Rocket City Rednecks

you can stop barking dan, I think you scared him off(nice going). point being is the producers of the show are the accident waiting to happen. producers like excitment (or what they
think is exciting). the usual launch wouldn't rate a 5sec sound bite in their book.
edit
to dan; plonk

Seems like a Forum version of "road rage".

well, I hope the gentleman isnt scared off, I still havent had a chance to actually watch the show yet myself, But I think in the first post I put in it seemed like soft science with a little bit of hold my beer and watch this thrown in.
from the clip I saw.. yeah.. not what I wouldve done.. if I was inclined to do such things.

but these are reality shows, and they usually turn thier cameras on folks, let it go, then edit them to what they think the show they are producing is supposed to be.

I for one would like to thank doc fir actually showing up and adressing our concerns. he didnt need to do that. and he certanly should not be held responcible for how the producers of the show choose to edit the program

I caught just the tail end of the spy satellite balloon last night. Looked like the show plays up the redneck and down the smarts.

As to whether it will inspire people to do dumb risky things, maybe, but then I never needed a tv show to sin spire me to try really dumb things. I have thought up and tried plenty of dumb things in my life. Some of them even seemed like a dumb idea at the time.

I din't see any serious safety violations and did see a disclaimer not to try this at home. Didn't look any worse than Junkyard Wars and such. Not really my cup of tv watching

well, I for one just got off my butt long enough to set the DVR to record the series. hopefully it'll knock some of that true blood crap that the wife records off the hard drive

RocketManDan said:

Don't tell me to chill out! I don't need to hear your C - - - either! This guy and his friends are an accident waiting to happen...you can't see that you're blind!

Click to expand...

I understand now what RocketManDan's problem is. He believes that we are representing a hobby. And I am in no way representing anybody but myself and my guys. And we are not amateur rocket builders. We are professional rocket builders. Sometimes the experiments have to be done on the "amateur/hobby" scale. Well, I certainly have no desire to represent RMD and the hobby of not wanting to KNOW anything about rockets and how they are made. It is this type of lack of American thinking that has led us to canceling the space program and basing our future on a Russian based engine powered rocket (Atlas V). We'll just buy a good motor that is safe rather than learn how to do it ourselves.

Well, I don't adhere to that philosophy at all and don't believe in it. It is cool to use them for learning tools for beginners and such and it is cool to do it as a hobby if that is what you want to do for a hobby. My dad fishes. No, we are building, designing, and testing rockets including (based on our future budgets) high altitudes and potentially orbital ones.

So, RocketManDan, I understand your concern. It is misplaced because I do not represent you at all. That still doesn't make it ok for the whacky name calling.

Doc,
You couldn't explain yourself better. A lot of the folks here like to follow the straight and narrow path. When, they think that a rocket activity of any type is portrayed in a bad light they get a little nuts. I have sure had my battles with them.

I like the safety third slogan. I am the safety manager for my company and anything that makes the guys think about safety is a good thin; and if it makes safety a bit more fun and not seem like osha is looming around the corner, all the better.

Thanks for the good programming.

Dan. Really? Are you seriously mad enough about a single 30 minute show to go on an all-caps rage rant? As DocTravis said above, they aren't representing our hobby. They had one episode about rockets. That's it. Really not that big a deal.

DocTravis, welcome to the forum. I've seen a few of the episodes, and while I did think they were a bit corny, I did enjoy them. Don't worry about what a few people on a forum say. Although, it looks like you aren't all that bothered.

But seriously, the song is pretty bad.

Rocketman248 said:

Dan. Really? Are you seriously mad enough about a single 30 minute show to go on an all-caps rage rant? As DocTravis said above, they aren't representing our hobby. They had one episode about rockets. That's it. Really not that big a deal.

DocTravis, welcome to the forum. I've seen a few of the episodes, and while I did think they were a bit corny, I did enjoy them. Don't worry about what a few people on a forum say. Although, it looks like you aren't all that bothered.

