Fellowship of the Übernerds

At one point, while we were launching rockets at Shawnee Mission Park, a 59 Cadillac convertible drove by. We all stopped and watched it go by.

Wow. A car that was built when it was cool to like rockets. I mean, I know, not as cool as being Quarterback or an ad man, but cooler than the sort of dork who played Dungeons & Dragons.



What was the 1950s analog to role playing games? I'm sure the outcasts had something, but those who still remember probably would rather you didn't know about those days.



I was amazed, though, by Bob's One Ring rocket. He was apologetic about not having the whole verse on it, like I could (of course) read Elvish.



Then there was Booker and his mid-to-high powered stuff. Booker is the most California guy you'll ever meet in Kansas.



Thing is: these are my people. This is the same, exact sort of nerd you find in a homebrew club. And joining KCBM did more for my brewing skills than any single book I could have read (and maybe more than two or three of them).



Going out to this launch, I got tips on how I'm tying my parachutes, so I shouldn't have so many failing to open. After the first launch of Thor's Candycane, he was re-tied correctly and his 'chute opened perfectly every time after that.



And I saw how simple multi-staging can be. Given that Thor's Candycane is so heavy a C engine barely gets him up, building a second stage for him makes perfect sense. I also learned that there are some more powerful composite motors that should fit his motor mount just fine, should be on the market any day.





I learned that crepe paper is flame resistant, and thus makes perfect streamers and can be used for recovery wadding. So instead of paying $5 for an envelope of wadding, I can pay 87¢ for a roll with about five times as much material at Wal-Mart.




I also learned that you can build a rocket out of the corner of a parcel post container. And that if the nozzle comes out of the motor (which is rare), everything burns to a crisp on the launch pad instead of flying. This is why you stand at least fifteen feet away.



I remember my first homebrew club meeting, when they found out I was doing a partial boil because I had a 4 gallon pot and no wort chiller, everyone wanted to help me get a bigger kettle, get more equipment, borrow something, etc. Just so I was making good beer.



When I said I wasn't doing any mid-power stuff for budgetary reasons, these fellow rocketeers started talking about loaning me casings for reloadable motors...