Archive for Vince Huegele

| May 24, 2025
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AL Team Finishes ARC in the Money

The Russellville team had a flight that hit the lowest score of the day, but combined with their other flight score settled into seventh place nationally to bring home $2500 in the 2025 finals of the American Rocketry Challenge in Virginia, May 17. Four more of the nine state teams advanced to the second round cut and did fairly well. The returning National Champion team from Tharptown had a respectable finish as did most of the schools. The winning team this year was a Boy Scout troop from New Jersey scoring a total of 31.84, capturing the number one spot in their first trip to the finals.

Congratulations to all these students for their hard work and rocketry accomplishments.

Final Alabama school standings and scores:

Place Prize  T#         Team          City   State      score 1 score 2 total

7  $2,500 25-0003   Russellville HS (Team 2) Russellville AL 44.92 0.2 45.12

Place   T#           Team            City     State       score 1  score 2  total

14   25-0017   Muscle Shoals HS (Team 2) Muscle Shoals AL 5 48.8 53.8

15   25-1850   Tuscumbia City Schools Tuscumbia AL 19.04 36.72 55.76

22   25-0322   Tharptown HS (Team 1) Russellville AL 30.56 47.64 78.2

40   25-1841   Columbia High School   Huntsville AL 10 780.84 790.84

First round only

Place   T#          Team                City     State       score

47   25-0344 Russellville High School (Team 1) Russellville AL 57.32

67   25-0419 Tharptown High School (Team 2) Russellville AL 100.8

69   25-0616 Lawrence County High School Moulton AL 102.2

87   25-0016 Muscle Shoals HS (Team 1) Muscle Shoals AL DQ

Category: TARC |
| May 13, 2025
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SLI at 25

HARA was instrumental in the formation of the Student Launch Initiative 25 years ago. The MSFC education office wanted to start a student rocket launch, but those teachers and administrators didn’t have the technical knowledge to build and fly rockets. HARA did. A partnership began where MSFC would organize a program to recruit students but dependent on HARA to train those students and launch their rockets. This included HARA reviewing the proposals and progress reports, mentoring, inspecting and testing hardware, managing HP motors, approving the rockets for flight, and of course launching them. Despite MSFC being NASA, those space rocket scientists didn’t know the sport rocketry the students would use. It was fun, exciting and ground breaking for HARA to participate with NASA to fly HPR for education. As the program eventually grew with many more schools, NAR came in on the national level to provide additional appropriate support, but HARA was always involved as the local club. This year, our members were still on the field assisting the launch and helping the students. What started with three rockets and a few dozen kids has gone on to reach thousands of students with hundreds of flights. You aimed high, HARA.

The MSFC newsletter reports the first SLI launch.

Randolph HS’s rocket flies on a K250 to over a mile in 2001.

One of this year’s teams with their rocket.

Category: News |
| April 16, 2025
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Nine Alabama Teams Invited to ARC 2025 Finals

A record breaking 1,001 teams participated in the 2025 American Rocketry Challenge. Below are the nine Alabama teams from six schools (of the 32 total state teams from 20 schools) that made the top 100 best scores to earn an invitation to compete at the National Finals on May 17 in Manassas, VA. They fly to win $100,000 in prizes and the title of National Champion. The winning team will represent the United States and compete at the International Rocketry Challenge in June at the Paris Air Show. Last year only seven teams from the state went, but Tharptown came in first and Muscle Shoals fifth. Tharptown will be back to defend its national title.

Cutoff score for top 100 was 28.6. Last year it was 32.12. Cutoff score for the next twenty alternates was 33.9.

 

Team Number        School                   City 

25- 1841 Columbia High School            Huntsville 

25- 0616 Lawrence County High School     Moulton 

25- 0016 Muscle Shoals High School (Team 1) Muscle Shoals 

25- 0017 Muscle Shoals High School (Team 2) Muscle Shoals 

25- 0344 Russellville High School (Team 2) Russellville 

25- 0003 Russellville High School (Team 1) Russellville 

25- 0322 Tharptown High School (Team 1) Russellville 

25- 0419 Tharptown High School (Team 2) Russellville 

25- 1850 Tuscumbia City Schools         Tuscumbia 

Also going to the finals that was qualified by HARA is the 25- 1718 team from Fulton Science Academy, Alpharetta, Georgia, that state’s only team to make it.

Category: TARC |
| April 3, 2025
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ARC Madness in Huntsville 2025

While much of America is obsessed with college basketball in March the real hysteria is ARC rocket teams scrambling to catch a good weather day and a NAR observer on a dry field all before the launch qualification deadline 4/7. Local schools, some with multiple teams, were busy lighting up pads trying to get the magic time and altitude for a score to take them to the finals, or at least a respectable number to stand for their work all year. Some of the flight results look promising for these student scientists. Finalists in the American Rocketry Challenge will be announced 4/16.