But seriously, the song is pretty bad.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the producers wrote that one and I had to fix it as best I could. My original one is now up on youtube and is called Drinkin' Beer. Check it out. It was way better in my opinion.

if anything, hopefully the show gets some kids that wouldnt normaly think about math and sciences to to start thinking about them. and what it could lead to.

lord knows as a kid I really didn't think about chemestry untill I found out there was a bunch of stuff under the kitchen sink that could be used to make stuff go kaboom.. and eventually all that chemistry, engineering and science led me to becoming a brewer..
and I didnt evem have the benifit of soft science based reality cable TV shows. well.. I did have a father who might have, or might not have said that it might or might not be a good idea to mix these two things together.

havent seen the moonshine rocket episode, just know the basic mechanics of the rocket engine in question..

so... what was the base of the distilate? good sour mash? or some rot gut cane sugar?

/may or may not have turned my flagship beer into whisky using a modified preasure cooker

And about these so-called "safe" hobby rockets. We had a couple N motors just flat out explode in the cases because the epoxy the manufacturer sent us never hardened. The bottom grain plugged up the nozzle creating an overpressure bomb. Then BOOM! a very nice fireball for t.v.

I was p.o.ed big time after I examined the wreckage and video and figured out what happened. Mad for 2 reasons. If I'd had time I'd have built the engine casing and grains myself and would've known exactly what I loaded into the rocket. Reason 2 was that I could kick myself for not reinspecting the rocket the next morning after. But we didn't and it went bang. In our defense we built a 22ft tall 800lb manned capable sized rocket with a Mercury size capsule on it...in one weekend. Oh yeah, and a portable transporter erector launcher for it.

Hopefully in Season 2 (and there will be one) we'll get more time and money and can spend a couple weeks on our big rocket episode. We'll have at least one huge rocket approaching some sort of purpose leading to manned capabilities or orbital in the future.

This season alone we built over 500 rockets ranging from As to Ns to homemade not sure what they were. We launched one from a balloon, 3 from the Sub that didn't make the editor's cuts, and even launched several at targets.

It is my goal to orbit a cell phone in the next few years.

Travis

After having read all the posts on this thread I think I understand both sides of the argument. While I don't think there was any malicious intent on the show's part to inflict damage on the hobby, to say it could not have some damaging affect is unrealistic. Since the show first aired we have had several of our personal friends call or send emails to us asking what we thought about the show. They were concerned about how the hobby might be impacted by it. These are professional people all over age 40 that do not fly but follow our website and know of the struggles of the last 10 years between the hobby and the alphabet agency's. They all took it as a possible problem for us working with local schools and for rocketry in general. I probably would have just counted the show as a waste of my time had it not been for people I know and respect taking it upon themselves to contact us about it. That does cause me concern as to how many others had the same reaction.

I'd compare the show to someone running over a man dressed in black on a dark night. It was not the driver's intent to kill the guy, he didn't see him, but he's dead just the same.

Hopefully there won't be much damage to the hobby and the show will be quickly forgotten. I did not find it amusing or entertaining.

Verna
www.vernarockets.com

Doc, thanks for hopping aboard and providing some insight into what's going on.

Something a lot of folks have a hard time grasping, I think, and which you allude to, but don't outright say, is that "reality TV" is not reality!

Instead, as you say, it's a lot of what the producers come up with, and you have to deal with it.

Regardless, you've provided some interesting insight into the show and what's going on. While I'll confess that the show doesn't appeal to me, I don't share the gloom and doom viewpoint that some have espoused.

Of course, I'm possibly low on their list, as well, having been involved in Rocket Challenge and this year's LDRS show....

I may have to watch an episode, just to see how you build quickly -- we do some rather...odd....construction techniques that allow us to build large rockets in very short periods of time.

-Kevin

Guys, a great many of the rocketeers in this forum are born again fliers. I am one twice fold. I'm sure many of us are from the Ozzy & Harriet or My 3 Sons days when building model rockets was in it's infancy. That being said, we came up in a time when flying rockets was a cool thing to do. We followed guide lines and proceeded with caution regarding this hobby. IT WAS INTRODUCED TO US AS A "SAFETY 1ST" hobby. Correct me if I'm wrong. I have no issues with promoting this hobby at all as I view it as a dying hobby anyway...sorry to say.

