2026 ORG AGM Scheduled

The 2026 ORG AGM is scheduled for Saturday, 21 February 2026. I’m keeping my fingers crossed – members may recall that last year’s AGM was scheduled for February 21st, and had to be postponed by a week due to a snowstorm. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this year.

Doors will open at 1:00 PM, and I’m optimistically planning on starting the meeting at 1:30. We have the room until 5:00 PM. Adult beverages will be served for the first few hours, as well as other beverages for those who wish them.

Our rental agreement includes “swap meet”, so bring out any unwanted rockets, kits, motor hardware, electronics etc. I’ll try to limit the duration of the meeting proper to leave more time for socializing and trading afterwards.

Please note that individuals must be members of ORG for the current year in order to vote at the AGM. Membership forms can be found on the Membership page, and can be submitted either by email or by post. You must be a member of TRA in good standing, in addition to being an ORG member in good standing to vote for the Prefect and Secretary. Please bring your TRA membership card to the meeting to prove your status.

I’m looking forward to seeing all members.
Bill Wagstaff
Prefect, TRA Prefecture #069
Chairman, Ottawa Rocketry Group

First Launch of the 2025 Season

We had very nice weather for our first launch of the season. Sunny, a few high clouds, and a light wind from the East/North East. Club Secretary John Campbell, member Michel Seguin and I arrived early around 9:30 AM, and found the grass to be fairly dry. Someone had been driving on the grass leaving some pretty significant ruts in the surface.

Setup was quick, I’m very happy that we got the wireless Wilson F/X launch system as there are no cables to be laid out. When switched on, the system tested out flawlessly with no gremlins at all.

Several flights were recorded for the B Biathlon contest, which is our club competition for this season. Roland Zacher dominated in this first day, with a best duration of 60.32 seconds and a distance of 339 feet. It remains to be seen whether better scores will be recorded later in the season.

By my recollection, there were no lost rockets this time around. Michel Seguin had the dubious honour of having what was judged to be the most “way out there” flight, but he returned with the rocket in hand. Well done, Michel!

Looking forward to our next scheduled launch day on May 4th.

LDRS 41 Photos

I forgot to mention that I’ve added a small album of pictures from LDRS 41 in Wisconsin this last summer. A party of four of us attended, driving to the Bong State Recreational Area via the northern route through Sault Ste Marie. We took camping trailers, staying in Walmart parking lots on the way there and back, and staying at a campsite in the Bong during LDRS. Teresa and John got in quite a few flights, I got to catch up with a bunch of friends that I only ever see at big HPR launches, and I got to brush up on my tracking and my tree climbing!

New Launch Site Found

A new launch site has been found, and an insurance certificate has been obtained and sent to the landowner. We are in the process of planning our launch calendar for the coming few months. Please stand by for publication of the new launch calendar.