I do wonder how relevant it is today in February 2026 - Please share your opinion.

Written in March 2008

Incredible – You know, as a club in Queensland, QRS have NOT even been going for 12 months as yet.

Now, I’m not naive enough to believe that spectators will automatically become members. However, with a growing number of launches consistently averaging more than 100 spectators, at the very least, the overall positive awareness of rocketry as a recreational activity has surely been increased. The message that the QRS is now trying to communicate to these recurring spectators is one of  ”Let us show you how to fly your first rocket”

Upon reflection, I have just considered how, as a club, we have gone from Start-up to 300 spectators in less than 12 months. Yes, there has be a lot of hard work put in by a lot of dedicated people. I also suppose that much of the same hard work goes on in most other rocketry clubs, but from what I have read in the past, the results can vary somewhat.

Over the years, I have heard of both great and numerous difficulties experienced by some in gaining even general awareness of rocketry in their own regions. While it is NOT my intention to demean the efforts of others, I believe many of these perceived problems may be rooted in the mindset of their possessor.

I am ALSO definitely NOT setting out to tell anyone, "how to" or "not to" run their rocketry clubs. Instead, I'd simply like to share with your some of our methods, so that you also to can have over 300 spectators or more at your future rocket launches, should you choose.

In fact, in my opinion, gaining positive exposure and building a successful club is simply a formulaic process. In keeping with being a "Good Formula", there are usually some very simple and easily obtainable ingredients. I’d now like to share with you my observations as to what makes our recipe successful.

AS SIMPLE AS BAKING A CAKE

So if "growing your club" is as simple as baking a cake, let’s now have a look at both the recipe and vital ingredients.

I'd say you need at least the three main ingredients listed below. If you have got these, then everything else is pretty much a bonus, and unless these additional ingredients distract from the overall flavour, they can only serve to add interest.

Ingredients to grow your own Rocketry Club

INGREDIENT NUMBER ONE

First, get yourself a great group of people who are each "willing to do a little". In Qld, we truly have a diverse group of rocketeers, who range from IT Consultants, Small Business operators, Boiler Makers. Dentists, Factory Workers, Graphic Artists, Concreter, Pyrotechnical Officers, Future Helicopter Pilots, Teachers and numerous Engineers.

So I suppose you'd have to admit this is a fairly diverse group.

It is through the collective efforts of this group of people that days like today are possible. It is a great privilege to work with such a group as truly "making it happen" and just not "talking about making it happen". 

However, what they all have in common is their willingness to contribute and bring to bear a lifetime of experience on a specific problem without having to be seen as being some form of "Rocket God" and having to let an ego "greater than their ability" get in the way.

Now I will agree that this is perhaps the hardest ingredient for many clubs to obtain. However, I don't think it's just been all luck either, and why has it happened so easily in Qld?

The main reason for this has been that from Day 1 of the new club, we have gone out of our way to find opportunities to allow individuals, regardless of how new they were, to contribute and run their own activity in a range of spheres.

So if you are reading this and you are a new member, then the Qld Rocketry Society is ready and willing to allow you to contribute to the running of either an event in the program or play a part in the administration of the club, if this is where you feel your skills lie.

I believe that it is this attitude that makes our club fresh and innovative and gets 300 people to a launch.

If you are reading this and you are not already a member of QRS, we invite you to join us so that you can discover two things.

• Firstly we'd like you to discover what we can teach you about the joy of safe rocketry.
• Secondly and perhaps more importantly, we'd like you to discover the joy of learning just how far you can extend the boundaries of your own intellect, manual skills and administrative abilities.

If you are a member of any other club, regardless of whether it is rocketry or a stamp collecting club, who have not engaged you totally or extended this opportunity to you, then perhaps you have some more pressing questions to be ask of the clubs’ executive and perhaps even yourself?

INGREDIENT NUMBER TWO

Once you've got the first ingredient "squared away" you can now concentrate on the second. 

(Your going to love this)

It's so simple - FLY ROCKETS at every opportunity you can.

If you can fly them regularly all the better.

Are there opportunities in your schedule to fly more rockets?

Push the limits of the rockets you can fly and still keep on the right side of legal. Be adventurously with the type of rockets that you fly not only how far and how fast but also what type of motors and how they deploy and recover.

Never let anyone tell you "We' don't fly that type of rocket, Big Fred doesn't like them". While I'm not suggesting that you fly an unsafe rocket or engage in illegal practice I am say that you may need to be prepared to prove or demonstrate you ability and the soundness of the prediction of the performance of the craft you intend to fly. But then again this is all just part of extension process of both intellect and skill that we spoke about earlier.

If after all this you are still being told that you can't do this, then perhaps you should also be investigating an alternative flying group. Perhaps one more engaged with "Rocket Science" than "Rocket Opinion".

INGREDIENT NUMBER THREE

If you found the second ingredient simple then I think you are going to find the third even simpler. The third ingredient required to grow a rocketry club is quite simply - TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT.  Do this at every opportunity.

Most people love to hear about rockets (Wives being the exception - for some reason many are completely immune - personal experience). Beyond this group, though, most people love to hear about rockets if you are prepared to talk about them.  Tell your friends, tell your acquaintances, and tell your work colleagues - even take the bold step of inviting them to a launch. You never know where your clubs next contributing member is going to come from.

I have even taken to telling my children's teachers about them. You know I have never met a teacher who is not interested or who has not contemplated how they or their classes may become involved. Once you've got their interest, you can then look for the opportunity to get them involved.

How many people are you telling about rocketry?

How many local papers did you invite or know about to your last or next launch?

Did you invite your local councillor or MP?

Every MP I know cares about any group of 300 people wherever they are assembled. Even if it's just to watch grass grow. This is what politicians do.

When was the last time you got a spot on either a community billboard on the radio or a spot on breakfast radio?

TOO HARD?

Without news, News organisations wither.

Give them some news - after all, we live in a Western culture that has collectively grown up, hearing news about rockets. So, regardless of whether it was Sputnik, Mercury, Apollo, Space Shuttle, Korean Missiles or even High Shot, we all just seem to love hearing about them.

Why not try to tell the local people what your rockets are doing locally?

Why don't you take my challenge and find out for yourself just how hard it is or is not to get a pre-launch spot on breakfast radio?

SUMMARY

So in summary, if you wish to grow your rocketry club, then in my opinion, it's really quite simple.

• Find "Good People" and let them do what "Good People" do.
• Fly Rockets at every opportunity you can.
• Tell as many people about your rockets as often as you can.

Best of luck…….

Len Forsyth

P.S.

Like all good cakes, we just need to make sure we don’t BURN it.

Was the oven too hot? 😀