Wow! Two former Chatham Rocketry Club members in just a couple of weeks! First I heard from Larry Broadbent, former CRC president and 50 year rocket veteran. He read about S.W.A.R.M. on The Rocketry Forum and contacted me to see what we were up to. A few days later, I ran into an old friend from high school, Brian French. I vaguely recalled Brian doing some rocketry back then (30 years ago!?!) so I asked him if he was still interested. He hadn't thought about rocketry since his days at Tecumseh Secondary School but was very excited at the prospect of rekindling his old hobby. His rocketry claim to fame is having attended the very first LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships) launch in the mid-80's. We spent a good while talking rockets and getting reacquainted and Brian has decided to come out to the next S.W.A.R.M. launch. I'm now interested in putting together a section on this site about the history of model rocketry in Chatham. Looks like I'll be hitting the Chatham-Kent Public Library soon to see if I can find any mentions of the CRC in the newspaper archives.
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting Larry Broadbent. Larry has been active in model rocketry since 1965. He is past president (1969 and 1980) of the former Chatham Rocketry Club and he still lives in Chatham. During the 1980's, he purchased Composite Dynamics, Inc. (CDI) and began selling their models along with some of his own designs. He has amassed quite a collection during his time in rocketry. He was kind enough to share some of that collection with me and fellow SWARM member Matt Turner. Larry showed us some prototype resin nosecones that he had produced for his company, several CDI ProJet composite engines, an FSI F100 engine, and many more great items! We heard great stories about the beginnings of high power rocketry, he shared some advice with us about our current projects, and Larry even decided to join SWARM and renew his NAR membership. It was truly a great way to spend a Saturday morning--talking rockets, making new friends, and learning a lot of model rocket history! And to think, I've been a Chatham rocketeer for over ten years and never knew that someone so involved in this great hobby lives about five minutes away. I am certainly inspired to reach out to our community and discover more about all the other folks involved in model rocketry!
|
Chris HalinatyI have been interested in model rocketry since 2002 and have been trying to learn all I can about building and flying. Archives
September 2017
Categories |