On October 4th, 2025, the Cambridge Rocket Club hosted it’s nineth launch of the season. As was the case at our September 14th launch, we had a big turn-out under ideal weather conditions. We enjoyed above seasonal temperatures, moderate winds and blue skies. For this launch, we decided to incorporate a two Range Safety Officer system. I administrated all launches from our eight position club launching pad and Alex Specogna administrated those that flew from their tower launchers. This provided for a smooth transition between the numbered and lettered launch pads throughout the day.
This was our second last scheduled launch of the season and we had eighteen members and six guests take advantage of the ideal weather conditions making it the second biggest launch of the season. We flew everything from “A” to “G” engine powered model rockets. The rockets included multi-stage models, cluster models, scale models and on-board technology including GPS trackers, cameras, chute release and dual deployment models. We also featured some models that have been discontinued, oldies but goodies. We also welcomed two new members to the club as we continue to grow.
By the end of the day we launched a total of 66 model rockets, burning 74 model rocket engines with a theoretical impulse of 2,603 Neutons. It was a very fun and entertaining day.
The two range safety office system worked well and we will continue to utilize it at future launches. Alex did discover one side effect that I have known for many years however. As RSO, you have your hands full accommodating members and guest flying their rockets leaving little or no time to fly your own models. For this procedure to be successful, we need to have some of our more experienced senior members take a turn at the helm so that we can all enjoy the opportunity to fly our models.
Our last scheduled launch of the season is on November 1st. I hope that many of you can show up to put on a show before we call it a season. I should note however, if favourable conditions persist, there is the potential of scheduling a short notice Mini-Launch before we call it a year.