May 2004 meeting minutes

Meeting attendees:
• Mark Bazinet
• Dave Bucher
• Christian Bruggeman
• Tim Burger
• Randall Jessee
• Alan Shaffmaster

The meeting of KCAR opened with a few comments from our president Dave Bucher.

Last meeting minutes were attached again (a format that I will continue for reference and brevity — Christian).

The treasurer gave a report:
Balance of $621 in total monies with $550 in checking. Dave Bucher had some postage due: $20 which brings our current total to $601. Entries of debits include stakes for tarps $10, previous postage of $7, difference of $8 to Bob Wingate for the mystery $20 last fall, (Alans dues) and the purchase of a new stopwatch $7 for the contests. Income included $35 of contest fees, and $8 for Martin Ashwill prorated club dues.

Secretary duties announced were to follow up with Fall Contest Sanction with fees now that the Spring Contest results are complete. Form will be mailed week ending 5/29/04.

Old Business

1. CD report on the April meet from the Contest Directors Alan Shaffmaster and Christian Bruggeman with a big thanks and that the Fall contest would run much better for now seasoned veterans.
   
   • The packets have been passed out with the results and ribbons.
   • Some problems with the altitude calculations (Editor's note: the HP calculators were using the linear method from Stine's book but with an incorrect baseline).
   • We should plan in advance better in order to advertise and attract more competitors.
   • St. Louis had a big contest on this date as well — another reason to plan in advance better.
   • Fee was refunded from the NAR and Christian is using this for the Fall meet sanction.
   • Discussed the upcoming Wichita meet.
2. The Piper launch was a success and the logs are in Tim’s hands to cypher through and list on the web. The club had a good time and Mrs. Dailey was very happy that we were there for the 139 launches. The summer school program is still being decided on after the teacher is through with this semester.
   • Photos were also passed around at the meeting, some of which can be seen on the reports page for the launch.
   • Christian contacted the KC Star.
   • Rick was the official unofficial rocket retriever — the owners of the property next to the school were concerned with kids on the property so arrangements were made to allow an adult to retrieve.
   • Methods of streamlining the preparations were discussed.
   • Awards were given to helpers on awards day.
3. Summer School Launches Christian and Alan have been in contact with both Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs Kid College but no date(s) have been set.
4. Final TARC news. Tim gave a report on the Team America Rocket Challenge for the year. Several schools gave it a try this year.
   • The most notable being the new Olathe North High School who’s teacher actually planned an entire curriculum around this event and entered three teams. Two of the three teams were invited to the national event, though none of them were able to go. (See the report.)
   • The next notable school was the Raytown Rocket Girls, who made many test flights, but alas, had deployment problems on the certification flights.
   • There were two teams out near Topeka, though they were not successful this year (this information is a via Nick Stich who was the mentor for them this year.)
   • The final team, Baldwin City, was heard from early on in the season but didn’t “leave the gate” since repeated efforts to contact them went unanswered.
5. Launch Equipment
   • The AWOL battery was found last launch and the new stakes proved to be handy in the set up.
   • New stakes have been purchased and are in use.
   • We discussed new tarps; used welding tarps were discussed.

New Business

1. Launch Locations
   • Christian is working on getting the permit for the Shawnee Mission Park Launch.
   • We discussed a potential new location
2. Trailer options were discussed by Alan and given more time to research the possibilities.
3. Club Membership Cards were proposed by Dave Bucher and the suggestions that club discounts might be possible at local hobby shops.
4. Airshow Booth The suggestion to get a booth at the local airshow at the downtown airport was offered.
5. School Assistance It was suggested that the offer to assist local schools might be made by way of a letter or packet of information.
6. Launch Fees The launch fee schedule was clarified.

A motion to adjourn was made by Dave and Tim seconded it as we all were ready to hear excellent egglofting ideas from Dave. I learned quite a bit myself and feel that this fall should be exciting as well as competitive. Thanks Dave for the lesson and different ideas on how to build a competitive egg lofter.

Submitted by:
R. Christian Bruggeman NAR #82573
Secretary/Treasure
and
Tim Burger NAR #78486
Sr. Adviser

Feel free to point out any inaccuracies or mistakes and make clarifications that you might feel are needed. Thanks!

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Last updated: February 12, 2005