NOW! I did catch that "Moonshine" episode from RCR and will admit my 1st impressions were not good. I thought it was a really cheesy presentation regarding how most of us would view your angle on hobby in general. Sorry RCR, you might have the stuff it takes, but your producers, or whoever, bastardise it all to hell. You are riding on the coattail of impressing an audience rather than giving us a worthwhile viewing. Do you think so cheaply of us to do that? Your show is an insult to the hobbiest. Although it might very well appeal to the Cock Fighters in the mountains on any given night. Case and point: You're never going to get any respect from the model rocket community wholly, as long as you keep throwing cheap shots at it. I lost interest after the first viewing.

So the show is not doing so well among the hobbyists, Who cares? They are only a few thousand nut cases anyway. What I care about are the ratings - how is it doing with the target demographic, how are our cable customers and their advertisers reacting? Is it beatin' pumpkin chuckin' on Discovery and Big Bang on the networks? Does it have legs for syndication on CMT? Can we spin off a UK version using village idiots? SHOW ME THE MONEY!

What we need is a big fat hit, otherwise I am on the Red Eye to LA to hob nob and pow wow with the West Coast affiliates.

And you think I learned everything I know about television from the movies Network and Jerry Maguire.

sandman said:

Using moonshine in a hybrid seems kind dumb. There are a lot easier fuels to deal with for a hybrid.

All the talk about safety was just that, talk.

I sensed something was going to go bad when he was about to plug in the battery on his ejection charge.

BOOM!:y:

That's OK let's fly it anyway. :confused2: What a schmuck!

The submarine show was...well, not well thought out.

"Gee, it should be watertight...the paint doesn't dry in the can."

12' under water is what, about 5 or 6 psi? That's a lot more pressure than you would think.

Click to expand...

It's 0.4 psi per foot of head IIRC... 12 feet would be 4.8 psi...

later! OL JR

georgegassaway said:

You didn’t get the joke? “Safety THIRD”? One of them was even wearing a shirt that said “Safety Third”.

I am not even so sure these guys are into hobby rocketry. Well, maybe one, a bit. But he was totally clueless about how to wire up, *TEST*, and properly arm an altimeter. I’m surprised nobody in this thread has even mentioned that the rocket’s “second charge” never fired to pop the chute.

And I have a real nagging suspicion that the “accidental” ejection charge firing was done on purpose for the show.

Anyway, the other three episodes had nothing to do with rockets. And I won't be surprised if they don’t do other rockets much, or at all (I actually doubt this show is going to last anyway).

For those who take the show title too literally, please note that “Rocket City” is the nickname for Huntsville. I think a few who have commented here think the people on the show are a group of hobby rocketeers, who dabble in doing other stuff, but I think it’s the other way around (that they “dabble” in rocketry, with maybe one who almost knows what he is doing).

I am still wondering about how their “Hybrid” rocket worked with Alcohol and Nitrous. No, I do not question that it can be done, I question what THAT engine was really using when it ignited. But the show wasted so much time on the silly stuff about making the alcohol, and spent only a few seconds on the engine, showing pouring alcohol straight from a jar into the rocket.

No static test firing of the actual engine? So, just like I have suspiscions about the ejection “accident” , I also have doubts as to whether that was actually alcohol fueled.

I know the beginning of that whole episode was a grand half-truth or lie, depending on how you look at it. Gave the impression that NASA would be interested in alcohol as a fuel, when that is 70+ year old technology. And never mentioning at all that the German V-2 used Alcohol as its fuel (75% alcohol and 25% water), plus an oxidizer (Liquid Oxygen).

So if they were willing to base the whole episode on a half truth or lie about Alcohol (as though a “new idea”, or somehow a better fuel for NASA), then it’s not that far fetched to wonder what else was fudged, faked, or rigged.

And since nobody seemed to react that the chute never deployed, and the rocket actually crashed, it leads one to wonder if they knew it was going to crash without a chute.

The submarine episode showed just how stupid they are. They were lucky nobody died, even with the safety divers (if it had suddenly collapsed inwards, and been trapped inside that thing and been unconscious, the divers may not have gotten them out that thing open in time).

