[NRV Rocketry] So who are you.. and what do you know or want to know about Rocketry?

[Thomas Weeks]

Me:
----
I would love to hear from some people on here. So I'll start..

My name is Thomas Weeks (aka "Tweeks") and I work a Rackspace.. a local 
Internet "cloud application" developer shop here in town based out of San 
Antonio TX. I'm a bit of an electronics geek (an EE actually).. and a big time 
computer/Linux nut (have authored a couple of books on Linux).

I just moved here as my family and I have been trying to get back east for a 
while now..  

I've been launching rockets on and off since I was a kid.. but back in 2006 or 
so "Discovered" High Power Rocketry and caught the bug. I don't really have 
any giant rockets.. but have a couple of 29mm and one 38mm that I have not 
launched yet. (waiting for our local Tripoli Prefect Bob and the VAST guys to 
let us know when we have the green light for HP launches here in the NRV! :).

But enough about me!


More About High Power Rocketry:
---------------------------------
For those wanting to learn more about HP Rocketry.. this is a great book that 
has just about everything in it:
	"Modern High-Power Rocketry 2"
	http://www.amazon.com//dp/1412058104

But in a nut shell.. (from the basic questions we were getting at the Family 
Fun launch on Saturday).. You can think of Rocketry as /sort of/ breaking down 
along these lines:

Avg Motor Sizs__Motors__Rockets_______Classification 
1/4A-E Motors   <2oz    small->0.9lbs  Class 1/low power/"Model Rocketry"
F->G Motors     <2.2oz  ~1-3.2l       "Medium Power" (more of a gray area)      
H->O            >2.2oz  >3.3lbs       Class 2/HP Rocketry

But this is just a guide line.. Some HPRs are cardboard saucers that are less 
than 3.3lbs but which may have a H or I motor (for example).

To fly "High Power" and be able to buy the restricted access motors (H and 
above), you need to be certified. You do this by successfully launching, 
recovering, and fulfilling other certification requirements. The levels of 
HPRocketry certifications are:
	Cert Level 1: H, I
	Cert Level 2: J, K, L
	Cert Level 3: M, N, O and beyond

To get your first H motor to cert on level-1, you usually get a fellow 
certified rocketeer to vouch for you, and then launch under a qualified 
TRA/NAR official to both get access to the HP class motor as well as record 
and report your "cert-launch" to either the Triopli or NAR rocketry 
association that you typically join and receive your certification from.  
Certification from the TRA or NAR are basically equivalent. In it recommended 
that you join at least one of these groups to help support the hobby:
	TRA:	http://www.tripoli.org/LinkClick.aspx?link=77&tabid=38
	NAR:	http://www.nar.org/NARjoin.html

and optionally join VAST (the Valley Aerospace Team), who works with us to 
help bring launches to the NRV area!
	VAST:	http://www.valleyaerospace.com/about.html


Bob.. Did I miss anything?

Tweeks
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