Fire In The Sky 2006 Launch Report
    by Kent Newman

The Memorial Day weekend is a tribute to the armed forces. It is also traditionally a time to kick off the summer boating season, to have the first backyard barbeque or to go camping. For the Puyallup-based Washington Aerospace (Club) or WAC, it is time to hold the largest hobby rocket event in the Northwest.

The event is “FITS” or “Fire in the Sky”. The annual rocket launch began 6 years ago in southeastern Washington. That location succumbed to housing sprawl three years later. Washington Aerospace, having just found a new launch site near Mansfield, WA, stepped in and has hosted the event since.

Mansfield, in the north central part of the state, is a bit out of the way for most travelers. But for those wanting the ability to launch rockets up to three miles above the earth and to have acres of wide open spaces to recover their rockets, the setting is perfect.

Over the course of three days, some 250 people will attend and almost 500 rockets will take to the skies. People travel from all parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and even New York to have the opportunity to fly rockets under a Federal Aviation Administration altitude waiver.

Early on Saturday morning, the voice of the LCO (Launch Control Officer) booms over the PA system, “The range is clear, the sky is clear and we are launching off pad 12 in 5,..4,..3,..2,..1,..launch!” The launch button is pressed and an electric current is sent to the base of the rocket.

A moment later, there is a growing orange glow at the base of the 7 foot paper, fiberglass and plastic purple rocket. Suddenly, a huge hiss/high pitched roar occurs and the rocket leaps off the metal pipe launch pad.

Hitting 550 miles per hour, the rocket flies dead straight trailing a wispy line of tracking smoke. Another 10-12 seconds pass on the way to a final altitude of 11,377 feet. An onboard altimeter registers the top of the rocket’s trajectory and fires a small black powder charge. The charge separates the nosecone from the rocket and deploys a small orange parachute. The once aerodynamic rocket falls awkwardly back to earth in two pieces.

At about 800 feet, the altimeter fires a second charge that deploys a larger blue and red parachute. This process is called “dual recovery” which helps to limit the drift distance that a rocket might travel if the large parachute came out only at the peak altitude.

As the crowd on the flightline claps their approval, the rocket lands softly 300 feet away. After the rest of the 17 rockets originally placed on pads are launched, the rocket’s owner is cleared to recover his rocket. He gathers up the pieces and heads back to the “prep area” to ready it for another flight.

And so it goes another 400+ times during the launch event.

Andy Casillas, a Puyallup resident and the LCO who launched the rocket, explains “They’re loud, they’re fast, they have little useful purpose except entertainment and amateur scientific exercises” He laughingly describes himself as a member of a far-flung group of “BARS” or “born again rocketeers”.

Many of the attendees experienced the height of the space race during the 60s and early 70s. With that enthusiasm, BARs are sharing the experience with their children by launching hobby rockets as a family.

The group is definitely mixed. Some are geeks, engineers, just mechanically inclined, or are people who just like fire and noise. The rocketeers range in age from 10 year olds launching model “Estes” type rockets to serious hobbyists in their 40s and 50s who have spent thousands of dollars building 16 foot tall rockets weighing a hundred pounds and carrying complex electronic recording equipment, video cameras and GPS transmitters. But everyone enjoys the experience.

Theresa Devers of Puyallup hadn’t heard of FITS or Washington Aerospace until a friend mentioned it. And she had no idea what a high power rocket launch event would be like. But with her husband out of town golfing, Theresa decided to take her three boys in the family motorhome to the launch for “something different” to do over the Memorial holiday.

Theresa says she’s impressed. “The friendliness of everyone attending, the willingness of people to help and explain what’s going on, the organization of the event all make it very worthwhile. It’s an educational event, too. It’s good for kids.”

Scott Bowers, of South Hill, is also a BAR. ”I had a fascination with anything that flew as a kid. I still do. I flew small rockets as a kid and found the bigger ones as an adult.”

Bowers is one of the WAC members administering the event. He chuckled as one of the rockets just launched became, in the parlance of the sport, a “lawn dart”. The description fits a rocket that reaches apogee and nose-dives into the earth because of some failure of the recovery system. In that occurrence, the LCO will sometimes announce that a “shovel recovery” will be necessary for the recently demised rocket.

“Cruise missiles” occasionally veer off to a less than vertical direction and head far downrange instead of toward the heavens above. Occasionally, there is a “cato”, a “catastrophic event at take-off”. At worst, a cato can render a rocket into a pile of scrap or, at the very least, can sometimes leave the rocket comically sitting on the pad after a 2 foot flight. In either case, something went wrong with the rocket motor.

Recognizing that hobby rocketry can be dangerous, WAC employs the safety codes of two national rocketry associations, the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) and the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) in conducting their launches. Safe launch distances, recognition of clear skies and launch areas and supervised launch procedures all help to make if safe for fliers and spectators alike.

People wishing to progress in the sport by using larger commercial motors must attain increasing levels of certification that prepare the fliers for more challenging and powerful rockets. Depending on the level of certification, requirements include “hands on” demonstrations of skills, written tests and rocket construction and mission design packets. From no certification to a level 3 certification, rocketeers can fly motors designated by the letters A, B, ……..up to N. Each successive letter represents a motor with twice the energy of the previous letter designation. Scott Bowers and Andy Casillas are both Level Two fliers and can fly up to “L” motors.

Greg Deputy of Bonney Lake started out flying rockets as a Cub Scout when he was 8 years old. He’s stayed in the hobby with varying involvement ever since and, as a Level Three flier, can use motors designated “M” and above.

“I enjoy the engineering aspect of designing rockets and then seeing the result of the flight. Learning what works and (what) doesn’t work, then improving on what has been done (is the satisfaction).”

The Tacoma Astronomical Society was on site taking advantage of the non-light polluted skies and showing the heavens to novice star observers. During the day, TAS sponsored “stomp rockets” for children attending FITS.

L. Paul Verhage and The Near Space Program (NSP) launched a weather balloon with an instrument package to 81,000 feet this year. Pictures from that altitude, mementos carried aloft and telemetry are all part of the NSP event.

Jim Wilkerson of South Hill likes the direction that WAC has taken in organizing the “Fire in the Sky” event. Wilkerson says that “Due to the increased regulation (brought on by 9/11), the ability of individuals to conduct mid- and high-power launches is limited so having something like FITS draws people to it. WAC has done a good job of developing additional activities like the balloon launch and astronomy, so families with kids and others, who might not be as interested in rocketry itself, can enjoy the weekend. It’s also a great way to promote an interest in science and math in kids still making up their minds on a career path.”

Washington Aerospace is active in science outreach programs in Puyallup by sponsoring grade school rocket classes, supporting science fair projects and mentoring the national “Team America Rocket Challenge” for Junior High and High School students.

For additional information about the club and its activities, visit their website at www.washingtonaerospace.org.