When you first meet our helpful staff at Parlour Pawn you’ll quickly come to realize their expertise and accommodating nature as they help you find the very best in store items or as they help you squeeze a little bit extra out of your pawn loan. What lies behind these friendly faces is often a fascinating hobby or story, and our store manager Bill Daigle certainly has one of his own.

Bill has been the store manager at Parlour Pawn for 18 of years. Although these days that makes Bill a very busy boy, he says he’s quite ok with that. Maybe that’s because in his spare time Bill is an active member with NB Rocketry – a group of about 20 other individuals whose hobby lets them blow off a little steam. Sure, lots of folks play with models or even model rockets, but when you get into the 8 foot tall variety you know these guys mean business!

Go Big or Go Home!

We Have Liftoff!

Involved with rocketry since he was a kid, some would say he’s still living his childhood. Bill doesn’t just shoot a couple bottle rockets in the air and hope for the best; he and his group have been a part of launching over 17,000 foot flights over the years. The group holds regular launch days in Glenvale, NB as well as annual major events at CFB Gagetown. Some of the rockets that the team builds and launches can be as tall as 8’ and weigh upwards of 20+ lbs. These rockets are far more sophisticated than those little tube rockets with the corked end and garbage bag parachute that you remember from shop class.

Hail to the Chief!

Bill holds the position of Atlantic Director of the Canadian Association of Rocketry, and is also on the board of executives. The Canadian Association of Rocketry is a large promoter of safety, and has a 30 year accident free record to back it up!

Final Launch of the Season

On October 12, Bill and the team ended their season with a bang by successfully launching a scratch built 8.5’ tall, 23 lb LaserX on a Cesaroni K1440 White Thunder motor.

[nggallery id=1]

Step on Board and Take a Ride!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crlmPzgwi30

Altimeter Flight Data:

• Upwards of 452 Miles per hour
• Reached an altitude of 3,365 ft.
• Pulled 17.5 g’s off the launch pad
• Successful parachute deployment and recovery

This is just one of the many fascinating stories behind our staff at Parlour Pawn. So next time you see Bill in your travels, even if you think it’s gonna be a long, long, time ‘til touchdown brings you ’round again to find. Remember, he’s a rocket man… Rocket Man… burnin’ out his fuse, right here at Parlour Pawn.

For those that were at the big launch with Bill and are reading this today Bill would like to extend his thanks and hopes you enjoyed the video and photos above.

For more information on rocketry check out the Canadian Association of Rocketry website at http://www.canadianrocketry.org/