| Seasons Greetings! As the end of another year, decade and century approaches, it seems somehow appropriate to reflect on things in one's life that are significant and important. After family, friends and work, my thoughts turn to HPR. If you can forgive the conceit of offering up some observation strictly from my own perspective, this is a good time to reflect on those who went before us, where we are now and where we are headed. I want to mention the names of those who have left their impression on NC High Power Rocketry. In doing so I will probably omit someone, so pardon me in advance, but I think it is worth the risk of some accidental oversight in order to bring up many of the names of those who have contributed so much. It's awesome how much we have progressed in North Carolina in such a short time. When I'm asked how long I have been in the hobby, I usually throw off a casual response of "Oh, 3 or 4 years." But I surprise myself when I realize that it was June 13, 1993, in a vacant school field near Angier, NC that I certified Level 1. My daughter, Jennifer came with me and pressed the launch button that day for several flights. She was a 9 year old little girl then. Today she is a 16 year old young woman, a high school soccer star who holds down a part time evening job and will soon have her driver's license. It is amazing that 7 years and so much have passed so quickly since I became YABAR (Yet Another Born Again Rocketeer). Back then, we had one prefecture, no flying field to speak of, and no regularly scheduled launches. We flew a few times a year wherever we could, using whatever equipment we could get our hands on. To fly high power we usually travelled to Culpepper, VA. There were probably fewer than a dozen active flyers around in those days. Guys like Ron Gold, Scott Hartsema, Ed Holland, Paul Kraemer, Jim Sexton (TRA #256), Bob Sisk and Tom Zuchowski evoke memories of legendary, trail blazing "cowboy days" in North Carolina rocketry. Late in 1993 we secured the Whitakers launch site and began organizing a few launches a year there. Lu Livermon created the second Tripoli prefecture in NC and became our first official local distributor. He did much to help us get "legal" with our motor purchases and understand transportation rules. He heavily promoted education and youth involvement. He also brought hybrid motor systems to NC, allowing me to be the first to fly a hybrid motor in North Carolina. Ken Hodges was another guy who came along about that time (Lu, Ken and I all confirmed at the same time) and developed into the best scale modeler I have have ever seen to this day. Mike McMullen dabbled a little in bringing us regular newsletters and photos. The Mangum brothers and Tony Lewis made things a spectators delight. Eugene West raised the standards for our launch equipment. Still, we struggled with organization, spreading the word and the workload. In just the past year and a half, the contributions of those in the past finally bore fruit. Whitakers has become the most active HPR venue in the country. The skills inventory and involvement of all the membership has exploded. Whitakers is not a NC site but an "eastern seaboard" site with regular members and visitors from Virginia, Maryland,Washington DC, and other states up and down the coast. We have been visited by flyers from Quebec, Hawaii, California and had visitors from as far away as Germany and Mongolia. Next year we will go national when we host the an experimental launch around the LDRS schedule. We have already hosted several Small Ball affairs. Besides our family orientation, I think what pleases me most about how we have developed at Whitakers is how we have developed a broad cross section of almost any skill, expertise or specialty among our populace. You name the topic and someone at Whitakers will be able to speak knowledgeably on the topic and be able to help you. There are a lot of people that have worked and continue to work to make Whitakers special. Every time you use a foot or car bridge, thank David Rushing and Lamar Blankenship. Don Wittenauer has taken parachute recovery systems to a new and entertaining level. Jerry Robinson and Jeff Taylor have opened up altitude exploration through their efforts in developing tracking systems. John "Bobby" Hamill should be re-named "Bird Dog" for all he has done to develop lost rocket recovery techniques. Ben Russell has answered the bell in the area of experimental rocket so well that it is practically mainstreamed. We now have 2 TAP committee members in Jim Livingston and Mark Lloyd. Mark is also instrumental in providing our new HPR launch control system, and for an encore he remodeled the interior of the trailer to more efficiently store our equipment. Rich Burck built and donated the low power launch pads and has been providing concessions at our 2-day launches. You haven't lived in HPR until you see Rich's flying beer bottle. We even attracted the FAA into our fold - Charlie Brown and Barbara VanLoon are the FAA controllers we call our notem into at RDU. Has anybody seen any one have more fun out there than Bob Buchholz? Between Bob and Mark Lloyd we have the electronics area covered. Bob Schoner, Jim Livingston, Fred Wallace and Joe May always fly big and are some of the most popular crowd pleasers we have flying at Whitakers. Joe Polchlopek stepped up to maintain our email network (nc-rockets) when Tim Hansen no longer could. Ed Rowe and several others have done wonders with web sites featuring Whitakers. Through his and their efforts, word has spread about our schedule and is probably the single biggest reason our growth has spurted recently. Eddie Haith and Bill Shamblin have begun to show up early and stay late with equipment set up and tear down. Rich and Elaine Miller have bee very helpful with covering LCO duties and toting that trailer. To do all they do and keep track of their 4 boys is truly a marvel in time management. Several other members have stepped forward to learn LCO duties and my gratitude goes out to all of you who have at one time or another served as LCO so I could fly (or just get out of the heat!). Women have been influential at Whitakers, too (the addition of a porta-john at their insistence notwithstanding LOL). Elaine Miller and Barbara VanLoon and Kathy Gilliand have all stepped up with successful certifications. I could never mention names in talking about Whitakers and not mention our land owner and operator hosts, Walter O'Neal and Mrs. Smiley. Without their generosity and kindness, none of this would have been possible. I could go on and on but I must close at some point, which brings me to my last reflection. I wanted to reflect on what Jim Scarpine has done for us. With Jim's recent announcement of his plans to step down as prefect, I look back on his contributions and feel it only appropriate that we recognize the contributions to NC High Power Rocketry that he has made. Jim founded the first prefecture in North Carolina. He secured our first waiver, led the way in landing our first insurance coverage, and was the first to get our ad in the HPR magazine. In our infancy, Jim was the only organization we had. He personally wrote newsletters, hosted picnics, arranged launches and kept communications going. He has represented us at air shows and other special events around the state. and I don't know anybody who carries more information about motors around in his head than Jim. He even managed to help us get some publicity through news coverage and the like. Jim is a dreamer and thinks big. It has been largely his vision and work that has brought Whitakers to the point it is now. He has cooperated and been a team player in supporting and organizing Whitakers as a dual hosted launch site. To the countless number of intitiates Jim has certified into the hobby, including myself, he will always be inextricably linked to that special event in our hobby lives. As Jim steps down, I encourage everyone to make a special effort to look him up next time you are out at the field and let him know how much you appreciate what he has done for the hobby in NC during his time as Prefect of Tripoli North Carolina. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!! Dennis Hill TRA #2173, Level 3 Prefect, Tripoli East North Carolina |