28 October 2025 SLRA Meeting Minutes – DRAFT

Posted on by

Attendees: (18) Chris Franklin, Charles Barnett, John Sullivan, Chuck Meckfessel, Molly Meckfessel, Emma Meckfessel, John Buckley, Jason Garbus, Larry Hileman, Dan Cella, John O’Neill,  John Hilker, Skip Eberhart, Michael Thomas, Ken Gianino, Nina Fischer, Dave Corbin, Jim ______

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

Called to order at 7:03 p.m.

New Attendees:  Jim ____ and Dave Corbin – Welcome!

Achievements and Contributions:

  • John Buckley – thank you to John for his help in getting permission restored for using Buder Park for SLRA club launches.

23 September 2025 SLRA Meeting Minutes approved

Treasury Status

  • Current Balance $1,436.59
  • Deposits: $50.00 from raffles
  • Expenses: $277.16

SLRA Memberships Total = 2025 current total = 53.  (51 Senior/2 Junior Members)

Launch Reports:

  • Buder Park – October 25, 2025 – The SLRA club Spooktacular launch was held.  A total of 77 flights occurred.  Chris L. had the most flights (12).  The club had 2 new members join at the event – David Corbin (had 2 flights) and Stephanie Rubbelke and her daughter (had 5 flights).
  • Ft. Leonard Wood – John O’Neill reported that 75 flights occurred. 

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: November 22/23, 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

Dates: October 18

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. 
  • SLRA Support for Wash U/SLU Rocketry Teams.  No Interest expressed (possibly Jason Garbus?, or someone from CIA (Central Illinois Aerospace)? Note: Mike Walsh is not currently mentoring the teams.
  • SLRA Trailers
  •             * LP trailer presently at Don Hanson’s
  •             * HP trailer presently at Mike Walsh’s for maintenance work – a recent work day was held
  •             * Possibly put lights in the trailer
  •             * Roof damage on HP Trailer from hail storm
  •             * Once maintenance is complete, Mike will be taking it to the Storage rental location.
  • Possible additional launch site – World Wide Technology Raceway.  At this point, Doug is still wanting to have an in-person conversation with the site owner before scheduling a launch.  Also, their weekend calendar is essentially full currently. 
  • Box for the Buder Park launch fees?  (Note: $6 per day flying fees instituted recently.)  Thanks to Doug Probst for posting photos of the box on the SLRA website.  At least the ‘button pusher’ needs to be a NAR member and have Buder permit fees paid.  Club maintains attitude of making every attempt to comply with the Buder fees and NAR membership requirements. 
  • Doug Probst mentioned the possibility of another launch site in Illinois – the YMCA located in Maryville.  They would be OK with using their soccer field for this purpose.  However, note that the use of an adjacent hay field will not be permitted by its owner.
  • Contact St. Louis County for reimbursement of permit fee for cancelled June launch? (sometime in the future)
  • Chris Franklin contacted St. Louis County, and NAR and Tripoli membership will be have been added as valid organizations, in addition to the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) as eligible for use of Buder Park. 
  • There was considerable discussion about the situation with access to Buder Park and the insurance issue which recently occurred.  Briefly: on June 9, we were notified by St. Louis County Parks that additional language was required in our Certificate of Insurance.  The NAR insurance representative was unable to agree to the additional language.  Chris Franklin is going to contact someone at St. Louis County Parks over the next couple weeks to see if it can be determined that the required language is somewhat redundant and can be put aside, or possibly have a separate contract between SLRA and St. Louis County which includes the problematic language?
  • 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!
  • Doug Probst mentioned the possibility of another launch site in Illinois – the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois.  They have a large field adjacent to the church.  An effort will be made to contact them for use of the site for future rocket launches.  John Buckley will contact Chuck Neff at the NAR for advice/information on making first contact with property owners.
  • It appears at this time that single users (airplane or rocket flyers) can have continued access to Buder Park, with their own AMA or NAR insurance and payment of park use fees ($6 per day). 
  • Doug Probst mentioned another possible launch location – Collinsville Middle School.  They would probably want some type of STEM program input from the club for use of their space.
  • 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. 
  • A $250 donation from the club to Elsberry for flood assistance was made.  If anyone would like to make their own donation, please make checks payable to Elsberry Ministerial Alliance and mail to:  109 N. Fourth St., Elsberry, MO  63343.   
  • Club trailer currently in Mike Walsh’s name.  The trailer will be going to Dave Pape’s location.  When trailer(s) moved, storage fees for them can be cancelled.
  • It was noted that there is nobody regularly monitoring the admin@stlouisrocketry.com email inbox.  The secretary will check the contents of this mailbox periodically.
  • 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. 
  • The High Power trailer is now at Dave Pape’s.  Therefore, there is no longer a need for trailer storage fees. 
  • John Buckley – noted that NAR competition rules are being modified over time to be in line with FAI contest rules.  Among other things, piston launchers are not in line with these rules, as is the requirement that all ejection plugs must remain attached to the model (no detachable/ejectable wadding for these models).  The NAR hosts a monthly Zoom meeting for those interested in keeping up with contest rule making. 
  • Molly Meckfessel brought up the idea of holding a rocket launch for girl scouts, if any club members were interested in volunteering.  Specific dates, when known, should be emailed to all club members. 
  • Proposed Buder Park launch dates have been posted on the website, and are also listed here as well:
  • March 28, 2026
  • April 11, 2026
  • April 25, 2026
  • May 9, 2026
  • May 23, 2026
  • June 13, 2026
  • June 27, 2026
  • July 11, 2026
  • July 25, 2025
  • August 8, 2026
  • August 22, 2026
  • September 12, 2026
  • September 26, 2026
  • October 10, 2026
  • October 24, 2026

New Business    

  • Regarding the situation at Buder Park, John Buckley stated that, following the communication between John Hochheimer, President of the NAR, Bob Bloemster, NAR insurance agent, and St. Louis County Parks, there should be no further issues with the club using Buder Park for club rocket launches.
  • Jason Garbus is attending bi-weekly conference calls as TRA prefect.  LDRS next year will be run by Indiana group.  They have expressed interest in borrowing the SLRA megapad and some other club equipment.  Chris Franklin noted that the SLRA members needed some voice in this issue.  To be discussed further.
  • 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 November 2025 or 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.
  • Doug Probst noted that one of the RC clubs using Buder ran into the insurance issue when attempting to schedule a club event on a recent weekend.  
  • 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. 

Adjourned 7:28 p.m.