As some of you may know I have been compiling alot of information about rocketry in Australia, this subject has expanded from putting together the history of PARC.

I will be now trying to build a timeframe for the entire country with information and submitting it to the ARA Committee.

If anyone has anything they would like to add send me an email to wolfies-gurl@hotmail.com.

club timelines when they started when they stopped or restarted etc

This is an excellent idea. By studying patterns one could determine mistakes made in clubs resulting in negative periods. Such a study would be usefull and avoid us forever repeating history.  

One issue which appears to stick out is the introduction of hybrids into clubs. For some reason which is unclear this appears to have a negative effect. This certainly warrents further study. What are others views?  

i think the hybrids issue happen more so in SA that the other states

Quoted from wolflair

i think the hybrids issue happen more so in SA that the other states

And derived from the fact that they are so simple and easy to make that the enormous cost difference pushed one group into EX rocketry, an act which saw them expelled from the main group.

Of the bustups and declines that I've witnessed over the years, it's never been about technical stuff. Always about one or two people who's egos got the better of them..  Maybe a lesson learned is "two year terms in any office". That's about how long I lasted as president and I felt that I moved on at a good time. (although things did go downhill for a little while at that point)

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BTW that wasn't intended as a dig at anyone in particular, I've seen it in Tripoli, the ARA and a local model engineering club.

More on topic. Somewhere I have a video of an amateur rocket society operating in Sydney in the 70's. One of our ERG members was in the group. Fascinating work with Micrograin rockets and several reincarnations of Julius the mouse..(the executive summary being that micrograin and mouses don't mix well) I'll see if I can find it and get some details.

You almost certainly have this already, but I have fond memories of launching with PARC in about 95 (Kevin will remember) down by the swan brewery in canning vale. We'd lob them up over the top of the place and hope the 'chutes would deploy so they'd drift back to us.

The first York Astrofest PARC went to was around that time and an eye opener for all of us. It was at a stadium in Joondalup and we'd never launched in front of a crowd that big before. The wind was terrible and we were launching out over the car park with reefed 'chutes. Got them all back though. The last launch of the day was a drag race with pair of payload rockets on BP motors (all we flew at the time), It was dusk and the crowd ooh'd and and ahhh'd as the two rockets took off at exactly the same time and spiralled around each other with bright plumes out the tails... I still smile thinking about it.

I can cover the history of the NSW clubs from about 95-present day and take a stab at the history of the victorian groups over the same period. Dave Wilkins would be the authoritative  source on that. Dave Boyd probably goes back a bit further. He was the first person to light a Hypertek hybrid in Australia, which he drove to woomera to do BTW! That was back the mid to late 90's

Then there's the whole ASRI side of things, that's already pretty well documented.

DSTO is one of our main customers, and there's an old codger there who worked at womera in the sixties doing upper atmosphere research, I'm sure he'd love to contribute.   I don't know much about QLD, but seem to remember that Des Bromillow (now in WA) was involved in the early days. He might be a good source..
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Bromillow rings a bell, tryed to get somthing going in Port Hedland in the early 90s  firing black powder rockets then heard about PARC in 1999 and the rest is history.

Funny, I always recall him spending time in QLD.  Could be wrong I though...
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Des Bromilow started the original Queensland Rocketry Club which was several Queensland rocketry clubs ago, when he moved to WA's North he continued on flying. I have quite a bit of info on him and the work he has done in various states with rocketry.

I also have alot of info to read about rocketry clubs back in the 60's and 70's and early 80's in Australia.

I have info on the hard work Mike Gurlach (sp) in SA put in with govt depts to get things moving over there.

Justin Long had documented many of PARC's outings including the Astrofest and launchings at Joondalup Arena. Have heard the brewery story many times (lol thanks Kev) I also have all the documents for when PARC almost became ### Perth including letter heads, membership cards and other drafts and the info on why it never happened in the end and it became a seperate club. (funny how history has a way of repeating itself)

I have a Norseman PARC chapter in the history as well, as well as a few local Perth clubs that merged with PARC . One of our PARC members Frank has been flying rockets long before any of us were around and long before PARC started. So much more info that would take me days to type out so give me a couple years to write it as a book and then you can read it

I should have said I started things off in Hedland early 90s.

Quoted from hotspot

I should have said I started things off in Hedland early 90s.

I knew what ya meant.

The hardest thing to track down so far is the "hidden archives" that the last ARA Secretary was holding onto for when the ARA reformed. We left a msg with the guys mother and he did not reply. This is like an Indianna Jones expedition so far have managed to obtain a bit here and a bit there and I know PARC never cashed its cheque from the ARA when it sent left over monies to affiliated clubs back then, wonder where that money went if PARC didn't get it, there could be a bank account out there with money in it under the ARA name.

PARC has had contact with a fellow womera rocket flyer and has given us some valuable info to work with as well.

Many would be surprised at how much info is out there if you just ask the right person.

I have alot of archives from Victoria including certain HPR Cert flights and Hybrid flights and back to back Certs etc. 50 odd pages of information to put together about ### Vic and how they were the first to fly HPR in VIC AP and Hybrids the date of the flights, motors used who flew them and where they were flown so alot of info including pics to go with it its all part of history in Australia and will make good reading.    

Have some info on ERG in NSW and have info in the PARC archives about committee changes etc for ##### going back before they shut down. The more info the better where there are some voids would be good.

Yep if things were done right you should be able to track the money down.

well this is fun love history so much to learn


here is one for you guys in Western Australia the first High Power Rocketry launch was at Dowerin in early 2001 on the same property as we fly at now same owner  

it was a minni magg will need to look up what motor it was also under CASA 295 regs  

so maybe Doomsday@Dowerin should also be know as the home of High Power Rocketry what do guys think