SCORE model rocket launch pad SCORE has a GREAT set up for launching model rockets. Estes Industries makes a line of model rocket kits to build and fly, and is the place where most budding rocketeers start. The kits are made with plastic nose cones, paper body tubes and balsa wood fins, and are easy to assemble. Model rockets, as defined by the National Association of Rocketry, are powered with motors made with black powder as the propellant and are available in “impulse ranges” from A to E. Children and adults, beginners and experts alike build and launch [...]

SCORE has a spectacularly beautiful place to launch rockets. The area surrounding the launch site is wide open and relatively flat with few trees. Everything east of the launch site, where most of the prevailing breezes drift your rocket, is a recovery dream. Having said this, there is an area northwest and west of the launch site that can be tricky for recovery. I call it, “the cedar maze.” On a September launch day, the wind directions were variable. My rockets ended up drifting in a west-northwesterly direction right into the maze. During this visit, several Level 1 attempts were [...]