The SystemsGo team and volunteers spent Wednesday evening and all day Thursday at the brand new venue in North Texas at Jack County. They were readying both the launch site in the Jacksboro area and check out stations for stages 1 and 2, at the Fire Department in nearby Perrin, to be complete for the arrival of schools, students, and test vehicles for the Rockets 2019 launch line up. Tomorrow, Friday, is opening day for this new Texas launch site for the junior level rockets.
Excitement is high as the team worked hard to be sure everything would be ready to accept all participants and their rockets promptly tomorrow morning. The new site will have six launch rails ready to send Rockets out to #RideTheSkies.
The team and volunteers have worked hard and had a lot of fun getting ready to host the students. A special thanks is extended to Mr. Buck Brown and his family for the use of their ranches this weekend. A few of us were able to meet him and his brother, Barry Brown, this evening, while installing signs at the public parking area.
Names as pictured: Buck Brown, Scott Netherland, and Barry Brown(in truck).
Another thank you is extended to the Sid W. Richardson Foundation that is SystemsGo’s sponsor in this endeavor. We hope to meet a representative of them tomorrow at the launches.
Pictures are from the progress at the site to this point are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/SystemsGoEducation/
https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow
Restrooms and concessions will be provided at the launch site. A spectator tent will also be available. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks and drinks, and downtime entertainment.
Patience may be in order if you plan to view launches here, since occasionally there can be small kinks to work out at a new location. Patience is a normal requirement with test vehicles, as they don’t adhere to schedules well. In fact, rockets are subject to winds, weather and workmanship, all of which can stall a launch.
Mr. Brett Williams, the program’s originator, used to say that it took a million things to go right to get these rockets to launch, and only one thing going wrong to prevent them from launching.
Jacksboro is the first Texas launch for the Rockets 2019 season. It will be followed by launches in Central Texas/Stonewall, and Southeast Texas/Smith Point, Texas. It follows the SystemsGo New Mexico launch, which was last week in Jal, New Mexico.
North Texas/Jack County, is hosting 12 schools, slated to test 39 rockets Friday and Saturday. In past years many of these schools launched at the Central Texas launch, formerly held in Willow City, north of Fredericksburg. This new venue gives them a launch site much closer to their schools.
The launch dates, locations, map links, ticket links, flight schedules and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
North Texas/Jack County:
- Friday, April 26-Saturday, April 27
- New Launch Site: FM 2210 W and Gowan Ranch Lane, Jacksboro, TX 76458
Stage 1 & 2 at Perrin VFD: 2210 W Hackley Street, Perrin, TX 76486
- https://www.greateventseats.com/NthTexas
- North Texas-Jack County 2019 Flight Schedule
- Map to Sites (PDF)
- Schools participating: Buinger CTE Academy, Carroll HS, Henrietta HS, Hollenstein CTC, Scurry-Rosser HS, University HS, Birdville CTAL, Grapevine HS, Maypearl HS, Northwest HS, Petrolia HS, RL Turner HS
- 39 expected rockets for testing
The site will be open for admittance and public viewing at 8:00 a.m. and launches will commence at 8:30 a.m. all things willing. Come join in the action and cheer on these students. Admission is free, but the look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered, is far from priceless.
However, if you plan to attend any of these launches please register for your attendance ticket ahead of time or obtain them at the gate. These are free but required for admittance to each site as they also include a waiver for access to the site. Reserving them ahead at the website is preferred to obtaining them at the gate because the latter slows entrance to the site and may result in you missing the viewing of your intended launch. The link is listed in the information above or can be found at www.sytemsgo.org .
If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2019 will continue with two more launches in May. The Central Texas/Fredericksburg launch site will be third in the line up this year. It has moved from Willow City to the Sammy Segner Ranch in Stonewall, Texas. Look for more details on that coming up. The last of the junior level launches will be held in Smith Point just south of Anahuac, Texas for schools in the Houston and Southeast Texas area.
A live feed for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org as each launch date arrives.
More event details will be available here in upcoming days as events get closer. Daily reports featuring schedule links, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
Please watch the SystemsGo website, SystemsGo Facebook page, SystemsGo Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNews and this blog for upcoming information on theses events.
www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org . Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.
Hope to see you at the launches!
On the Wings of Angels 