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A few notes from tonight’s SLRA meeting

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A couple of notes from tonight’s SLRA meeting that I need to send out.

  1. Weather / Field conditions pending, SLRA has added another high power launch date of Dec 6th 2025 at the Elsberry, MO site. Sunday will not be a backup date for this event.
  2. Any membership dues collected going forward to count for the 2026 calendar year. So you can now submit your dues for 2026.

November 22 & 23, 2025 – ELSBERRY HIGH POWER ROCKET LAUNCH

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Launch Director: Jason Garbus 314.779.7419
Contact info: jason.garbus@outlook.com
Date and time: 11/22/2025 and 11/22/2025, pending landowner permission due to weather
forecast for the week leading up to the launch. The waiver will be active between 10:00 AM
CST and 4:00 PM CST.
If a cancellation is made, we will do our best to communicate as early as possible, but no
later than Friday evening. Cancellation announcements will be made via the website and
Facebook webpage.
Location: Elsberry, MO.
Our waiver will be open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The range may or may not remain open
until 4:00 pm, depending on how many people attend and how many rockets we have to fly.
Our waiver is 6,000′ AGL with call-in windows to 14,000′ AGL.
Note: We would like to try to minimize impact to FAA traffic, so please email Jason Garbus if
you will need a window for your flight so we can try to group the flights together.
The club equipment trailer should arrive at the field around 9:00 am for us to begin setup.
We would greatly appreciate as much help as possible with setup and cleanup, so please
plan to arrive early if you can.
There will be neither food concessions nor restroom facilities at this site, but it is a ten
minute drive into town for fuel, food and restroom.
For current SLRA members, there will be no launch fee
If you’re not a current SLRA member, low power rocket fees are $3, and high power fees will
be $10.
You must be a current Tripoli or NAR member in order to enter the range. You will be
required to provide proof of current membership prior to being admitted.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE PROOF OF MEMEBRSHIP YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO FLY.
All flight will be conducted under the current Tripoli Safety
Code: https://www.tripoli.org/safetycode
All participants will be required to sign a hold harmless agreement. A copy may be filled out
prior to arrival to save time in the field. THIS WILL BE REQUIRED AT EACH FLIGHT
We plan to have various sizes of launch pads set up, from the 1/8′′ model rocket rods up to
1515 rails.
If you are wanting to make any of the following flights, please reach out to Jason Garbus
(contact info above) as soon as possible:
● A certification attempt, whether with NAR or TRA. Please include details such as Name,
Certifying Agency, What level you want to attempt, and if you are wanting to do a L2
attempt. Tripoli testing is available online and should be completed prior to the launch.
Please bring your passing result report.
● A multi-stage flight attempt that is not black powder (i.e. using composites and
electronic staging) with details of your flight.
● As mentioned above, in need of a window for your flight ( Flights > 6,000′, and less than
14,000′)
As always, please be courteous to our hosts and respectful of their property, including
driving slowly on all farm roads. Once we get on site, we will clarify where it is okay to drive
and park. Do not attempt to drive on the field.
Launch site location and directions to field:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1616154,-90.7682789,2917m/data=!3m1!1e3
From the St. Louis area, take MO highway 79 north to its intersection with JJ. (If you get into
the town of Elsberry itself, you’ve gone too far.) Turn right onto Old Highway 79, which is a
gravel road. Old 79 will turn right again, but do not follow it – continue straight onto the farm
road, across a wooden bridge. From that point, follow the signs. Please refer to the
following two maps: the first map is the “usual” way; the second map is an alternate route
we may be asked to use due to field conditions. When we confirm the launch, we will send
another announcement telling you which route to use.

SLRA’s High Power launch schedule

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WELL GUYS...HERE IT IS!

St Louis Rocketry association has tentatively scheduled the following dates for high power launches at our Elsberry Mo launch site:

Nov 22 and 23

Dec 13 and 14

Jan 17 and 18

Feb 21 and 22

Mar 21 and 22

These dates are pending weather or other unforeseen conditions outside of our control. We have scheduled launches on both Saturday and Sunday to take advantage of the short flying duration we have while the fields are empty. As discussed at the previous meetings, all flyers are required to present a current Tripoli or NAR card or virtual card from the corresponding membership website. If you are not a member of one of these two organizations, you will not be permitted to fly. All High Power launches will be conducted under the current Tripoli Safety Code and each flyer will be required to provide a signed copy of the TRA liability waiver form.  Set up at the field will commence at 9AM with the Waiver opening at 10AM. Additional emails will be sent pertaining to each launch as we get closer to the event date.

https://www.tripoli.org/safetycode

SLRA Prefect

Oct 25th – Spooktacular Launch update

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We received a Letter of Agreement from St. Louis County Parks Dept. so, weather permitting, we are planning to hold our Spooktacular night launch event on Saturday October 25th.

Forecast for Saturday Oct 25th  Sunset 6:09pm 

Day  68 – Sun and a few passing clouds. High 68F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

Night 45 - A mostly clear sky. Low near 45F. Winds WSW 5 mph.

Proposed timeline:

2:30pm - 3:30pm         setup

3:30pm - 11:00pm      flights

11:00pm – 11:30pm  cleanup

SLRA Prefect Update:

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Members from the St. Louis Rocketry Association made the trip to Argonia, KS over the Labor Day weekend to attend AIRFest 31 sponsored by Kloudbusters. The annual four-day event at the “Rocket Pasture” had over 250 registered flyers and 20 vendors on site. This year, mother nature catered to the lower power crowed with ceilings as low as 200 feet at times leaving plenty of time for rocket talk, checking in with old friends and buying new rockets to bring home! As late day rolled around on Saturday and Sunday, the sky cleared enough to open the high-power pads allowing for some spectacular launches. Club members also spent time volunteering for range duties, setting up, tearing down and other duties in support of the Kloudbusters. Congratulations also goes out to Chuck Meckfessel, John Hilker and John O’Neill on their successful Level 2 flights and Rob Benton on his successful Level 3 flight. If anyone is interesting in making the trip with the club next year, please let me know.

Club members in attendance were:Rob Benton, Oliver Garbus, Jason Garbus, Brian Hamilton, Don Hanson, John Hilker, Chris Lagemann, Chuck Meckfessel, Molly Meckfessel, Emma Meckfessel John O’Neill and Doug Probst