PORTLAND, Oregon USA — In a shocking reminder of just how fragile life really is, word has reached Rocketry Planet today that Alex McLaughlin of TeamNUMB has passed away.  Alex was found dead at his home yesterday afteroon.

Alex McLaughlin shown here with TeamNUMB and the Q18800 at BALLS15 at the Black Rock Desert.

The news circulated around the Oregon Rocketry email distribution list today, with a message from Alex's mother being passed on to the readers of the list:

"I wanted to let you know personally that my son, Alex McLaughlin, was found dead at his home this afternoon. Alex so loved rocketry and all of his friends in rocketry that I feel certain he would want me to let you know of his passing. I thank you both for being his friend.  I don't know yet  what kinds of arrangements will be made - but I do not think that a formal funeral will be forth coming.  I suspect he would rather have a grand party ... and if it were legal to do so he'd probably like his ashes launched in the nose cone of one of his favorite rockets with deployment at apogee (did I get that right?)  I never quite got all the lingo .. but I did love his enthusiasm for rocketry."

Alex was a friend and rocketeer first to all of the people who knew him in the northwestern United States, and one who embodied the essence of what the rocketry hobby really is.  He was captured in his moment on the BALLS15 DVD by Rockets Magazine preparing to launch a rocket with an Q18800 motor of Alex's design.  Like everything Alex did, the defining moment of placing a doughnut on the nosecone captured his boy-like enthusiasm for the sport, a breath of fresh air in a world full of reality.

Alex McLaughlin will be missed.

03-21-2007 06:04 PM  #1
GHuber Certified Level One   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 11	FYI, Alex was launching a Q motor at Balls, not an O motor. He will be missed. Alex was always the first person I looked for to talk to at Balls.

03-22-2007 07:55 AM  #2
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 2585	A group of Northwestern rocketeers have put up a guestbook memorial for Alex where everyone can leave a tribute to him. The URL is: http://www.washingtonaerospace.org/alex/