CENJARS ForumsManagement Forum: LaunchesLaunch ReportsJanuary 2026

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January 2026

#1 · January 5, 2026, 9:03 pm

Quote from Eric Becher on January 5, 2026, 9:03 pm
January 2026 Launch Report

It was a cold day, but the sun was out, and if you were dressed for it, it was a nice day to be outside. The winds weren’t too bad most of the day either. There was certainly a crowd, bolstered by a bunch of students flying some ARC rockets.

Engine totals:

4 – 1/2A Engines
8 – A Engines
7 – B Engines
13 – C Engines
8 – D Engines
5 – E Engines
11 – F Engines
2 – G Engines
Total of 58 engines on 54 flights.

As many who were there know, there was an incident that caused a minor injury. Charlie was hit by a small “Bull Pup” rocket that came in ballistic (not opening) and landed close to the Launch Control table. Charlie bobbed and weaved like a gazelle, but the Bull Pup found him anyway. Charlie was fortunate to have “only” suffered a cut lip and sore tooth, but even that required a few stitches. This could have been much worse, especially if it involved a larger rocket, or a smaller Charlie. So, let’s start off by reviewing a couple of lessons to be learned from this, so we avoid similar, or worse incidents in the future.

First, please make sure that launch rods and rails are not angled to send rockets over the crowd. We often want to launch our rockets into the winds so they drift back and land close to our launch area. This is not considered a safe practice as a rocket that doesn’t come in on a parachute may land among the crowd. Debris such as ejected engines, separated nose cones, fins, or other parts can also land on people. Keep rods and rails pointed straight up, or even away from the crowd. Rockets tend to seek the wind, so no need to exacerbate the potential for overflying the spectators.

Next, everyone should be paying close attention when rockets are flying. The reason for the speakers, the reading of flight cards, and the countdown at every launch is to make everyone present aware of what is happening. Pay attention, and look up when you hear warnings.

Finally, make sure your rocket is set up properly, built safely, and you have double checked that all is in order (shock cords and chutes not tangled, nosecones not too tight, engines retained properly, etc.). While the rocket in question did not appear to suffer a malfunction, we should always do our best to ensure proper and safe flights.

As a result of this incident, CENJARS will be instituting more formal procedures for safety checks (an RSO), and other safety precautions going forward. Please adhere to these new procedures as they are developed and put into place. Over recent years our little rocket club has been growing, attracting more people to launches, and flying larger rockets. All that is great, but it is time that we add some procedures and precautions that are seen at larger clubs and launch events around the country.

Note also that the offending Bull Pup will be burned, its ashes divided, and distributed to secret burial sites in the far corners of Middle Earth so as not to pose a threat to Charlie ever again.

In other launch news… We welcomed the addition of new 1010 rail and ¼” rod launch pads. These should help ease the congestion at those pads that we have seen recently. Thank you to Charlie and Eric for building them, and to Bill for donating the 1010 rail that was used. The other parts were paid for by funds raised from memberships, so thank you to all those who pay their dues each year. This is one of the uses of our dues money, which is quite low compared to other clubs that also charge launch fees at each launch. CENJARS is a bargain!

While the numbers of rockets launched wasn’t particularly high, there were some notable flights to be seen. Bill and Jeff held a drag race with their Nike Smokes. Quite a sight to see 2 good sized rockets on F engines take off together! Dan flew a few small “duration” flights, including a helicopter recovery, which is always fun to see. Chris flew a 4-engine “Cluster Fluster” that was pretty cool. There were a variety of flying saucers, square things, UFO’s, Space X “garbage cans” and spiny thingys flying. Some flew smoothly, and some were decidedly not smooth flights. All fun to watch though. Elsa’s “Mean Machine” was a great flight of a great big rocket! Brian’s brand new “Lots of Spite” (an Estes “Lil Spite”) was certainly spiteful when it suffered a spectacular CATO, possibly doing irreparable harm to the rocket. Chris flew a really nice “Optima” rocket that recovered on a very colorful streamer/parachute combo. And Diptanshu continues his march toward rocketry glory with a couple of G-powered flights. One pretty cool. One that landed a little hard. Keep working Dip!

And while we didn’t have any official contests, Dan did win closest to the pad when his “Sky Snail III” flew nice and high, then landed pretty much up against the launch rail that it took off from.

Plenty of ARC flights too. Most of them flew quite well, and it’s good to see them flying well before the April deadline.

Finally, Eric was flying Red, White, and Blue rockets in honor of the start of 2026 – the 250^th birthday of the USA. The challenge was put out for everyone to start thinking and working towards something to commemorate this occasion, perhaps for the July launch. Anyone old enough to remember the bicentennial celebrations in 1976 as I do knows that it should be quite an occasion with observances of all kinds all year.

Folks have been paying their annual dues, which is appreciated. Remember, you can send the form and a check to Tom, or bring cash or check to the next launch. (Info on the Section Info/Join CENJARS page.)

