2021 General Schedule of Operations

This calendar may be subject to change. Events may be added, deleted or changed as the year progresses. Before attending any event listed here, contact Greg Smith, Director of Operations, at 217-840-1678, or through email to operations@ciarocketry.org

General Schedule Meeting Topics Special Events Contests Complete Schedule

January February March April May June July August September October November December

General Schedule

Regularly scheduled events will be held each month as follows:

First Tuesday

Membership meeting at the Springer Cultural Center, 301 N. Randolph St. in downtown Champaign or occasional special events elsewhere.
We generally have a presentation or particular topic planned for these meetings. However, there is always plenty of time for discussion of any and all rocketry topics.

Third Tuesday

CIA business meeting will be held at Papa Del's Pizza, 1201 S. Neil St., Champaign and Hickory River Smokehouse, 1706 N. Cunningham Ave, Urbana on alternating months.
Occasionally we will meet at various other restaurants around C-U. Locations will be announced on the email list.

Second & Fourth Saturdays

Rocket launch at Dodds Park. Rockets are limited to 4000' MSL (~3250' AGL) altitude and "H" motor impulse by FAA waiver and site dimension restrictions. In late fall and early spring we will hold some of our launches at our alternate high-power sites at the Rantoul Aviation Center and near Forsyth, Illinois. At these sites we have a waiver to 10,000 feet. Contact our Director of Operations, Greg Smith, at operations@ciarocketry.org if you plan to fly motors of "L" impulse or greater.
Until the COVID pandemic has cleared we will be following Special Rules to allow us to fly and still keep everyone safe.

Launch Times
The times listed for most of our launches are "Noon - 6 p.m." This generally means we will meet around noon to set up and flying will commence around 1. However, when there is soccer in the park in the morning we may have to wait until they have finished before setting up.
The ending time will depend on a number of factors. We can often fly until dark, so we sometimes stay later than 6, and sometimes we have to end earlier than that, depending on the time of the year. We also have to end early occasionally due to changes in the weather conditions.

These dates may vary depending on holidays and various other schedule conflicts.

There are often other events added, such as a "bad movie night" at a member's home, or a rocket build-and-fly workshop. To receive announcements of launches, meetings and other CIA activities subscribe to the CIA email list. Find out about the list and subscribe here. Contact cia-list-owner@ciarocketry.org if you have any trouble with the list.

2023 Meeting Topics

We have scheduled topics for the monthly meetings this year. However we are always looking for ideas as topics of future meetings.

January Tuesday 10 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Rocket Media
Bring book, videos, etc. to share.
We will also be doing our Annual Wrapup of 2022
Note: This meeting has been postponed from January 3 due to the holidays.
7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

February Tuesday 7 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Forum on rocket design and construction methods. 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

March Tuesday 7 Membership Meeting
Annual membership meeting and election of club officers.
Meeting Topic: Show and Tell - bring projects you are working on. 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

April Tuesday 4 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Rocket Photography 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

May Tuesday 2 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Introduction to model rocketry for new members and anyone who is interested.
New board members take office. 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

June Tuesday 6 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: GARLO Prep 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

July Tuesday 11 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: GARLO Wrapup 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

August Tuesday 1 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Introduction to Medium and High Power Rocketry 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

September Tuesday 5 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Rocketry Electronics 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

October Tuesday 3 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Our annual swap meet. Bring your surplus rocket related equipment and supplies to buy, sell and trade with other members. 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

November Tuesday 7 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: High power rocketry beyond Level I 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

December Tuesday 5 Membership Meeting
Meeting Topic: Annual Wrapup, Rocket nostalgia and "Tall Tales". Bring stories and artifacts to share. 7 - 9 p.m. Springer Center

