G. Harry Stine Memorial Launch

It's become an RTV tradition to have all the Vatsaas brothers assemble in Arizona every October for the G. Harry Stine Memorial Launch hosted annually by the Superstition Spacemodeling Society. G. Harry Stine was not only a pioneer in the field of rocketry, he was also a founding member of SSS.

It should be noted that Harry would probably disapprove of much of what goes on each year at the annual G. Harry Stine Memorial Launch. Strongly.

These pages don't document the GHS Launch as much as they document RTV participation at the GHS launch. But that's OK. This is all about us, after all.

GHS 2000 Our first GHS launch. This was within a few months of our re-entry into rocketry, and a year before we decided to take on a large team project. But we had t-shirts! This was the year of the 20% scale 2-stage Standard Missiles, the RAF Basset, and the G55 powered Fat Boy!
GHS 2001 The debut of our first team project -- the 42% scale Standard Missile! This was also the first year of our annual Drag Race Challenge -- and along the way we picked up our first RTV groupie, Cory McRocket!
GHS 2002 This weekend will always be remembered by GHS-goers as the year we held the Evil Bert Drag Race. We brothers will remember it as the year our dad, Christian, made the trek from the northern tundra to spend the weekend with us. He had a blast, and so did we. Chris Neal joined the team for just one weekend in order to participate in the Evil Bert Drag Race. This is also the year Billy Dahlberg entered the RTV brotherhood.
GHS 2003 Where to start? We had a lot going on all weekend -- the largest rocket at the launch, and also the smallest. We had the Teenie Halloweenie Drag Race -- our biggest ever -- and continued the October theme with the flight of the Halloweenier. And we picked up one more stray to add to the RTV family -- Loren Kjersten came from Minnesota to join the party. It's like Mardi Gras, but with more smoke and flame.
GHS 2004 Like all the launches that came before it, there are too many bizarre moments to list here. More honorary members from remote sections of the globe; this year we added Todd Haring from South Carolina. We repeated the Bert Race, this time with eight muppet rockets. We launched one of our favorites, the two-stage 42% scale Standard Missile on an M1400 staging to a K445. And we proved the axiom, "When it works, it's cool. When it doesn't work it's even cooler."
GHS 2005 I say it's all Just wind in sails Are we not men? We're pinheads now We are not whole We're pinheads all Jocko homo Are we not men? Monkey men all In business suits Teachers and critics All dance the poot Are we not men?
GHS 2006 We Came. We Ate. We Launched! Dave earned his Level 2 Certification, and Evil Bert's Reign of Terror continued unabated.
GHS 2007 Most Relaxed GHS Ever! Our rockets we so conventional, no one ever recognized us.
GHS 2008 Rocket Team Vatsaas The Next Generation!