25 November 2025 SLRA Meeting Minutes – DRAFT

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Attendees: (16) Chris Franklin, Charles Barnett, John Sullivan, Chuck Meckfessel, Molly Meckfessel, Jason Garbus, John O’Neill, Skip Eberhart, Dennis Trigalski, Doug Probst, Amanda McLaughlin, Don Hanson, Rob Benton, Keith “Herb” Vinyard, Rumesh Palaniswamy, Mythli Rangasamy, Viibhu Rumesh

Sunset Hills Bandana’s BBQ; 11750 Gravois Rd, Saint Louis, MO 63127

Called to order at 7:05 p.m.

New Attendees:  Amanda McLaughlin, Rumesh Palaniswamy, Mythli Rangasamy, Viibhu Rumesh – Welcome!

Achievements and Contributions:

  • Jason Garbus – Level 3 certification – congratulations!

23 September 2025 SLRA Meeting Minutes approved

Treasury Status

  • Current Balance $1,488.91
  • Deposits: $52.32 from PayPal
  • Expenses: None

SLRA Memberships Total = 2025 current total = 55.  (53 Senior/2 Junior Members) – 2 additional from last month

Launch Reports:

  • Elsberry – November 13/14 launch was cancelled due to wet weather.  December 6 next tentative launch. NOTAM is in place for the December 6 event

Upcoming Launches

  • Elsberry HP Launches – Fall/Winter 2025/2026. (Note: Subsequent to the October, 28 SLRA meeting, official dates have been announced and posted to the club website.  These are: December 13/14, January 17/18, 2026, February 21/22, and March 21/22.)
  • Buder Park – March 28, 2026
  • Don Hanson noted that the Thunderstruck group (Pence, Indiana) will be hosting the next LDRS. 
  • Mo-Kan (South Greenfield, MO)  http://tripolimokan.org  They generally launch the third Saturday of every month during the flying season.  Time: 12:00 CST-17:00 CST
  • Central Illinois Aerospace – http://www.ciarocketry.org  Contact Greg Smith, Director of Operations, at 217-820-1678, or via email to operations@ciarocketry.org  Directions to their launch sites can be found on their website under the ‘Reconnaissance’ link. 
  • Quad Cities rocket Club (Note: near Wildman Rocketry) https://qcrc.clubexpress.com  Email: Info@QCRC.us
  • Goat Ranch
  • Kloudbusters, Argonia, Kansas.  Check their website for details on future launches:  https://kloudbusters.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=325948&module_id=566855

Old Business

  • Joel recommends going to Club Express (CE) as the location for SLRA website.  

The website would contain information regarding club activities and serve as a site for maintaining records of club activities (i.e. Meetings, launch events, membership.  Photos and videos would be posted and maintained on the SLRA Facebook Page.  Joel will be contacting a Club Express Representative to obtain information on pricing and the process for transitioning the SLRA website to Club Express.  Note: Joel was not able to be present at this meeting.  This issue will be taken up at a meeting in 2026.

  • GSLMA Status.  Doug Probst will be taking the reins on maintaining communication with Buder Park North Greater St. Louis Modeling Association members.  Nothing new on this item at this time. 
  • Let Jason Garbus know if you are interested in pursuing a level 3 certification.  There is some new paperwork involved with the process.  Best to start early!
  • John Buckley noted that all NAR members should log onto the new NAR website and check their profile to be sure they are associated with the St. Louis Rocketry Association (Section #551).  This needs to be done manually by each user. 
  • Nina Fischer noted that they (Wash. U) haven’t found a mentor as yet.  She noted that the mentor would only need to be present for the Saturday/Sunday launch days in Alabama. 
  • For Elsberry 2025/2026 Fall/Winter launches, Jason has signed documents with the landowner at this point.  He is working on getting updated insurance certificates, which should be completed in the next few days.  At this time, there are still soybeans in the field at Elsberry.  He noted that the government shutdown has slowed processing on needed FAA paperwork, but waivers have been processed.  Specific launch dates have been listed above.  The possibility of flight fees for flyers at our launches was briefly discussed ($5 member/$10 non-member?) will be discussed further at January 2026 meeting.
  • It was also noted that we will have to hold to a ‘no membership card-no flight’ rule at our NAR/TRA launches.  However, a digitally downloaded membership card will be sufficient to allow a person to fly.
  • Nina Fischer noted that the Washington University team was still looking for a mentor but will still be going ahead with their plans.  They plan to attend as many Elsberry launches as possible to get as many of their members Level 1 and Level 2 certified as possible. 
  • Chris Franklin noted that the club would like help with setup/teardown at the Elsberry launches. 

New Business    

  • SLRA membership renewals – website is ready to accept renewals for 2026. 
  • Charter Renewals – Need to attend a 1-hour online meeting headed by Chuck Neff of the NAR.  John O’Neill will attend this meeting and update the club at the January meeting regarding meeting content.
  • John O’Neill asked if there was any interest in the NAR Range Safety Officer training course.  Check out the NAR website for details. 
  • Amanda McLaughlin noted that the Wash U students will be attending the Elsberry launches to try to get as many members L1 & L2 certified as possible.  They may want to test their rocket for the upcoming Argonia Cup event at Elsberry as well.
  • Keith Vinyard requested a mentor for the Chaminade ARC team, headed by Dr. Erickson.  A message to this effect will be sent to the SLRA membership.  After the meeting, an email was sent to the SLRA membership letting everyone know about the mentor request.
  • Doug Probst spent considerable effort cleaning up the email list on the existing SLRA website.  There were many, many dubious entries found in the list which shouldn’t be there. 
  • For next year, St. Louis County Parks needs to be contacted to advise them of our scheduled Buder Park launch dates.  (Note: After the meeting, Doug Probst handled the scheduling requests.  Thanks, Doug!)
  • For next year, Bandanas needs to be contacted to book the basement room for the scheduled January-November Tuesday night meeting dates.  Secretary John will do this in early January.
  • LDRS – Pence, Indiana – April 16-19, 2026 – The hosting group would like to borrow our monster pad and 2 launch controllers.  Jason Garbus is planning on going to the event, and will possibly need to take the club trailer there a weekend earlier, and will be custodian for the equipment.  The SLRA members voted in favor of making this equipment available for LDRS.

Adjourned 7:47 p.m.