International Rocket Week 2019
REGULAR
nternational Rocket Week (IRW) is a
fantastic annual event that has just held
its 34th year. It’s a week where the amateur
rocketry community from the UK and beyond
come together to build and fly an eclectic
mixture of model, high-power, experimental,
and research rockets. It’s split between two sites.
‘Base Camp’ at Lapwing Lodge provides the
accommodation and workshop areas which are a
hive of activity from 9am until the wee hours of the
morning, as people continue to tweak and build their
projects. Fairlie Moor is the launch site, which is
around 30 minutes drive away from Base Camp, and
on decent weather days, this is the sanctioned flying
site. With all launch equipment set up and a NOTAM
(notice to airmen) submitted to air traffic control, this
flying site can be busy! In one day alone, 55 rockets
were launched, ranging from small model rockets to
a huge M-class rocket that flew to 18,000 feet.DUE NORTH
The IRW is run by the brilliant Scottish Aeronautics
and Rocketry Association (SARA), and is affiliated
to the UK Rocketry Association (UKRA) who
maintain the safety codes, the certification schemefor high-power rocketry, and train range safety
officers (RSOs). All flyers are also members of the
British Model Flying Association, who provide the
insurance (provided people are adhering to the UKRA
safety code).
There are all kinds of competitions at IRW
including landing a rocket, duration flights for boost
gliders (a glider released from a rocket), helicopter
recovery duration contests where they release
rotating blades on the way back down, and a really
interesting ‘confectionery’ competition where aI
International Rocket
Week 2019
The sky’s the limit
Above
A small scratch-built
rocket called VR2
launching off the pad
Right
A young rocketeer
retrieves the Estes
‘Baby Bertha’ rocket
he had built and flown
Below
Peter Waddington’s
scratch-built,
upscaled version
of a smaller ‘Estes
Quinstar’ spotted in
the workshop with a
HackSpace magazine
sticker on it