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| Rockets fill Patterson's skies |
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| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Wednesday, 31 October 2007 | |
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“It was a good rocket. But the rocket god was not happy.” - said its owner, Kevon Cooper
 Richard Hagen stands next to his 6-foot-tall Ameri-Can rocket, the largest on display Saturday. - Photo by John Saiz Everything seemed to go fine, until a rocket called “Red Tail Hawk” reached the peak of its flight. That’s when the parachute should have deployed. Instead, it crashed to the ground, and all that remained were several shattered pieces — and no survivors. Of course, to be fair, the model rocket didn’t have any passengers. “It was a good rocket,” said its owner, Kevon Cooper, a blond-headed preteen. “But the rocket god was not happy.” Kevon held the pieces of his rocket in his hands. He seemed to radiate a sense of pride as he looked at the destruction he’d instigated. Losses like that are part of the model rocketry game. Fortunately, the rocket set Kevon back only a couple of bucks. “If you don’t want to crash ’em, don’t fly ’em,” James Marino said, behind a cloud of cigarette smoke and beneath a one-foot afro. The two hobbyists are part of the Livermore Unit of the National Association of Rocketry. They and more than a dozen others descended on Patterson on Saturday for Rocketry in the Park. Patterson resident Chuck Marble has organized launches the past 10 years. The Livermore model rocket enthusiasts, who made up most of the event’s participants, had launched in Livermore close to 15 years before they lost their site when homes were built close to the park they used. They’ve looked for somewhere to have their monthly launches ever since, and it looks as if Patterson might be the place. Saturday’s launch attracted dozens of people, many from LUNAR. They dwarfed the crowd at July’s Rocketry in the Park, which attracted only a handful. Several LUNAR members said it could be just the beginning. LUNAR attracted hundreds to its launches in Livermore before the park site got nixed, organizers said. “There are a lot of them out here,” said LUNAR member Paul Pittenger. “But it could get bigger.” That might be so, but the Ameri-Can rocket is already about as big as model rocket as most people will ever see. Its owner, Richard Hagen, stood in the shadow of his creation, which rose more than 6 feet tall. The motor needed to propel the craft skyward can cost more than $450 for each launch.  Photo by John Saiz “Mine are all two-pull double-cutoff switches,” he said. Attendees threw around an unending string of jargon as they discussed their models and the motors that fueled them. “The C motor's a lot better than the A,” one woman yelled to a fellow attendee after a launch. “Yeah,” he answered. “Next time, I’m gonna try the B6-4.” New vocabulary aside, the hobby is easy and cheap to get into, Marble said. For less than $30, someone can get flying. Hobby shops and the Internet are two places the uninitiated can get started, attendees said. The enthusiasts also insist that, despite the explosive motors that fuel the launches, the hobby is quite safe. Saturday’s participants appeared to have all their fingers, and they said the only times people have been seriously hurt or killed using commercial engines have been while trying to retrieve rockets from power lines. Freedom from such obstructions is one of the reasons LUNAR sees the West Side as an attractive option — but how long it will stay that way remains uncertain. Even as LUNAR members complained about the housing that pushed them out of their Livermore park, recently built Patterson homes loomed large in the background. Still, attendees were optimistic that the sports park could become a regular stop for the group. “Hopefully, we’ll be coming here every month,” LUNAR member Charles Wittman said. To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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