SISTERS, Oregon USA — "Five! Four! Three! Two! One! — Blast off!"

A snap and a whoosh and a long white contrail marked the path of rockets that blasted into overcast skies above the athletic field at Sisters Middle School on Monday, June 9.

Dozens of fifth graders — and no small number of moms and dads - roared with awe and pleasure as the student-made rockets sizzled into the sky, peaked out and plunged back to the grass, leaving the sulfurous whiff of blackpowder smoke in the air.

Students ignited their homemade rockets at Sisters Middle School. Photo by Gary Miller.

This was Rocket Day at Sisters Middle School.

Fifth grade science students made their own rockets under the instruction of "Rocket Rod" Moorehead, a local rocket enthusiast who volunteers his time to the project.

"I've been playing with rockets since I was just a little older than these guys," Moorehead said. "It's a hobby. I belong to the Oregon Rocketry Club and we go out to Brothers and fly rockets out there."

The group has a Federal Aviation Administration waiver that allows them to shoot rockets as high as 23,000 feet.

The middle school rockets didn't go quite as high as that, but the couple hundred feet they did climb was impressive enough. The rockets are made from a cardboard tube about 18 inches long, with fins and nose cones made of balsa wood. The rocket engine runs off blackpowder, fired electronically.

The students carved and painted their rockets in whatever configuration their hearts desired.

Dalton Early made his rocket in the style of the Imperial Shadow from Star Wars.

Molly Boyle said that her rocket "didn't turn out like I wanted it to. I named it 'The Flame' — even though it's horrible."

The rocket may not have met the designer's specifications, but it looked pretty stylish to this correspondent — and Molly and her friends were all excited to see their creations go off.

Copyright © 2008, Nugget Newspaper.