Sport Rocketry

34 MAY/JUNE 2017 SPORT ROCKETRY ® N A R NatioNal associatioN of RocketRy Post Office Box 407, Marion, Iowa 52302-9998 Phone: (800) 262-4872 or (319) 373-8910 Fax: (319) 373-8913 Web Site: www.nar.org E-mail: nar-hq@nar.org Letter from the NAR President by John Hochheimer The NAR had a banner year in 2016. Our membership set a record with 6762 members. We had 173 sections, and almost 60% of our members associated with a section. High power flying continues to be a significant interest of our members; 3431 HPR certified members, including 208 Junior HPR certified fliers. Note, while your president was certified as a Level 1 HPR flier several years ago, 2016 also celebrated his L2 certification flight with little pressure from his certification committee of past NAR presidents. The NAR is strong financially, our annual receipts are over $400,000 and we are providing numerous benefits for members, sec- tions, and at our national events. The NAR insurance offers $5 million in individual, section, and landowner coverage. We offer nu- merous grants, scholarships, and support for activities that are important to our members. The NAR's commitment to education continues to be a major part of our mission. We have over 400 NAR Teacher Certifications and gave out $35,000 in scholarships and teacher grants. Team America Rocketry Challenge had near record numbers of schools ap- plying and was again successful with Odle Middle School winning at Great Meadow and Farnborough to be the 2014 TARC champi- ons and International Rocketry Competition champions. Speaking of champions, the U.S. team earned six individual event medals (three gold, two silver, and one bronze), five team event medals (one gold, two silver, and two bronze) and placed third as an entire team at the 2016 FAI World Championship for Space Models held in Lviv, Ukraine. Our members are getting younger. The median age of our members is 51 years. About 5-6 years ago, the trend in our median age was keeping pace with my age, so if that trend would have continued, the median age would be considerably greater than 51 years. Our collective efforts to recruit and retain new members is resulting in a much younger group of members, many of whom continue their memberships after their initial year. Now, as 2017 is passing its first quarter, the trends and accomplishments we realized in 2016 appear to be continuing. The NAR membership continues to maintain and grow. NARCON, held in Northern Virginia, was the most attended convention since the pio- neer days of the hobby. We have a National Sport Launch that is shaping up to be a must-attend event for flying and local attractions. NARAM will be the last of the old competition format and the organizers promise a fun event for all—sport, HPR, and competition fliers. NARAM will also host the team selection for the 2018 FAI World Championship. As I write this column, TARC qualification flights are being competed on this next to last day of qualification flights. This is TARC's 15th year and it will be the best. The partnership between NAR and AIA remains strong with both organizations continuing to be committed to a program that has proven to be the model for engaging our middle and high school students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The International Rocketry Competition, which is flown at the Paris Airshow this year, will provide our U.S. TARC winners the opportunity to fly against their peers from France, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Sport Rocketry remains the premier hobby rocketry magazine. The editor, Tom Beach, and publisher, Todd Schweim, have con- sistently put out an awesome magazine for our members. We can always use your help with content. We continue to offer authors up to $350 for high quality technical, building, and how-to articles. Contact Tom Beach if you would like to submit content for the magazine. As many of you know, the NAR and the Museum of Flight partnered several years ago to leverage our collective interest in preserv- ing the history and historical artifacts of model rocketry. We worked hard together to secure important and significant collections of G. Harry Stine, Vern and Gleda Estes, and Lee and Betty Piester as an example of the commitment the two organizations have made to preserve our history. Today, the Museum of Flight continues to work with the NAR to secure additional collections. We are exploring the idea of a traveling exhibit to provide the means to show off additional important historical artifacts and information to an audience much greater than those who visit the Museum of Flight. At the February Board of Trustees meeting, the NAR Board voted to continue to support the activities of the Museum of Flight, to strengthen the partnership by asking the NAR historian to join the Joint Special Committee to Support the Museum of Flight that provides the linkage between the organizations, and to start a fund for preserving and maintaining rocketry artifacts in the future. This fund will be the NAR's resource to enable additional rocketry materials and ar- tifacts to be obtained. We also see a fund like this to enable us to work with organizations, like the Museum of Flight, to create new and exciting ways to make these historical artifacts accessible. The joint committee has some great ideas that are being explored. In the next issue of Sport Rocketry we will provide information about the fund and the activities planned to kick it off. Over the course of this year, I will reach out to our members with more information about the NAR and our current activities. Until then, Fly Safely and Pay it Forward!

• Cover