Spokane Area Rocket Club

The trailer survived the winter in fair shape with all interior items remaining dry and protected. The roof is in real rough shape and may need to be replaced instead of just recoated. The underlying plywood is beginning to delaminate and wrinkle. Jim Jopson has volunteered to serve as 'Paint Director' for the trailer and will haul the unit to his place sometime in May, June, or July (AKA when the weather is conducive) and address the exterior of the trailer. We found a cracked weld on the left fender where it attaches to the frame. I'll make an effort to re-weld that before the first launch. I found a couple loose/broken wires on the batteries and repaired/replaced them. We did a little organizing of the trailer and found a nice stockpile of flight cards ready for use. I began a full replacement of igniter clips but ran out before completing the model pads. I'll pick up a re-supply of clips and be prepared to continue that process tomorrow. Joe came up with what seems to be an improvement on the model rods. Instead of JB welding the coupling nuts onto the rods (which does not seem to be very robust) he brought some small set screws along with a drill and tap allowing the use of a set screw to hold the rod in the coupling nut. The only drawback (so far) is that the extending set screw makes getting all the rods in the PVC storage tube a bit tight (but they all fit). Joe donated a drill bit, tap, and extra set screws to the trailers tool box for continued implementation and/or repair as necessary. The SS model rods sure cleaned up like a dream! Again, Joe had the trick set up using his cordless drill to hold/spin the rod while WD-40 and sandpaper did their job on cleaning/polishing the rods. Due to extended length, we worked together on the mid power rods. We did not get to the high power rods or rails so folks interested in using those should be prepared to do some cleaning prior to use. Due to poor weather conditions over the weekend of 4/5-6, no additional GSE maintenance took place. President bob