FITS 2010 - Biggest PacNW Launch of the year! - Memorial Day Weekend

[bradwr]

“FIRE IN THE SKY 2010” REGIONAL ROCKET LAUNCH
Mansfield, Washington
Memorial Day Weekend, May 28 - 31, 2010
The public is cordially invited to the Pacific Northwest's premier rocket launch to kick off the 2010 rocket flying season over Memorial Day weekend. Each year, rocketeers from the Northwest and beyond gather in Mansfield, Washington to fly rockets ranging from small model rockets to very large high power rockets. Bring your own rockets to sharpen your flying skills or simply watch some of the Pacific Northwest's best rocketeers at work flying their rockets up to 14,000 feet above the ground at speeds well over Mach 1!
“Fire In The Sky” (FITS) was started in 2000 as an annual event by Scott Binder on his farm in Lowden, WA. Eventually, the event outgrew the Lowden location and early in 2004, the town of Mansfield, WA was identified as a possible replacement. Working with the Mayor Tom Snell, a new launch site was established! Just northwest of town, the Sportsman’s Club was made available to Washington Aerospace, a hobby rocketry club, and now the sponsor of “Fire in the Sky”.
FITS has become the largest and best attended rocket launch of the Pacific Northwest. With over 450 flights and nearly 300 attendees, this has become ‘the’ rocket launch to attend in the Northwest!
In addition to the normal variety of individual rockets flying, there will be several other activities taking place:
• Night rocketry launch
• Astronomy classes and star gazing with telescopes sponsored by the Tacoma Astronomical Society
• der Red Max and Certi-Fire in the Sky rocket drag races
• A team-based “quick build” contest with prizes!
• Vern Knowles’ amazing talking rocket – “Kate” announcing her flight in real time!
• Raffle prizes
Registration is $30 per flier (or $40 per family) for the weekend; $5 per spectator per day to help offset site expenses. Launching of rockets will commence each day at 8:00 a.m. On-site dry camping is available (no RV hook-ups).
Come on out to Mansfield for a great weekend of rocketry - Fire in the Sky 2010!
Contact: Dave Randall and Brad Wright, Co-Launch Directors
email: [email protected].
If you would like additional information or wish to pre-register, please view the "Fire In The Sky 2010" webpage at https://www.fireinthesky.org

 

[Buckaroo]

... $5 per spectator per day to help offset site expenses

Seriously...? This is a terrible precedent to set.

Honestly, how can you charge someone $5 to come watch people spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars in disposable income. I understand running a big event is not easy or cheap, but this is not the way to "offset site expenses"

 

[Evo666]

I wouldn't mind spending $5 to get in to spectate. I use to pay $8 to watch local drag races. Ahhh fun times.

 

[Evo666]

The website says a higher price. So someone tell me if it's $10 or 5? whoever wrote the webpage sucked. I don't want to get surprised with a different cost when I arrive.

 

[madmax]

The webpage is pretty straightforward to me. Read it a bit closer.

$10/person for the weekend, $20/family for the weekend

OR

$5/person per day

So if you are there more than one day it's $10. With your family it's $20.

If you are going to fly might as well join WAC. $40 membership lets you fly at all their events with no fees. If you've never been to Mansfield trust me you will want to join since more than likely you will be back at least once the rest of the year. Huge recovery area, waiver to 14K, food/supplies in town about 10 mins away. I can go on but you get the picture.

By the way, there are a lot of things on site that are an expense and spectators use them just as much if not more than the flyers do.

 

[Evo666]

I must of read it wrong while riding in the car hahah

 

[kelltym88]

$5 or $10 seems reasonable to me. Shoot, it costs $35 if you go to BALLS just to watch....

And it is understandable, what with all the regulations and costs being passed on to the consumer nowadays. Where the club I belong to flies, not only have they increased the cost to get into the place, they have to charge fliers $2 each to help offset costs of using the place.