“Safety Third”.....

- George Gassaway

Click to expand...

Exactly...

The V-2's alcohol rocket fuel was actually brewed from POTATOES. Germany was so short of fuel near the end that alternative fuels were a big deal... (Japan had the same problem-- they sent schoolkids out into the woods to dig pine roots to distill "synthetic gasoline" from because they were SO strapped for fuel).

German rocket crews were getting blind stinking drunk dipping into the rocket fuel... so the SS brass added a barf agent to the rocket fuel before it left the distillery to stop the crews from getting smashed on the stuff...

Later! OL JR

I just watched episode 1 and 2 because of the postings here on the forum. I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about.

My impression from just those two shows, it's a bit like a low budget knock off of Myth Busters. I know that the folks on the show are real rocket scientists. Or at least one active and one retired rocket scientist.

I liked the show... I especially liked how the rednecks got all excited about the flight. It reminded me of how I felt when I launched my first rocket as a kid.

However - Here in TRF we are a community of experienced rocketeers with lots of practical field experience. We might not be the best TV show critics.

In the "Moonshine Rocket" episode, the rednecks build and fly a hybrid powered rocket. Something some of us TRFer's have experience in.

I've wired up my altimeter in my house... but never with live black power in the canisters, like they did on the show.

I've connected the battery while prepping my rocket. But only after I make sure the charges are safe or the switch is off.

Here's the part that really burned my beans.... :rant:

The drogue charge fires when he connects the battery.

"The main chute charge is still OK, so there's no way I'm going to abort this flight" Dr. Travis Taylor, rocket scientist in the space and defense industry, Huntsville, AL.

*** I had to count to 10, calm down, and remind myself, its only a TV show *** This can't be the same guy who let the shuttle fly with cracked O-rings. - Sorry, but that's the first thing that popped into my head when he said that.

I'm sure most of us TRFer's know that if the drogue charge fires before launch, it's time to find out why, then reset the charge.

After further review, I get the sneaking suspicion that the failure was staged for TV. Either that or they shot a B-roll close up making the battery connection.

In conclusion, I do like the show, and I've got a few more episodes to watch... but I can see why the "Moonshine" episode might turn a few folks off.

The fortune cookie I got after my lunch today is uniquely appropriate to this thread topic... "Education is not the same as intelligence".

I don't care how many letters somebody has after their name-- stupid is as stupid does...

The people involved in the show may not be "intending" to represent the hobby rocket crowd, but NOBODY is making that distinction... ESPECIALLY among the general "viewing public" and of course the vote-hungry politicians and the regulators they employ. This is trouble we don't need.

I don't want to face a crapload of new regulations and be dunned for years fighting a lawsuit in Federal court to retain our rights as responsible hobbiests because a group of "professional" redneck idiots and some hungry media types and producers want to do a bunch of stupid stuff for kicks, make a few bucks, and move on... Responsible hobby rocketeers need to uniformly condemn this kind of stuff that violates the safety codes and principles behind our hobby and make that condemnation as widely known and publicized as possible.

Later! OL JR

I kind of regret starting this thread.

luke strawwalker said:

The fortune cookie I got after my lunch today is uniquely appropriate to this thread topic... "Education is not the same as intelligence".

I don't care how many letters somebody has after their name-- stupid is as stupid does...

The people involved in the show may not be "intending" to represent the hobby rocket crowd, but NOBODY is making that distinction... ESPECIALLY among the general "viewing public" and of course the vote-hungry politicians and the regulators they employ. This is trouble we don't need.

I don't want to face a crapload of new regulations and be dunned for years fighting a lawsuit in Federal court to retain our rights as responsible hobbiests because a group of "professional" redneck idiots and some hungry media types and producers want to do a bunch of stupid stuff for kicks, make a few bucks, and move on... Responsible hobby rocketeers need to uniformly condemn this kind of stuff that violates the safety codes and principles behind our hobby and make that condemnation as widely known and publicized as possible.

Later! OL JR

Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly!! Well said JR!!

