The Thrifty Rocketeer

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Last entry I suggested signage to help direct new rocketeers to club launch sites. And I got a very good response from someone who pointed out that not all clubs want to grow.... that some clubs have had problems with members or the general public trampling a landlord's field or property without any consideration or respect.  This is a very good point, and one that I hadn't taken into consideration. Tenant-Landlord relations should be paramount in the equation, becaue if the club looses the field, the game is lost. But here's another idea to help promote the growth of the hobby and ensure the continuation of your section or hobby.  Sow the seeds for the future now. One thing that our club has fallen into is the gift kit. By this, I mean a very simple low power kit that can be used as an introductory sample at any launch. The idea is that if and when a family stops by, or a prospective member shows up at a launch, we ALWAYS try to ha

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... I have talked before about my first visit to a club rocket launch, having spotted an announcement on the internet after doing a search for area clubs and groups.  Some of the listings indicated a group across state lines, that would be closer to me, but I never heard back from them...and I eventually heard that the club president was struggling with caring for his aged parents, and so had let the club slide. But that's not the point of this entry. I always make a point of saying how I was driving blind to a club launch, following directions on a well-marked state highway.  As I approached, I saw a contrail rising high in the bright blue October sky, but didn't recognize it as rocket exhaust (having never seen a rocket launch before)! Just as I rounded the dog-leg in the road, I spied to my left a plywood cut-out of a traditional 1950s sci-fi rocket propped up against a mailbox at a farmer's driveway.  I was almost past it when the pe