Category: TARC |
| March 11, 2025
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Doubling Down

The February HARA launch was scrubbed until it was March 1 before we got it off. Then the next monthly launch was on for March 8 and we went for it to have back to back flying and catch up from the weather. Both days were windy but within limits so the launches proceeded. The first date had fair traffic with about 40 flights for the day, but the regular date was busy with over 70 launches. At least 5 college teams attended. As always, the rockets and the rocketeers did not disappoint.

Category: Launches |
| January 28, 2025
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HARA at 46

About the time you reach middle age you stop counting the birthdays like you used to, maybe because of the math, and begin to round off saying you are “forty-something”. HARA has been around awhile, has done a lot, and is still doing. It’s worth a moment to remember and appreciate that.

January paused its wintery precip and allowed the club to fly on a cold but clear day. The road on the farm was fine for cars but there were slick muddy spots in the field requiring rocketeers to ‘walk without rhythm’ like on Dune to get through the peril. The new launch policy is if the regularly scheduled launch on the second Saturday is scrubbed, the fourth Saturday becomes the next attempt. This month that worked out with a fair number of attendees and over 60 flights for the day including the annual ‘Geezer TARC’ shootout.

Category: Launches |
| December 29, 2024
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Ready, Set, ARC

This year is the 23rd and biggest year in the history of the American Rocketry Challenge (ARC/TARC). According to the director at the close of registration there were 1,006 enrolled teams, the largest number in the history of the program, well above the previous high of last year’s 922. 

This is the list of the currently registered Alabama teams.

Thompson High School, Alabaster

Cullman High School, Cullman

Central, Florence

Rogers High School, Florence

Hackleburg High School, Hackleburg

Haleyville City Schools, Haleyville 2 teams

Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering, Huntsville 4 teams

St. John Paul II, Huntsville 4 teams

Columbia High School, Huntsville

Sparkman High School, Huntsville

James Clemens High School, Madison

Bob Jones High School, Madison

Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, Mobile

Lawrence County High School, Moulton

Muscle Shoals High School, Muscle Shoals 3 teams

Phil Campbell High School, Phil Campbell

Tharptown High School, Russellville 2 teams

Russellville High School, Russellville 3 teams

Tuscumbia City School, Tuscumbia

Winfield City High School, Winfield

Tharptown High School is the reigning ARC National Champion and is back to defend its title. The state team number is down two from last year but still has 32 total teams from 20 schools, 6 with multiple teams. The Huntsville area team number grew by one.

What the NAR is doing with ARC is really making a difference to the future of the US aerospace industry, to the rocketry hobby, and to the future of the NAR. Support these students in every way you can.

Category: News |
| December 24, 2024
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Courting Courtland

The Propel Science Foundation (PSF) invited HARA back to the old Courtland airport 12/7 for a day of open sport flying. Having established the old airport as a launch field the director of PSF, Andrew Heath, set up the date as a possibly reoccurring event, which is exciting news for north Alabama rocketeers. HARA brought the range equipment and personnel to support all levels of rockets. The clear calm air allowed high flights with big and small motors. Parking on the runway was great, the large recovery space was great, rockets landing on the concrete -not so much. About 45 models were launched.

 

Category: Launches |
| December 11, 2024
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HARA at NSL East

A national high power sport launch less than 7 hours drive from Huntsville was enough to attract some HARA members to attend and fly. The NAR had sanctioned an event in the west around Memorial Day and NSL East was held November 23-25 in a SE Georgia cotton field hosted by the Southern Area Rocketry (SoAR) section with 230 registered flyers and many spectators and supporters. The three days had 750 flights total– 368 flights Saturday including a night launch, 275 flights Sunday, and 107 flights Monday.  SoAR often hosts a regional fall launch on this field but this year it went national.

The weather was clear every day and perfect for high flights. Stan put up a bird to 8K’ and got it back, Doug flew his Level 2 certification attempt and Vince burned two H’s, two I’s and a J motor. Many cool rockets of all power levels were on parade on the flight line and on the pads. A beautiful giant scale 12′ tall Saturn V had a majestic liftoff unfortunately without all it’s motors lit. It went up only a few hundred feet and laid over defeated by gravity. Most of the other flights were much better as modelers successfully showed off their craftsmanship and flying skills.

See this excellent news coverage at

https://fox5atlanta.com/video/1562547

Category: Launches |
| November 10, 2024
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Under the Weather

Despite the low ceiling HARA got out to the field for the November launch. Flyers were advised to only bring medium motors to stay under the clouds and they did. There were still plenty of sport flights, ARC practice rounds, student team projects and L1 certs to fill the morning. As rain drops began splattering at 12:30 everyone scrambled to pack up and go, but half a day on the range was better than nothing.

Category: Launches |
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