Rocket Men Upstaged and Defused

The Federal Aviation Administration had given the hobbyists of the Bluegrass Rocketry Society a waiver permitting them to launch rockets from a public park, four miles northeast of the Bluegrass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky and in the route of departing planes. For a time, air traffic controllers rerouted planes around the launches, despite opposition from a local FAA official. However in spite of having the Agency's permission for lift-off, the group hadn't reckoned with the powerful local government body. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government's Parks and Recreation Division said the rocket club did not have permission to use the park.... and that was that. Despite the president of the society saying defensively: "At no time during BluesRock's Saturday launch at Masterson Station Park was there any danger to aircraft landing and departing. We never fly any of our sport or model rockets when aircraft are present." Future launches scheduled from the park have been canceled, and the group is looking for "a suitable public or private launch site."