RAMAPO, New York USA — Austin Hervias was excited when his model rocket successfully shot into the sky yesterday.

The best part of this hobby, however, appeared to be the launching. Every time a model lifted off, cheers filled the air.

When rockets' parachutes opened in the air and rockets started coming down, children rushed to recover rockets, competing with each other.

SLIDESHOW: From left, Noah Goldberg, 9; Evan Michales, 10; and, in front, Matthew Ryan, 7; all of Montvale, N.J., retrieve a launched rocket as they participate in the Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center Rocket Club's launch at Rockland Community College in Ramapo. Photos: Angela Gaul.

But among those children, Joe Montuoro, 11, of Airmont was more focused on launching his own rocket.

He carefully prepared his 6.5-foot-long rocket, getting help from Brown, and placed it onto one of the launch stations.

After the countdown, Montuoro's rocket, named Krylon, ascended to about 1,200 feet, according to club members.

"I've always been interested in rockets," he said, noting that Krylon was one of four rockets he brought yesterday.

Fascination with model rocketry is beyond generations.

Jonathan Leslie, 44, of Airmont said he has been flying rockets since he was a child. He started making model rockets from scratch - without using kits - about 10 years ago.

One of his custom-made rockets he brought yesterday was made of paper.

After a couple of tries, the paper rocket was successfully launched, but because the rocket's parachute did not open, it ended up coming straight down to the ground.

"I didn't know if it would fly straight or not, but it was straight. It was very good," Leslie said. But he noted that the fact that parachute didn't open was "less than successful."

Hervias got to fly his rocket, Astron Outlaw, one more time.

It was another successful launch, about 1,200 feet, and Hervias, along with his 7-year-old brother, Tyler, rushed to the place where his rocket was about to launch.

"He's always been interested in this kind of thing," Priscilla Hervias, the boys' mother, said of her older son, adding that she gave him the model rocket kit for Christmas last year. "He said he's going to work for NASA."

Copyright © 2008, The Journal News.