Trip Barber's State of the NAR speech at NARAM-53

[luke strawwalker]

Assisting my “Local” NAR section would be a lot easier if my local NAR section was actually local.

And for me to find a launch site out where I live wouldn’t do the rest of the club members any good and I have no community connections out where the majority of the remaining club members live.

Ultimately it wouldn’t do any good at this point in time if we should get a new launch site. The entire state of Oklahoma is under a Governor imposed burn ban so nobody is doing any launching anywhere.

This situation isn’t going to change anytime soon.

LDRS and High Frontiers are my last hopes for any launches for the remainder of 2011.

Here’s the deal; if I’m not burning more dollars in motor costs than in NAR membership costs then something is seriously out of whack and 2011 is headed that way with a vengeance.

The nature of the beast... ALL of Texas is essentially under a burn ban...

Look at it this way-- We're duplicating NASA's "spaceflight gap" in miniature...

If you can't handle a burn ban and having to stand down from flying every so often, you should have bought a train set... LOL

Later! OL JR

 

[boomtube]

Point of fact ,I have been involved in model railroading for twenty years and have already built quite a nice layout in a spare bedroom.

As for my discontent with the rocketry situation; perhaps if I had been involved in rocketry for several/many years and this was the first time this kind of situation arose I could handle the disappointment better.

But 2011 is my first full year of rocket activity and it stinks. I feel like I have spent a lot of time effort and money on this hobby for no return. Two thirds to three quarters of my rocket fleet have never been launched.

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on a ski-boat and the very year you take delivery of it all the lakes close.

How many times do you wash and wax it, while never actually using it, before your ready to burn it to the waterline?

I figure that much of my frustration will be alleviated at LDRS and High Frontiers, assuming High Frontiers takes place and perhaps I’ll get in a few winter launches at my local bigopenparkthingy when/if the burn ban is lifted.

 

[ClayD]

Point of fact ,I have been involved in model railroading for twenty years and have already built quite a nice layout in a spare bedroom.

As for my discontent with the rocketry situation; perhaps if I had been involved in rocketry for several/many years and this was the first time this kind of situation arose I could handle the disappointment better.

But 2011 is my first full year of rocket activity and it stinks. I feel like I have spent a lot of time effort and money on this hobby for no return. Two thirds to three quarters of my rocket fleet have never been launched.

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on a ski-boat and the very year you take delivery of it all the lakes close.

How many times do you wash and wax it, while never actually using it, before your ready to burn it to the waterline?

I figure that much of my frustration will be alleviated at LDRS and High Frontiers, assuming High Frontiers takes place and perhaps I’ll get in a few winter launches at my local bigopenparkthingy when/if the burn ban is lifted.

Atleast your hard times are burn bans, which makes sense at the moment..
come over we can shoot grasshoppers with bb guns.

A lot of guys have just as hard of times as you do, and its not mother nature that gives them guff.. just where they live.

its safe to say, since this is the worst drought EVER. next year MUST be better.

 

[luke strawwalker]

Point of fact ,I have been involved in model railroading for twenty years and have already built quite a nice layout in a spare bedroom.

As for my discontent with the rocketry situation; perhaps if I had been involved in rocketry for several/many years and this was the first time this kind of situation arose I could handle the disappointment better.

But 2011 is my first full year of rocket activity and it stinks. I feel like I have spent a lot of time effort and money on this hobby for no return. Two thirds to three quarters of my rocket fleet have never been launched.

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on a ski-boat and the very year you take delivery of it all the lakes close.

How many times do you wash and wax it, while never actually using it, before your ready to burn it to the waterline?

I figure that much of my frustration will be alleviated at LDRS and High Frontiers, assuming High Frontiers takes place and perhaps I’ll get in a few winter launches at my local bigopenparkthingy when/if the burn ban is lifted.

Well, I can sympathize, but that's just how it goes sometimes... The ski boat analogy is fitting-- if you had one in this area you probably couldn't use it either-- the lakes are down BIGTIME... (when shuttle fuel tanks that have been on the bottom of lakes for the last 8 years are suddenly visible, you KNOW it's dry!) So yeah, you'd probably be polishing and waxing the thing waiting for enough water to ski in without clipping stumps in the manmade lakes...

About your only other choice is to go where they CAN fly, which it sounds like you're planning to do, or work on weather control as a hobby-- I know *I'D* pay real money for some rain... (hungry cows).

Later and good luck! OL JR

 

[shreadvector]

Well, I can sympathize, but that's just how it goes sometimes... The ski boat analogy is fitting-- if you had one in this area you probably couldn't use it either-- the lakes are down BIGTIME... (when shuttle fuel tanks that have been on the bottom of lakes for the last 8 years are suddenly visible, you KNOW it's dry!) So yeah, you'd probably be polishing and waxing the thing waiting for enough water to ski in without clipping stumps in the manmade lakes...

About your only other choice is to go where they CAN fly, which it sounds like you're planning to do, or work on weather control as a hobby-- I know *I'D* pay real money for some rain... (hungry cows).

Later and good luck! OL JR

 

[boomtube]

About your only other choice is to go where they CAN fly, which it sounds like you're planning to do, or work on weather control as a hobby-- I know *I'D* pay real money for some rain... (hungry cows).

Later and good luck! OL JR

Actually I have developed a do it yourself weather control.

Unfortunately it involves launching model rockets.

This is what is known as a “Catch 22”