Nuketown

Model Rocketry in the Lehigh Valley?

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Fri, 08/11/2006 - 11:56am

For the last few years I've been thinking about getting back into model rocketry -- it was one of my favorite hobbies when I was a kid, and it's just the sort of focused-yet-relaxing activity I could use more of nowadays. Plus, Jordan's now three and loves to build stuff. While I don't think she's ready for rockets just yet, I think she'd really enjoy watching one get built and then launched.

I decided to see if the Lehigh Valley had any rocketry clubs, but so far nothings turned up. I tried the National Association of Rocketry's club list but there's nothing in this area, though there are a bunch elsewhere in Pennsylvania.

I also checked out the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society web site because a few web posts had "rocketry" associated with them as a keyword, but I didn't find anything relating to it on their web site (though it did remind me of the joy of star parties, which I think Jordan might just be old enough to attend). I'm going to e-mail them to see if they know of any local clubs, just in case.

Subsequent searches didn't turn up much, so there's no joy in Rocketville, at least today. And honestly, I find that a little surprising -- with all the colleges and universities around here, you'd think there'd be at least one rocketry club in this area. If anyone knows of a Lehigh Valley rocketry club, or if you're into rockets and live in the valley, feel free to e-mail me at editor@nuketown.com or post a comment below and let me know.

Kenneth Newquist said,

Wed, 08/23/2006 - 12:57pm

Yeah, sometimes a small yard has its draw backs ... but at least I don't have to spend every Saturday mowing it! I think the Pocono (or Northeast PA) rocketry club has a launch area outside of Scranton that they use. If all else fails, I can check them out.

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erilar said,

Mon, 08/21/2006 - 5:08pm

Ken, have you seen the Mythbusters episode where they make compressed air-and-water rockets out of 2-liter and water-cooler bottles? We need to make some of those!

I need a house where my neighbors aren't so close...

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Kenneth Newquist said,

Tue, 08/22/2006 - 2:17pm

Yes I did -- that was hilarious, particularly when one of the cooler bottles went out of control. MAKE Magazine #5 had an article on building water rockets. There's a page about it on their web site; the article isn't there, but there are links to resources for making your own. What we need is to find a nice empty field where we can launch something -- when I was a kid we used to launch at the area schools, which were always located next to cornfields. Unfortunately I don't think that would work here. :(

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erilar said,

Wed, 08/23/2006 - 11:33am

Yeah, after growing up way out in the country, subjects like this make me yearn for some more wide-open spaces. There is a nice public open, grassy area just a few hundred yards from my house, but although the police are cool about us playing catch there, they might get a little freaked out if we start launching homemade projectiles there...

I've also been jonzing to start target-shooting a bow again, which I simply used to do in my parents' back yard, but my 25'x25' back yard doesn't quite cut it for those kind of activities. :(

-----------------------------------------
http://ditlog.blogspot.com/
A busy gamer dad shares his thoughts on gaming, geek life, and other eclectic topics of the day.

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Berin Kinsman said,

Fri, 08/11/2006 - 1:09pm

Check local schools. I was into rocketry when I was at Lauer Middle School and Wilson High, and we had adult volunteer "advisors" who were into rocketry. At one point I think we had more adults than kids. I think it was an excuse for a couple of science teachers and their friends to play with rockets, but they were willing to work with us building and launching rockets up on the Lauer soccer field.

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Kenneth Newquist said,

Mon, 08/14/2006 - 8:49pm

Good idea -- I'll check that out. Thanks!

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