About Us

Slovakian exchange student Marek Lukacin enjoying model rocketry with BMR.

BMR consistently ranked among the five best rocketry groups in the nation during the annual National Association of Rocketry's "NAR Section of the Year" selections.

Members of the National Association of Rocketry's Board of Trustees have referred to BMR as, “The premier youth model rocketry group in the nation.”

In its fourteen-year history, BMR have played host to 3,322 rocketry enthusiasts from as far way as the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Hawaii and Korea, logging 6,186 flights.

The Blue Mountain Rocketeers and its members have been the subject of feature articles in past issues of Extreme Rocketry Magazine, Sport Rocketry Magazine, and more recently, the Apogee Components newsletter, "Peak of Flight."

The group has also been the focus of human interest stories in local and regional newspapers, as well as on KVEW television in Kennewick, WA.

The club's Constitution and Bylaws, as well as its organizational structure and operating procedures have been used as the framework for the creation of many other rocketry clubs across the United States.

Rocketry enthusiasts from all over the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho attend our club's monthly model rocket launches. We even have a club member from Hawaii!

Members of BMR are a diverse group of individuals, including an aerospace machinist, an attorney, a hydro-electric dam operator, an E911 emergency services dispatcher, a registered nurse, a physical therapist, an emergency services director, farmers, college students, high school and grade school students to name a few....even an aerospace engineer who worked on the Space Shuttle!

BMR is one of only a handful of youth-oriented model rocketry clubs in the United States.

BMR is a rocketry club operated by youth. The Board of Directors of BMR (President, Vice-president, Secretary/Treasurer and Junior Member at Large) are all boys and girls under the age of 18.

Each year, members of BMR conduct model rocketry classes in area schools, teaching boys and girls the basic concepts of space-related sciences.

Volunteer members of BMR assist members of local scouting groups in earning their Aerospace Sciences merit badges.

BMR assists local and regional Junior ROTC and Civil Air Patrol cadets with model rocketry and aerodynamic studies.

Members of BMR conduct presentations and live launch demonstrations at schools each year in an effort to raise the public awareness of the safety and educational benefits of model rocketry.

Model rocketry has an astounding safety record. Since its inception in 1957, no one has been seriously injured flying model rockets. This is due in part to the adherence to the safety code of the National Association of Rocketry.

BMR's Section Advisor is the recipient of the 2001 National Association of Rocketry's President's Award, in recognition of his work with youth in model rocketry.

BMR developed the “Rockets on Campus” model rocketry program, the purpose of which is to introduce model rocketry into science programs in schools. It has been adopted by the National Association of Rocketry for use on a national level, and by the Canadian Association of Rocketry. More recently, it has been used by Colorado State University, being used to instruct school teachers during their continuing education. The program was copyrighted in May, 2004.

Youth members of BMR played a role in beta-testing and developing the National Association of Rocketry's Cadet NARTrek program.

The Section Advisor of BMR has 32 years of experience with model rocketry. He is the past Assistant Editor of Extreme Rocketry Magazine (200-2007). He is a contributing writer of past articles to NAR's Sport Rocketry Magazine. He is author of the high power rocketry book, "A Guide to Level One Certification" which is currently in its second edition, and sixth printing. He is the Head of Media Communications and Public Relations for the Glenda Project. This is an amatuer research project involving the deployment of scientific electronic early warning payloads within re-useable rockets into thunderstorms and tornados. The data collected is helping to develop a 3-D computer model that will help to identify tornadic precursors, creating a better early-warning system. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Glenda Project's parent company, Pullman Geosciences, Inc.

In its 14-year history, BMR has never charged membership dues or pad fees. The group is locally sponsored and funded through donations by local civic groups and foundations, with additional support provided by Broughton Land Company.