CORSA Meetings will now be on the second Wednesday of each month.
Everyone is welcome to attend. We discuss CORSA business such as launch plans and outreach projects, as well as general rocketry topics. We begin gathering at 6:30, but the meeting doesn’t start in earnest until 7:00. Our meeting space is generously provided by Otterbein University:
The Point – Room 139
60 Collegeview Rd
Westerville, Ohio 43081
Come to learn and share about hobby rocketry!
Field conditions won’t support a launch on November 23. Watch this space for our next launch!
Thanks to the generous offer of Jim Case to use his field, CORSA has received permission to launch High Power Rockets (HPR)! We’re very excited about this, and hope that you can attend at least one of our HPR launches and share our excitement. Low Power Rockets use engines up to ‘D’ impulse. Mid Power Rockets use ‘E’ through ‘G’ motors. High Power Rocketry uses motors ‘H’ impulse and above. Since the total impulse doubles with each letter increment, ‘H’ motors are 32 times as powerful as a ‘C’ motor. The largest motors we’ll see at our planned launches will be ‘L’ impulse – loud, fast, and high flights!
Case Farms field is located at 3297 Panhandle Rd, Delaware, OH 43015. There’s a long gravel lane, please drive slowly, and be aware of the railroad crossing (it has no signals!) Trains may occasionally block the lane; be patient, and it will be cleared. Parking will be ample, in the gravel lot among the buildings, and to the right of the lane past them. We will have a port-a-john on site.
We’ll have two HPR pads, with 1″ (1010) rail; two MPR pads, with 1/4″ rods; and 6 or 12 LPR pads with 1/8″ and 3/16″ rods. Our waiver will be to 6,000′, starting at 11:00, and continuing until at least 2:00. We’ll be flying under NAR rules, so commercial motors only.
We will still launch at Freedom Park too (September 16, for example), but we want to take advantage of this wonderful field while we have the opportunity. Our planned HPR schedule is:
- August 19 – Club launch
- August 26 – Rain date
- September 23 – Club launch
- September 30 – Rain date
- October 21 – Club launch
- October 28 – Rain date
- November 18 – Club launch *
- December 9 – Club launch *
- * no rain date scheduled, due to holidays
As always, our launches are highly weather-dependent. So check this website for updates the night before each launch.
Do you need help launching a model rocket?
Do you want to launch rockets with us?
Would you like to watch dozens of rockets launch high into the sky?
If you are seeking like-minded people to launch with, need help getting your rocket in the air, or just want to watch exciting launches, the CORSA monthly launch is for you. We are a group of model rocket enthusiasts and want to share our enthusiasm with other people.
CORSA events are free to attend and easy to participate in.
Held the third Saturday of each month (weather permitting); located at Freedom Park in Sunbury, or at a local farm field. Check the events calendar for location. CORSA launches are fun and exciting for kids and adults.
If you need help launching a rocket, just show up. Our club members have a combined 120 years of model rocket experience. We will be able to help you.
If you want to launch with us, just bring your rockets and your motors. Launch pads are provided and participation is free.
If you want to watch, just show up with a chair . The launch is ordinarily from 11am to at least 2pm.
Parking is free and so is the event.
You may wish to bring chairs, a table for preparing your rockets, sunscreen, water, or snacks.
Additionally, if your scout troop, 4-H club, library, or class wants to have a rocketry project, contact us! We love to do build sessions, presentations, and launches for youth groups!
Our May launch was a great success! It was pretty breezy, so we could not launch anything very high. And we only launched 26 times. But I think everyone who was there would agree, that it was a fantastic day. Several of the High Point Elementary students that we met with on their Super Saturday came and had great questions, and marveled at each rocket launched. We handed out rocket kits to Ryan, Walter, Nora, Eli, Tyler, Wes, and Elias. We still have more of the Balsa Machining Service “School Rocket” kits for any of the students who were able to attend our May launch.
Impulse Report:
No rockets were lost, despite the ~15 mph winds. The one C motor that flew was in a saucer style rocket that doesn’t go very high or drift very far.
Thanks to everyone who attended! Especially to our new visitors, but also to my fellow CORSA members who helped make it a wonderful day!
Of course, the weather is beyond our control – all that we can do is to try to work around it. We knew that bad weather was coming, but early on, it looked like it would hold off until 2:00. As we were setting up, though, the forecast and radar showed storms arriving near noon. We have a lightning detector which shows how far away the strikes are, which gives warning before we can even see the lightning – if we see lightning, we clear the field immediately.
So we launched as soon as we could, and kept a close eye on the approaching storm. I haven’t counted yet, but I think we launched about 24 times. We heard some thunder, and decided it was time to quit. Perhaps we should have quit a little earlier, because even though we were rapidly closing up our launch operation, it started raining before we had everything stowed in our vehicles. We got drenched! But it was a good day anyway.
Well, it was windier than we like, but within the requirements of the NAR model rocket safety code – so we launched…
And it was a great day! We launched 88 times – our busiest launch day yet. And what a fabulous bunch of kids to fly rockets with! They had great questions, and great rockets. Check out the photos in our gallery – and if you have some to add, let us know.
That wrapped up our home launch schedule for 2021 – but we’ll be back at Freedom Park next year!
Our hosting service has discontinued the software we’d been using to maintain our mailing list – it’s now a manual process. So, if you’d like to join (or be removed from) our mailing list, please send an email to info@centralohiorocketry.org. We mostly use the list to remind our friends of upcoming launches and meetings.
Our April launch was a great success. We had 63 launches: 1x 1/2 A, 10 x A, 29 x B, 17 x C, 3 X D and 4 x E motors. One of those was a two motor cluster of A8-3s.
Our altitude contest was loads of fun, and had keen participation. Alex somehow squeezed 526 feet out of a B6-4, and won the prize. Bob came in second, with 490 feet. The first attempt was Ed’s – and his try was marred by a shift in CG, followed by a flight directly into the woods, never to be seen again!
Our March launch was fantastic! The weather was near perfect – winds aloft were negligible when we started, but picked up a little as the day continued. We had a great turnout, with many visitors, and we had a great time!
Motor Impulse used:
1/2A 1
A 12
B 19
C 9
D 7
E 2
There were a few interesting payloads, including Moana, some altimeters, and some cameras. The cameras were the new Estes AstroCam. Unfortunately, my luck with camera payloads continues, as my camera launches failed to record. I’m hoping that John’s video came out…