2023 Special Events

January	Saturday 1	New Year Rocket Launch	Noon - 6 p.m.	Dodds Park
March	Saturday 4	Insect Fear Film Festival Theme: Living Fossils Films: The Monster that Challenged the World (1957) Joe's Apartment (1996) and assorted short subjects	6 p.m.	Foellinger Auditorium
May	Tuesday 2	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Introduction to model rocketry for new members and anyone who is interested.	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
May	Tuesday 9	Cub Scout Rocket Building Session We will be helping a group of cub scouts build their rockets. They will be flying them at our next launch. Bring rockets to show and tell about.	6:30 p.m.	Carrie Busey Elementary School in Savoy
May	Saturday 13	Build & Fly Workshop Fee $24, call 398-2550 to register.	9 - 11 a.m.	Leonhard Center
June	Monday 19	The CIA will assist the students of the Illinois Aerospace Institute (Session 1) at the University of Illinois in building rockets	7 - 9 p.m.	Talbot Hall, Room 103
June	Friday 23	The CIA will assist the students of the Illinois Aerospace Institute (Session 1) at the University of Illinois in flying their rockets (set up starting at noon)	1 - 4 p.m.	Colbert Park in Savoy
July	Saturday 1	GARLO 2023 Theme: Containers Due to the weather forecast for July 1 and 8 we are postponing GARLO to July 22. The times and location will remain the same.	10 a.m. - 4 p.m.	Dodds Park
July	Friday 14	The CIA will assist the students of the Aerospace EAGER Camp at the University of Illinois in flying their rockets (set up starting at noon)	1 - 4 p.m.	Dodds Park
July	Monday 17	The CIA will assist the students of the Illinois Aerospace Institute (Session 2) at the University of Illinois in building rockets	7 - 9 p.m.	Talbot Hall, Room 103
July	Friday 21	The CIA will assist the students of the Illinois Aerospace Institute (Session 2) at the University of Illinois in flying their rockets (set up starting at noon)	1 - 4 p.m.	Colbert Park in Savoy
August	Tuesday 1	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Introduction to Medium and High Power Rocketry	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
August	Saturday 26	Rocket Launch Annual Nostalgia Launch featuring rockets and launch equipment more than 30 years old. Dig out those old rockets and get them flying again.	Noon - 6 p.m.	Dodds Park
September	Saturday 9	Rocket Launch Followed by night launching of rockets equipped with lights, beepers, etc.	Noon - 6 p.m.	Dodds Park

2023 Contests

The NAR has changed the way they organize and run contests. We had decided to give a try at holding a contest in 2020, but it ended up being cancelled. We will try again at some point in the future.

We hope to hold some NAR competitions each year. The dates listed are the first dates we will try to hold these events. If the launch is cancelled, due to bad weather for example, then we will attempt to hold the contest at the next scheduled launch. If a contest gets postponed too many times we may have to cancel it.

Basic information about competition can be found at NAR Rocketry Competition.

For a quick overview of the different events for beginners check out the document Competition for Casual Competitor (PDF - 155 KB)

Details of the contest events can be found in the NAR U.S. Model Rocket Sporting Code (AKA "Pink Book").

May Saturday 23 Rocket Launch
CIA Section Meet: Illinois Missile Crisis
In addition to the usual sport launches of the day there will be the following contest events.
1/2A Boost Glider Duration
1/2A Streamer Duration
1/2A Altitude (Altimeter)
B Payload Altitude (Altimeter)
This launch has been cancelled Noon - 6 p.m. Dodds Park

CIA web pages are maintained by webmaster@ciarocketry.org, last update July 19, 2023

January	Tuesday 10	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Rocket Media Bring book, videos, etc. to share. We will also be doing our Annual Wrapup of 2022 Note: This meeting has been postponed from January 3 due to the holidays.	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
February	Tuesday 7	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Forum on rocket design and construction methods.	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
March	Tuesday 7	Membership Meeting Annual membership meeting and election of club officers. Meeting Topic: Show and Tell - bring projects you are working on.	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
April	Tuesday 4	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Rocket Photography	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
May	Tuesday 2	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Introduction to model rocketry for new members and anyone who is interested. New board members take office.	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
June	Tuesday 6	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: GARLO Prep	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
July	Tuesday 11	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: GARLO Wrapup	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
August	Tuesday 1	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Introduction to Medium and High Power Rocketry	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
September	Tuesday 5	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Rocketry Electronics	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
October	Tuesday 3	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Our annual swap meet. Bring your surplus rocket related equipment and supplies to buy, sell and trade with other members.	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
November	Tuesday 7	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: High power rocketry beyond Level I	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center
December	Tuesday 5	Membership Meeting Meeting Topic: Annual Wrapup, Rocket nostalgia and "Tall Tales". Bring stories and artifacts to share.	7 - 9 p.m.	Springer Center