Rocketry Planet

In memoriam of NERRF co-founder Thomas Frederick Rau.

Dr. Thomas Fredrick Rau D.D., or Rev. Rau, as some had known him, passed away on December 22nd, 2008, due to believed heart failure.

The discovery was made by one of his neighbor who noticed he did not leave for work on Monday at his normal time. The exact details of his passing are unknown but with all the kindness he has shared with everyone, it is a sure bet that angels lifted him softly into heaven where he is drinking the finest of beers.

A network engineer by day and night, on weather-friendly weekends he was RSO and LCO at many CT Tripoli launches. He was the go-to guy for so many people being that he was always so easy to approach and strike up a conversation with. He never talked down to anyone and was always thinking of others before himself.

Tom will always be remembered as one of the original founders of the NERRF, the NorthEast Regional Rocketry Festival, concept — the idea was why wait for LDRS to come to the East Coast. He was only able to be at the initial NERRF 1 and now this year is number five with each year bigger and better.

Tom had always liked to make others laugh and would tell stories of his younger days of a terrible snow storm that hit the East coast and all of Long Island being closed. Tom's father had his mind set that he was going to take the Caddy to work. Tom said, "Dad, your nuts. The snow is up to the second floor window."

That said, dad had him jump out the window into the garden below for a soft recovery and shovel out the doorways. Once he was done, his dad then tried to drive to work and got about 3/4 of the way down the street before getting stuck on the ice. He ended up getting towed back to his house by a good neighbor who then asked, "Didn't you know the roads are closed today?" 
 
Age 16 came and the Caddy was now Tom's — what's a teen to do with a huge car? He soon discovered that if you hit the gas a certain way you could cause the exhaust to back fire something horrible. As with all things, you can take things a little too far. One day driving past a burger stand, he ended up blowing the exhaust system completely off the car and trying to explain what happened.

During the college days at Embry-Riddle, a new level of torment for frat pledges was devised, for they came up with the idea to play SPACE INVADERS with water balloons and had pledges act as alien ships just as in the arcade. They even went as far to have one pledge to make funny noises as the bonus round mother ship.

Tom moved back to Long Island and later worked at COMPUSA, and there are tons of stories that require a lot more time to explain.  Tom then found himself in Connecticut, working for AMSYS Computers, where we met and he got me hooked into rocketry myself.

Self-labeled as a BAR, a "Born Again Rocketeer," he jumped back into the hobby in 2002. He really had a passion for the sport, partly due to his time spent at Embry-Riddle outside Daytona, Florida, and most importantly, he really loved the noise, fire and smoke.

This was a passion of his, or an addiction depending on who you asked. Due to the coincidence of living so close to Countdown Hobbies in Bethel, Connecticut, it was not long until he was branded as the motor horder. He had an unfair advantage on the other CTRA members since he would go home for lunch and swing in on shipment day. This is why most vendors had such slim pickings for the rest of us.

It was about then NAR announced it would start the TARC program, and next we knew, we were mentors for the program, which was a big achievement. From TARC, Tom and I met people such as Vern Estes and Jay Apt, a shuttle astronaut.

As time progressed, Tom had obtained a Mission Impossible rocket from an ex-LIARS member who used to fly in Maryland. About a year later, he started his Level 3 project, which by a fluke was obtained for a song from Bill Rossi of Smokin' Rockets, due to a customer stiffing him on a custom order. Bill Rossi was another great person to meet and really a down-to-earth nice guy.

The L3 project was to be a Smokin' Rockets 7.5" AMRAAM, which he hoped to have finished to fly at LDRS 23, but due to his mother's passing he had to put it on hold. In 2006, he began again to try and finish the AMRAAM, and was almost ready to fly when his father became ill due to a stroke. He was forced to uproot after a year and move to South Daytona, Florida, were he could better care for his father. During this time, Tom then transformed into a brewmaster, since he was German and of noble roots he took to making his own beer very easily.

Tom never really put much effort into a paint job — if it looks good from 10 feet, it will look gorgeous at 100' and 4,000 feet up in the air.

One of his good friends, Al, wrote: "I always remember Tom when I look at a rocket with a phenomenally ugly finish. Tom, with a roll electrical tape for stripes, was happier than any guy with the most exquisite paint job. I also fondly remember when he launched his own version of the rocket site rating system that replaced the original (can't remember the name of either) when it folded up. And best of all, I remember having an email address, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , a mail service only someone with Tom's twisted sense of joy could come up with."

His recovery motto was "it would either blow up or out!"

Tom will be missed very much. The most important things I have learned from knowing him are: don't sweat the small stuff, let it roll off your back like water to a duck and to always do your best to be open minded and give things a shot. Tom had many accomplishments in his life, too many to list, such as mentioned, helping to kick start the NERRF concept.  We are remembering his life and those he touched by his kindness and friendship.

With that, this year's NERRF 5, held on August 14-16, 2009, in Pine Island, New York, will be dedicated to his honor. All that remember him, please join us to rejoice the memory of Thomas F. Rau. In his memory, we will be dedicating flights in his honor.

Tom Rau was 46 years old.