Sport Rocketry

SPORT ROCKETRY MAY/JUNE 2017 47 GREAT NATIONAL ROCKET LAUNCHES EVERY YEAR! 2 NARAM – NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ROCKETRY ANNUAL MEET ■ Competition/Sport Flying All Week. ■ Mind-Blowing Models and Flights. NSL – NATIONAL SPORT LAUCH ■ Rockets, Rockets, Rockets - From A to M Powered! ■ 100's of Flights Every Day With Fliers From Around the Country. VISIT WWW.NAR.ORG TO BECOME A MEMBER TODAY! Photos by Steve Jurvetson to work on my rocket. A few minutes later he came back and said a G class motor is the biggest motor we can fly without a cer- tification license. My question back was, "What does it take to get certified?" Now here I am looking at the same puzzled look on my dad's face, and off to the Internet he went. Moments later the answer, "You have to build a high power rocket and fly an H or I motor successfully." I looked at him: "Challenge accepted." The next day I was on the phone ordering a 4-inch card- board rocket kit with an H152 motor. I also found a 'local' NAR club in Muskegon, Michigan, which is a three hour drive one way to launch off our new found hobby. It only took a month to build the kit and after a successful launch, the competition had started. One of the problems I have found with High Power Rockets is when the model hits around 3,000 feet, I start losing sight of the rocket in the sky. After losing direct sight of the rocket, it makes the recovery very difficult. My dad had a great idea to use radio transmitters in our model rock- ets for better recovery success rate. In the fall of 2012 my dad studied for months and passed his Amateur Radio Techni- cian license. Not to be beaten and to prove my worth in my father's eyes, I passed my Technician license in the winter of 2012. Big Sammie. Am I allowed to build and fly something this big? Yes!

• Cover