Welcome to the METRA Rocketry Club Webpages!
TRA Prefecture #094

10/2/24 METRA launch October 5-6 is GO!

Weather looks great, so bring out your rockets!

IMPORTANT: The soy crop is waiting for harvest, and the landownwer has asked that we do NOT go into the soy. If your rocket lands in the soy, make sure you know exactly where it is. and see Dave Mosher on the field. He has been given permission (and those he anoints) to retrieve rockets. Anyone found going into the soy without Dave’s permission will be asked to leave the launch.

Both of our rocketry vendors (Onebadhawk, Wildman CT) will only be onsite Saturday.

Lloyd and Nadine’s Dogs will be onsite with tasty food. Be sure to get some lemonade.

Hope to see you there !

9/4/24 METRA launch Sept. 7-8 cancelled!

Sorry folks, but we have to cancel again. The landowner has asked that we stay off the field this weekend, as the crops are very high and near harvest.

We hope to see everyone in October !

7/31/24 METRA launch Aug. 3-4 cancelled!

Looks like rain this weekend, so we are cancelling the launch. See you next month!

Sorry!

7/3/24 We are GO! for launch this weekend, July 6-7!

Might be a few scattered showers Saturday, but if so we will just dodge the drops.

Please be there by 9am to help out with setup, and stick around to the end and help with cleanup. We greatly appreciate your help!

We expect to have all of our vendors onsite this weekend. Wildman CT will be there both days, and Onebadhawk on Saturday. Lloyd and Nadine’s Dogs will also be there both days, with the best food found at a rocket launch.

See you there!

5/30/24 We are GO! for launch this weekend, June 1-2!

The weather voted, and it looks great. So pack up the car, and plan to be there!

We greatly appreciate your help with setup and cleanup, so please be there by 9am to help out, and stick around to the end and help with cleanup.

See you there!

5/8/24 METRA launch this weekend, May 11-12 is a GO!

Saturday looks good, but if Sunday looks like rain at the end of the day Saturday, we will cancel it then.

We expect to have all of our vendors Saturday, so please come support them.

Please come by 9 am on Saturday, and help with setup so we can get it done fast. Same goes with cleanup, please stick around and help out at the end of the day. Also, consider helping out on the field, and take a turn at RSO, LCO, or help at the pads.

See you Saturday!

4/3/24 METRA launch this weekend, April 6-7 is a GO!

Good news, it will be cold, but the launch this weekend is a GO! Please be sure to keep warm!

This Saturday will be our equipment clean up launch; please come help out and support your club!. Please bring your own gloves, and the club will supply cleaning supplies. The cleanup will start at 9 am, and is usually done within a couple of hours, after which we will start the launch. NOTE: If you do not show up at 9 am and help with the cleanup, you will NOT fly Saturday! Saturday flying is ONLY for those that help out. As a bonus there will be no flight fees for those that help with the cleanup all weekend, Others can fly Sunday, and pay the regular $20 flight fee.

Please make sure your membership for Tripoli and/or NAR is up to date! Bring your membership card for when you check in, and turn in your METRA waiver and membership application (we need these every year). You can also go online and pay your METRA membership fee, and get it out of the way so you don’t need to mess with it on the field. Membership in TRA or NAR, and METRA is required to fly at our launches. You can also prepay your flight fees for the year on the same page, and save $20.

Certifications: please read the requirements on the website. Download, print, and fill out the cert form from either the TRA or NAR website and bring it with you. For this weekend, if you need to do a Tripoli cert, see Jon Walcott; likewise for NAR certs see David Mosher. We are expecting a lot of certifications, so be sure you are ready, and see the above folks early in the day. If you wait until late in the day, there might not be enough time, and you may not be able to certify.

Vendors: We will have Onebadhawk onsite Saturday, providing a large array of rocket goodies as well as Loki and Aerotech motors. Wildman CT had surgery recently, and will NOT be at the launch. Lloyd and Nadine’s Dogs will be onsite with all the usual yummy foods and lemonade !! Please check out our vendors and take advantage of them being there!

In case you need reminders:

1) Keep your speed under 20 MPH on the farm property. If you are raising a big dust cloud, please slow down.

2) For the new folks, directions to the field can be found here.

3) If you need to use one of our rocket recover poles, you must see David Mosher before getting it out of the container. We have had some damage to these poles last year, without anyone stepping up to take responsibility. David will also tell you how to use them so they don’t get damaged.

4) The RSO will have the final say on all flights. If the RSO thinks your flight is unsafe, he will say No. Be sure everything is well attached to your rocket and with a proper CP/Cg ratio, and you motor has enough thrust for at least a 5:1 thrust:weight off the pad.

5) Our field rules are here.

Let all have a great launch !

3/21/24 Launch this weekend, March 23-24 is NO GO!

Unfortunately, this weekend looks like a lot of rain. Because of this we have cancelled the launch.

Since next weekend is Easter, our next launch will be April 6-7. For those of you that were not ready for a launch, you have 2 more weeks to get the good stuff ready to go! To everyone else, sorry about that, but we always know that the weather this early can be a challenge.

If you haven’t yet, please go online and renew your METRA membership (check out the option to pay the entire season’s flight fees at once and save some bucks!)

At the same time, please download and fill out a waiver form.

See you in April!

1/2/24 Welcome to the 2024 METRA flying season!

We hope everyone is staying safe this winter, and is having a good time building rockets!

Our 2024 launch schedule has been posted to the website, please check it out!

Please pay your membership dues online. We make it easy on the website using paypal.

You will also need to fill out and sign a membership form and waiver for the 2024 season. You can bring these to the first launch, where they will be collected at the RSO table. Why not get it done now and put it with your gear so you don’t forget it?

Let’s have a great flying season!