W5 - Rick’s Scratchbuilt Rocketry Program

Who am I? Who are we? I am a rocket dad that has great fun learning the fundamentals of rocketry and manage this website. The boys are also Scratch builders eager to learn as much as we can about model rocketry. So far, high-powered rockets have been too expensive to even consider, so we may not even go there. The benefit of flying models is that you can enjoy your hobby more because there’s lots of inexpensive flying. Unless you have a lot of money, high-power and some mid-power aren’t possible to get here. I can honestly say we’ll be flying 60 to 80 times a year again on BP motors and some other unmentionable fuel. The motors that we will be using are between 1/2A to G. So, every launch can be quite different.

The Rocketeers:

Noah (Launch Coordinating Officer)- He’s in grade 7. He enjoys computers, drawing, Astronomy, Space and of course rockets. At last count he’s built over 20 homemade rockets that work just fine.

Phill (Electronics and Video Technician)- He’s just finished high school and enjoys electronics, computers, music, working around the house, and he occasionally builds a special rocket. I think he has 8 or 9 at the moment.

Rick (Chief Executive of Operations)- I’m a Cad technician at a major window and door manufacturer. I enjoy science, sports, history, geography, and enjoy being with my two boys a great deal. I was originally born in Dryden, Ontario. I have been married since 1988, and decided to move to Winnipeg Manitoba in 1989, from Kenora, Ontario. As well, my two boys were born in Winnipeg and have lived here all their lives. I have built around 20 scratched rockets.

What is S.R.P.? We are The Scratchbuilt Rocketry Program. A program designed to create an inspiring environment, for Noah and Phill, so they can accel at a disciplined hobby, like scratch-built rocketry.

Where is S.R.P.? We are located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We fly at a couple of bigger local parks in the city, and also fly out at my wife’s father’s farm 80 miles southwest of Winnipeg. There are many big fields there that we can sometimes fly from.

Why are we S.R.P.? It has kind of evolved after seeing our first rocket launching (Alpha III in 2006). It was a perfect excuse to get outside to the park or the in-law’s farm to see the rockets fly. The attraction to rocketry is quite an interesting one, but to put it simply, it turns our crank and we like to keep on doing it.

This is a great fun way to teach your kids how processes and order works, and how to follow through with a project. This of course, can be applied to just about anything. Rocketry is just the so-called vehicle to help them learn some of these fundamentals. We have 5 to10 group-built rockets and it’s continually growing.

How is S.R.P. doing it? Easy. Because there is three of us, flying and building is so much fun. When we decide to schedule a launch, there’s a great group of work and school buddies that we can enjoy flying with. The program seems to be working quite well into its third year.

We also have a workbench in the basement especially designed for working on the latest project or repair. So, all the clutter seems to stay to one area down there, rather then all over the house, like we started out like.