Tonight's launch was one of those that stuns. The trajectory was almost directly away from my house, and there was not enough moonlight to see the booster, so it was all about the base...the engines,

In the past we used to try to hold NAR rocket competition events at our launches a few times a year. The NAR changed the way the organize and run their competitions a few years ago and we weren't sure

Our March meeting at the Springer Center will be this Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. As usual for our March meeting we will be holding an election for the CIA board members. If you would like to run for a

Justin Roskamp, the student team lead, has shared draft footage from his drone video of launch and recovery, and has permitted me to share it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro4OpwGgqyA&feature=share

I’ve added a smattering of iPhone photos from the Student Launch Project to a new folder in our Outreach & Education gallery on SmugMug. I would welcome any other contributions. The student team lead

At 8:00 AM, it was 39°F in Decatur, with a few clouds at 6,000', and a SSW wind at 13 mph. Conditions are not perfect, but are within our flying limits, so we will meet at the Forsyth field as planned

At 8:00 AM, it was 39°F in Decatur, with a few clouds at 6,000’, and a SSW wind at 13 mph. Conditions are not perfect, but are within our flying limits, so we will meet at the Forsyth field as planned

We'll try to fly again tomorrow, Sunday, February 23, 2020, at the Forsyth farm field. We will again meet earlier than usual to give the student team plenty of time to prep their complex test flight.

Due to the illness of several important CIA team members, we will POSTPONE today's scheduled launch at the Forsyth field until tomorrow (Sunday, February 23). As today, we'll meet at 10:00 AM to begin

We have a rocket launch scheduled tomorrow, Saturday, February 22, 2020, at the Forsyth farm field. We will meet earlier than usual to assist a U of I student group in making a required test flight, a

In order to support a test flight of a big rocket by a U of I student group, we’re planning to move the launch this Saturday (2/22/2020) to the large farm field near Forsyth, IL. We will also need to

At the business meeting last night we discussed a variety of items. One item was to figure out a topic for the meeting at the Springer Center on March 3. We thought it would worth having a talk about

The Insect Fear Film Festival is taking place on Saturday, February 22. The theme this year is "Crustacean Fear Films." A group of club members will be attending and everyone is welcome to join us. We

Our February business meeting will be this coming Tuesday, February 18 at the Hickory River Smokehouse in Urbana. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. We'll be discussing various upcoming CIA activities and o

The club will be putting on a workshop called "Blast Off with Model Rocketry" as part of the 4-H Learn and Fun day on Monday, February 17. The event is being held at Trinity Lutheran School, 1102 W Ha

At 11:00 AM, it was 30°F in Champaign, with light snow, fog and mist, a west wind at 8 mph, and a cloud ceiling at 700 feet. Visibility is 2 miles. Although the wind is modest for this time of year, t

We have a rocket launch scheduled tomorrow, Saturday, February 8, at Dodds Park in Champaign. Setup will begin at 12:00 noon, probably in the south half of the soccer field parking lots. Flying can co

Some members of the CIA are planning to attend the lecture at the Parkland Planetarium on Friday, February 7. At 7 p.m. on Friday will be the February Kaler lecture "https://www.parkland.edu/Audience/

We may have some special guests at the meeting tonight, Tuesday, February 4, at the Springer Center at 7 p.m. Some U of I Aerospace Engineering students may be able to come and give us a look at the d

We have a meeting at the Springer Center in Champaign next Tuesday, February 4 at 7 p.m. The topic for the evening will be a "Forum on rocket design and construction methods." Bring rockets you have d