The Hometown Helpers met Friday, June 9, 2023, at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Parish Hall in Sylvan Grove, to build rockets. Twenty-four members and two guests worked with the help of fourteen adults. Members were directed in their rocket building by rocket enthusiast Ed Myers and his wife, Dalene, from Kansas City, Missouri.
All members built the same rocket, a black and yellow Apogee Apprentice. The young rocket builders worked with rulers, scissors, sandpaper, wood glue, modeling cement, and masking tape to build their rockets. First, they built the body and attached pre-molded fins. Then they built the nose cone and attached the shock cord inside the rocket. Later, they cut out, attached strings and folded the parachute into the nosecone. Those who wanted, could add stickers to their rocket creation. The entire process lasted about three hours. Each builder was given wadding and an Estes C6-5 engine for the coming flight.
Between building phases, as rockets were drying, members watched videos that highlighted some of the successes and failures in amateur rocket building. They also watched videos of Ed Myers’ rocket adventures.
Myers is a member of the Large & Dangerous Rocket Society and the founder of Right Wing Rocketry. He has built or assisted in the building of dozens of rockets over the years. Myers, who is a retired dentist, once built and sent up a super-sized molar with a rocket inside. He and some colleagues also sent up one of the world’s largest bottle rockets. In 2008 Myers sent up a mannequin in a dress, complete with wig and make-up. His rocket, called Prom Date, had a successful launch at a meeting of the Large & Dangerous Rocket Society in Argonia, KS. Two years later, Myers launched her again as the Statue of Liberty, for another successful launch. Two years after that, he sent her up again as a bride. She exploded, crashed and burned. “What does that tell you about marriage?” quipped Myers, who has been happily married for many years. Myers has been featured on the Discovery Channel and in rocketry magazines. The Hometown Helpers felt lucky to get to share their rocket experience with him.
