Yes, it’s true, and it’s about time!
This is a long post, so please bear with me as I detail where things are.
On 10th June, Che (TRA L2), Joe (TRA L2), and Matt (TRA L3) met to discuss the possibility of forming a rocketry club to service the Cairns and greater Far North Queensland region. We agreed to go ahead with Che as President, Joe as Secretary, and Matt as a member. Following that meeting, we applied to the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) to form a new Prefecture. On 28th August, we received a reply from the TRA where provisional approval to form Tripoli North Queensland was granted.
The approval was provisional due to the TRA by-laws requiring clubs to already have a launch site before full approval is granted. We do not currently have a launch site. However, the TRA have recognised that having a TRA approved club is also an incentive for land-owners to allow rocketeers to launch on their properties. It’s a chicken and egg thing, and the TRA have been extremely helpful with this. We cannot thank them enough for their understanding.
For launch sites, we expect that we would need at least two. One for low and mid-power rockets that is closer to Cairns. A site close to Cairns will be perfect for families and casual rocketeers. The other site would likely be 10s to 100s of hectares in size for high-power launches, and will probably be a couple of hours outside of Cairns.
So why become a TRA Prefecture? The reason to be Tripoli members are many. Firstly, TRA insures our rocketry activities, so long as they are conducted in accordance with their by-laws and Safety Code. Tripoli also offers insurance to the land-owner of the sites from which we launch our rockets. And not least, Tripoli is the predominant governing body for rocketry world-wide, offering tried and true advice, experience, member certification, and safety.
Moving forward, we have agreed to name the club Cairns Region Rocketry Club, or CRRoC as a nod to our regional wildlife. We are currently forming the infrastructure of the club including this website, information packs for land-owners, governance items such as a constitution and becoming incorporated, and of course, seeking additional members! If you are interested in rocketry, and/or know of a property that we can use to launch rockets, please reach out to us using the Contact form. Please visit regularly as we will publish dates and times of our meetings and other information here.