or not. I know that one group of Ontario rocket enthusiasts make use of the facilities of the Connaught Range and Primary Training Centre near Ottawa, so there is already some precedence for the use of Canadian Forces property for civilian rocketry purposes in Ontario.

Hey, it couldn't hurt to ask, eh!

 

[Fuse Eh!]

Ontario as not a single CAR Clubs ???????. Tripoli is more active in Ontario, the Club in Ottawa as new members at each launch, and they launch every 15 days. Well I decide to do the same here in Quebec, so I start a Tripoli Prefecture here, we gone have our first High Power launch in a week, I’m preparing a website to educate the peoples, we gone have rockets class, launch every 15 days, flyers and post sign everywhere. To quote JFK, “Don’t ask what your association can do for you but ask what you can do for it. “ Do something start a little Low Power Club, find a field, and recruit members.

Hey Gerard, thanks for those good points. And I must say, that sounds so cool in any language: "le premier lancement de fusées haute-puissance"!
Congratulations on the "launch" of your prefecture, and best wishes for a very successful event on the 17th. Hope you have great weather for lots of flights!!

 

[Quixote]

Guess if we want to see this happen we should discuss with our local clubs, and start building momentum. If we are looking at Manitoba and the Winnipeg/Brandon area, guess we would need to engage them. We will also have to reach out to all Canadian modellers be they FAI contest, CAR/NAR| contest, CAR/TRA High-Power and general sport flyers. I would think a week long event like a NARAM would be a good goal. Could we get a tour at Magellan Aerospace, home of the Black Brants? Could we engage Canadian and American vendors for sponsorship, or better yet to attend and sell their wears? What about logistics, accommodations, banquet facilities? The next 18 or 19 months will fly by unless we start, so get those discussions going.

Hope your Rememberance day was as solemn and reflective as mine has been.

Garth Illerbrun
CAR S04 L3
NAR 26894 L2

 

[GDJ]

I will post a link to this thread in the ERC discussion group, and we shall start discussing this.

 

[CF-105]

Although they seem to be very low-key, I believe there is a CAR-ACF club in the Winnipeg area. At least one member posts on TRF: Sodmeister.

 

[GDJ]

The general consensus in Edmonton is somewhat positive, but would be more so if we had a higher than normal waiver (say, 20,000+ ft).

 

[CF-105]

Oh, those darned Albertan altitude junkies!

 

[GDJ]

Oh, those darned Albertan altitude junkies!

LOL

Well, we are getting a little tired of the 10,000 ft we always seem to get. We wanna punch a hole in the sky and scare the rocket gods a little!

 

[VonMises]

My vote is for Winterpeg Manitooooooba.

Went there on business in February a few years back. I went to the top of the hotel and couldn't find a single land feature in any direction. Unless flat is a feature eh!

 

[GDJ]

Oh I agree. It would be a hoot to have all this at the rocket base in Churchhill.

 

[Moon Knight]

I would love to see something happen in Ontario!

 

[mpitfield]

LOL

Well, we are getting a little tired of the 10,000 ft we always seem to get. We wanna punch a hole in the sky and scare the rocket gods a little!

10000! man that is the edge of space compared to the 4,400 feet we normally get only to have the launch cancelled more often than not due to weather, or land owner permission!