Finally, the next launch is currently slated for February 1st, weather permitting. It will be the day before Groundhog Day, so maybe we’ll see Brian’s groundhog nosecone flying. Remember to check the website for last minute updates. Dress warm, and bring your Valentine for a romantic day on the field launching rockets! 🥰

Finally, the next launch is currently slated for February 1st, weather permitting. It will be the day before Groundhog Day, so maybe we’ll see Brian’s groundhog nosecone flying. Remember to check the website for last minute updates. Dress warm, and bring your Valentine for a romantic day on the field launching rockets! 🥰

January 2026 Launch Report

It was a cold day, but the sun was out, and if you were dressed for it, it was a nice day to be outside. The winds weren’t too bad most of the day either. There was certainly a crowd, bolstered by a bunch of students flying some ARC rockets.

Engine totals:

4 – 1/2A Engines
8 – A Engines
7 – B Engines
13 – C Engines
8 – D Engines
5 – E Engines
11 – F Engines
2 – G Engines
Total of 58 engines on 54 flights.

As many who were there know, there was an incident that caused a minor injury. Charlie was hit by a small “Bull Pup” rocket that came in ballistic (not opening) and landed close to the Launch Control table. Charlie bobbed and weaved like a gazelle, but the Bull Pup found him anyway. Charlie was fortunate to have “only” suffered a cut lip and sore tooth, but even that required a few stitches. This could have been much worse, especially if it involved a larger rocket, or a smaller Charlie. So, let’s start off by reviewing a couple of lessons to be learned from this, so we avoid similar, or worse incidents in the future.

First, please make sure that launch rods and rails are not angled to send rockets over the crowd. We often want to launch our rockets into the winds so they drift back and land close to our launch area. This is not considered a safe practice as a rocket that doesn’t come in on a parachute may land among the crowd. Debris such as ejected engines, separated nose cones, fins, or other parts can also land on people. Keep rods and rails pointed straight up, or even away from the crowd. Rockets tend to seek the wind, so no need to exacerbate the potential for overflying the spectators.

Next, everyone should be paying close attention when rockets are flying. The reason for the speakers, the reading of flight cards, and the countdown at every launch is to make everyone present aware of what is happening. Pay attention, and look up when you hear warnings.

Finally, make sure your rocket is set up properly, built safely, and you have double checked that all is in order (shock cords and chutes not tangled, nosecones not too tight, engines retained properly, etc.). While the rocket in question did not appear to suffer a malfunction, we should always do our best to ensure proper and safe flights.

As a result of this incident, CENJARS will be instituting more formal procedures for safety checks (an RSO), and other safety precautions going forward. Please adhere to these new procedures as they are developed and put into place. Over recent years our little rocket club has been growing, attracting more people to launches, and flying larger rockets. All that is great, but it is time that we add some procedures and precautions that are seen at larger clubs and launch events around the country.

Note also that the offending Bull Pup will be burned, its ashes divided, and distributed to secret burial sites in the far corners of Middle Earth so as not to pose a threat to Charlie ever again.

In other launch news… We welcomed the addition of new 1010 rail and ¼” rod launch pads. These should help ease the congestion at those pads that we have seen recently. Thank you to Charlie and Eric for building them, and to Bill for donating the 1010 rail that was used. The other parts were paid for by funds raised from memberships, so thank you to all those who pay their dues each year. This is one of the uses of our dues money, which is quite low compared to other clubs that also charge launch fees at each launch. CENJARS is a bargain!

While the numbers of rockets launched wasn’t particularly high, there were some notable flights to be seen. Bill and Jeff held a drag race with their Nike Smokes. Quite a sight to see 2 good sized rockets on F engines take off together! Dan flew a few small “duration” flights, including a helicopter recovery, which is always fun to see. Chris flew a 4-engine “Cluster Fluster” that was pretty cool. There were a variety of flying saucers, square things, UFO’s, Space X “garbage cans” and spiny thingys flying. Some flew smoothly, and some were decidedly not smooth flights. All fun to watch though. Elsa’s “Mean Machine” was a great flight of a great big rocket! Brian’s brand new “Lots of Spite” (an Estes “Lil Spite”) was certainly spiteful when it suffered a spectacular CATO, possibly doing irreparable harm to the rocket. Chris flew a really nice “Optima” rocket that recovered on a very colorful streamer/parachute combo. And Diptanshu continues his march toward rocketry glory with a couple of G-powered flights. One pretty cool. One that landed a little hard. Keep working Dip!

And while we didn’t have any official contests, Dan did win closest to the pad when his “Sky Snail III” flew nice and high, then landed pretty much up against the launch rail that it took off from.

Plenty of ARC flights too. Most of them flew quite well, and it’s good to see them flying well before the April deadline.

Finally, Eric was flying Red, White, and Blue rockets in honor of the start of 2026 – the 250^th birthday of the USA. The challenge was put out for everyone to start thinking and working towards something to commemorate this occasion, perhaps for the July launch. Anyone old enough to remember the bicentennial celebrations in 1976 as I do knows that it should be quite an occasion with observances of all kinds all year.

Folks have been paying their annual dues, which is appreciated. Remember, you can send the form and a check to Tom, or bring cash or check to the next launch. (Info on the Section Info/Join CENJARS page.)

Finally, the next launch is currently slated for February 1st, weather permitting. It will be the day before Groundhog Day, so maybe we’ll see Brian’s groundhog nosecone flying. Remember to check the website for last minute updates. Dress warm, and bring your Valentine for a romantic day on the field launching rockets! 🥰

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#2 · January 7, 2026, 9:55 am

All pixs and video posted

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