The North County Times recently published an article describing how the efforts of alumni Rick Crockett (’72) and Jeff Bytof (’72) led to the legalization of model rockets in California. The article also mentions former San Dieguito Rocket Club Advisor Orville Karge.
It wasn’t exactly the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk or the moon landing, but a handful of San Dieguito High school students made their mark in aviation history 40 years ago when they launched the first legal model rocket in California.
“I had to have not only the state fire marshal’s permission, but the fire chief’s,” Rick Crockett, 55, said about the Nov. 28, 1970, launch in San Marcos.
The launch by Crockett and other San Dieguito High students was the first of a two-year series of launches used to prove the rocket engines were safe, leading eventually to their legalization in California.
San Dieguito students helped legalize hobby with launch 40 years ago: Model rocket tests in San Marcos led to law change, safer conditions, North County Times, December 3, 2010