Rockets signal end of school year

With a hissing whoosh! and a cloud of black powder smoke, dozens of cardboard-and-balsawood rockets shot into the air above the Sisters Middle School soccer field on Monday, marking the traditional rite of passage for Sisters fifth graders.

Each year, "Rocket Rod" Moorehead of Sisters helps fifth grade science students design and build rockets powered with black powder and an Estes motor. Then, just before the end of school, the class gathers to launch them.

Monday's launch conditions were perfect. The sun was shining, temperatures were creeping toward 60 and there was no wind. Students and parents chanted the countdown - "Five, four, three, two , one!" - and the students pushed the electric ignition plunger for their rockets.

Spectators craned their necks as the rockets soared deep into the blue sky before plunging back to earth, trailing streamers the kids had packed into the body of the craft.

"They're supposed to go about 500 feet on this motor," Moorehead said.

The rockets achieved all of that. Patience O'Neal's rocket dazzled the crowd with a distance record, traveling all the way across McKinney Butte Drive, where a father out walking with his young family picked it up.

There was one dramatic motor failure, where the motor actually blew through the rocket body and went spinning across the grounds, to much excitement among watching parents.

"It's kind of cool to have for the kids," said Kalani Kahoopii, who was visiting his nephew from Hawaii. "We didn't have this when I was in school."

That was a sentiment often heard among dads attending the event, who might be forgiven for reverting to a state of juvenile excitement at blowing objects into the air.

"I would say this is a highlight of fifth grade," said teacher Norma Pledger.

She got no argument from a class of young rocketeers.

If blasting off rockets appeals to the ballistic engineer (or the kid) in you, Moorehead notes that the Oregon Rocketry Club has several events planned for this summer, where you can see some serious rockets fired off over the high desert.

For information visit http://www.oregonrocketry.com.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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