NARHAMS Model Rocket Club

The NARHAMS model rocket club serves Maryland and the Washington Metropolitan Area. The club is an official chapter section of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). First established in 1965, NARHAMS is the oldest continuously operating model rocket club in the United States and was named Section of the Year for 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2007. We are also the National Championship section for 2001 and 2004.

Goddard Launches Resume!

Launches at Goddard Visitor Center will resume their normal schedule on Sunday, September 5 at 1 pm. Special thanks to John Hochheimer, Jennifer Ash-Poole, Jim Filler, and Ed Pearson for working with the FAA and TSA to get a waiver approved for our launches. With that waiver come new restrictions: flights are now limited to D impulse motors and 2000 feet altitude. The waiver is only good through October, so we will need to reapply then.

September Sport Launch

The September 18 launch at Mt. Airy will start at noon, as all of our summer launches do. The Super LeMans fun event is postponed to some later date due to lack of interest. The night launch will go on as planned, from dusk until about 9:30 pm. Rules for night launches can be found here in case you are new to the event.

Web Site Upgrades

Welcome to the new and improved NARHAMS web site! The interface is very similar to the NARAM-50 site, which got many complements on its speed and usability. Some of the other changes:

All email addresses are encoded to reduce spam-bot harvesting
Calendar of events is now stored in a database, and is generated on the fly to show only future events.
Directions to various locations are now included in the event details page instead of being on a separate page.
Minutes and ZOG-43 pages are also generated on the fly based on files in those directories. This will make it less time consuming to show new files and hopefully let me keep mostly up to date. Old ZOGs that Jennifer scanned are also online now.

All of the old site content is still available here. Eventually that will go away as part of continuing cleanup.

NARHAMS in the News!

Dylan Slagle of the Carrol County Times spent the day with us at the Mt. Airy launch on March 15, taking tons of photos, and interviews of Jim Filler and Mike Kelley. His story and photos were published as a full-page spread in the March 30 print edition. There is also a nice video available on YouTube.

Meetings

Meetings are usually held on the first Saturday of each month, starting at 5:30 pm, at the College Park Airport. The first part of the meeting will be a building session or discussion. The business meeting will start around 8 pm, and will end by 10 pm (most nights will be more like 9 pm). Any leftover items still get discussed over a late dinner at Ledo's.

The next scheduled meeting is September 11 at College Park Airport, 5:30 - 9:30 pm

Directions

Launches

Club launches are held on the third Saturday of every month, weather permitting, at Old National Pike Park in Mt. Airy, Maryland. The field can support up to G-powered motors with the appropriate FAA waivers. Launches usually start around 10 am and are always open to non-club members who wish to fly.

Directions to Mt. Airy Field

NARHAMS also supports the oldest public demonstration launches in the United States. These launches are held on the first Sunday of each month at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, starting at 1 pm. Anyone who wishes to fly at these events may do so. Due to the limited recovery area, the flying of high power models and untested designs is discouraged. The impulse limit at Goddard is D engine or less.

Directions to Goddard

Becoming a Member

If this sounds like fun, why not become a member? Dues are only 10 cents a week, with 50 cents minimum required to join. Download the membership form and send it in today!

Please note that to be eligible to vote at club meetings or to compete as a member of NARHAMS, you must also:
a) be a current member of the NAR
b) attend at least one of the previous 3 monthly business meetings

Mailing List

The NARHAMS-members Yahoo group is primarily for NARHAMS members to discuss upcoming events related to the club. Non-club members are free to join in the discussion, but please keep the postings at least somewhat related to model rocketry.

Additional Information

NARHAMS President: Jim Filler
6715B Overton Circle #13
Frederick, MD 21703
301-524-4447
NARHAMS Section Advisor: Mark Wise
P.O. Box 8507
Washington, DC 20032
651-398-4987
National Association of Rocketry: P.O. Box 407
Marion, IA 52302
800-262-4872
Sign up for the NAR's electronic newsletter here
Public Launches at Goddard: NASA Goddard Visitor Center
301-286-8981

Ed Pearson
6808 97th Pl.
Seabrook, MD 20706
301-577-7775

Jennifer Ash-Poole
1404 Sweet Cherry Court
Severn, MD 21144
410-674-6262

Mt. Airy, MD Weather Forecast