After speaking with the Alaska Northstars... seems there will be a launch early in the winter (December?) and another later in the season.

I'll keep you posted, if I hear anything more.

What is motor availability like in the 49th state? The vendors that I have looked at all say the same thing, that are only able to ship within the continental United States (lower 48). So how do rocket fliers in Alaska and Hawaii obtain motors? And in Puerto Rico, assuming that there are rocketeers there too?

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SAM # 0011

They come to me here in Fairbanks by mail (Parcel Post) just as easily as they did when I lived in Miami. Neither has Edith Desmond, the owner of "The Red Couch" trading post next door to my apartment building, had any trouble ordering model rocket motors by mail. Also:

Even Medicare had to be educated to know that Alaska is part of the USA--several years ago, a retiree from the lower 48 was injured while vacationing in Alaska and was treated in a hospital here (in Anchorage, if memory serves). After he returned home, he received a letter from Medicare that said they would not pay for his medical treatment "because it was received outside the United States!"

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

The thing is, of course Alaska is part of the US, and of course ground transport-only packages can get there, but what about containers that must satisfy both of the following requirements?

1. Ground transport only
2. Transport only within US borders

You can drive a truck from Colorado to Alaska and thus transport a load of motors by ground transport for the entire trip, but how can you accomplish this while keeping the box from ever leaving US territory at any point during the trip?

Similarly, how do you drive a truck full of rocket motors from Penrose, CO to Honolulu, HI?

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SAM # 0011

How about the flight attendant who asked if anyone had any Alaskan money and everyone was confused?

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Bernard J. Herman Ohio RLS

Starport Sagitta Rockets
email bherman@sagittarockets.com

NAR # 97971 SR

What's your idea on the best way to change Washington D.C.?
Let us know at the Cantina
Sagitta Cantina

We're looking for a few good Catos, please tell us about any you may have had. Survey of Anecdotal Malfunctioning Engines or S.A.M.E.

I'd guess that by "ground transport," they also mean ships (some vendors use the term "surface transport" to avoid any ambiguity, as "surface" can mean a road, a railroad, a navigable river or canal, or a sea lane). Alaska gets a lot of supplies by ship, particularly from Long Beach and Seattle. Like the Alaska-bound airliners that fly out of Seattle/Tacoma International Airport and go northwest roughly parallel to the west coast of Canada (just offshore) to stay out of Canadian airspace, I imagine the cargo ships might stay just outside of Canadian territorial waters as they head toward Anchorage.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

"Our" currency can have either an eagle or a queen on it. :-) There is so much Canadian currency in circulation here that, except for their $1 and $2 coins (the "Loonies" and "Twonies"), most Alaskan businesses and banks accept and pay out mixed American and Canadian coins without even bothering to do currency exchanges between them to match the daily $CAN/$US exchange rates. About 20% of the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters that I get from my credit union in rolls (and that I received from my employer's bank in rolls to use as change in my cash register's till) is/was Canadian, and even many of our vending machines accept both countries' coins.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

That used to be common in states along the border here too until the exchange rate widened so much that people started to complain about it and would no longer accept the other country's currency in small everyday transactions. It cut both ways - when the Canadian money was more valuable, Canadians wouldn't accept US money, and when the values were reversed, US citizens would complain if they got any Canadian coin larger than a nickel in their change. I certainly did. Merchants would slip them into the change they gave you, and when you went back and tried to use the same coins in another purchase, the same merchants wouldn't accept them as payment. The one institution that will never accept mixtures of US and Canadian money at par is the bank. They will weigh coin rolls in order to detect the presence of Canadian coins, which have different compositions and different mass than similar-looking US coins. They will not accept coin rolls that aren't comprised of 100% US coins. They will exchange the two currencies at the current daily rate, but will neither accept nor distribute random mixtures of them.

Vending machines here in New York state only accept US coins and bills, and when I have visited Ontario and Quebec I have only encountered vending machines that would accept nothing but Canadian currency. The two currencies are kept pretty separate in everyday petty transactions here. Nevertheless, businesses here in the Adirondacks do very much welcome trade from Canadian visitors and many will work out ways to accept payment in Canadian currency for major transactions (ski tickets, hotel bills, etc.), sometimes even at par.

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SAM # 0011

It may be like that elsewhere in Alaska. Here we have an agreed-upon "equal trade zone" (that isn't its actual name--I forget what it's called) in which everyone within (if memory serves) 250 miles of each side of the Alaska/Yukon Territory border accepts both currencies interchangeably, because there is so much cross-border traffic for everything from tourism to locals shopping across the border.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Who: Anyone who wants to watch, fire, recover or laugh at rockets flying through the skies
When: August 11 at 11:00 – Rain Date Aug 18 at 11:00
Where: South Anchorage Sports Center (C Street and Klatt)
What: Bring your A, B, C, D, E, F, or G rockets; sun screen (note my optimism); camera, lawn chair, maybe some burgers or hotdogs and have a picnic
Why: Because turning money into smoke is just fun.