Blastoff! Hobby Groups Take Model Rocketry to New Heights

MARANA, Ariz.—The sky was a magnificent blue and spectator anticipation was high as Jeff Black prepared to launch his high-powered model rocket in the Arizona desert. Even from a safe distance, the rocket looked like a giant matchstick—a red nose cone with a white body tube and black stabilizer fins. Then, a split second after the final countdown—whoosh! There was lift-off. With a piercing hiss, the solid-fuel rocket vaulted higher and faster into the ether on a column of white smoke and exhaust. Spectators clapped their hands when the rocket’s parachute finally deployed, slowing the vehicle’s descent from over 1,200 feet until it softly kissed the ground....