RocketManDan said:

My thoughts exactly!! Well said JR!!

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I am sick of this elitist bigotry and name calling in this forum. Your mommas must be really proud of you guys. I honestly thought this would be a great opportunity for the Rocketry hobby folks to jump on board and get some national attention and raise some questions about stuff. But your close hold elitism that "if you don't buy SAFE rocket motors from some manufacturer then you are an unsafe idiot and you are bad for society" is actually what is killing your hobby. It is boring. There is ZERO science in it (well ok some aerodynamics). And the adventure is just not there. You think Von Braun bought stuff from a manufacturer. You think Goddard did. We built the Solid boosters right here in the Rocket City years ago and tested them here. We didn't "buy" them. Y'all probably think Burt Rutan is horrible for your hobby too after all he's had some people killed working on his rocket. What about SpaceX? OMG, get your heads out of the sand and realize what is happening to your hobby and your country!

You people have or I think I'll say had an opportunity to potentially have us out for a fly off day, film some of y'all doing stuff. And oh btw, I've seen rockets go off on tables at LDRS so don't kid yourselves about how "safe" you "brilliant educated" people are. And you want to talk about education and intelligence. Ok, god y'all just won't get it. Not a single member of the RCR cast has an IQ below 140. Rog's is over 165. So, again, just keep name calling with zero idea of what you are doing or saying.

It is YOU not us that is killilng the guy walking in the street in black clothes at night. YOU take the responsibility for walking in the middle of the dang road without reflectors on. That is the problem with this culture that has infected our once space race winning nation is that nobody will do what has to be done to get the job done because they'd have to figure it out for themselves. Got that RMD, figure it out for yourself instead of buying all the pieces mostly finished and then claiming to be a rocketman!

And y'all can cringe about the parachute charge nonsense all you want. My mic set it off. And there was a film crew getting paid $30000 a day to get the rocket launch. It HAD to be launched then and there. Yes it did happen. No it wasn't staged. But, all the charges were covered or pointed away in a way that was perfectly safe. It was just loud. The edit makes it look more dangerous than it was. And, also, that was the backup board that blew. Did you pay attention and see the other one right behind it?

Y'all didn't invent safety you know. My dad was an OSHA safety officer in the auto industry after he left the space industry. I've been a Laser Safety Officer for the US Army for decades. Nobody has ever been hurt on my watch either.

This could have been fun. Instead, it has been ridiculous.

scsager said:

I just watched episode 1 and 2 because of the postings here on the forum. I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about.

My impression from just those two shows, it's a bit like a low budget knock off of Myth Busters. I know that the folks on the show are real rocket scientists. Or at least one active and one retired rocket scientist.

I liked the show... I especially liked how the rednecks got all excited about the flight. It reminded me of how I felt when I launched my first rocket as a kid.

However - Here in TRF we are a community of experienced rocketeers with lots of practical field experience. We might not be the best TV show critics.

In the "Moonshine Rocket" episode, the rednecks build and fly a hybrid powered rocket. Something some of us TRFer's have experience in.

I've wired up my altimeter in my house... but never with live black power in the canisters, like they did on the show.

I've connected the battery while prepping my rocket. But only after I make sure the charges are safe or the switch is off.

Here's the part that really burned my beans.... :rant:

The drogue charge fires when he connects the battery.

"The main chute charge is still OK, so there's no way I'm going to abort this flight" Dr. Travis Taylor, rocket scientist in the space and defense industry, Huntsville, AL.

*** I had to count to 10, calm down, and remind myself, its only a TV show *** This can't be the same guy who let the shuttle fly with cracked O-rings. - Sorry, but that's the first thing that popped into my head when he said that.

I'm sure most of us TRFer's know that if the drogue charge fires before launch, it's time to find out why, then reset the charge.

After further review, I get the sneaking suspicion that the failure was staged for TV. Either that or they shot a B-roll close up making the battery connection.

In conclusion, I do like the show, and I've got a few more episodes to watch... but I can see why the "Moonshine" episode might turn a few folks off.

Click to expand...

Dude are you even thinking about what you type. When did the Challenger blow up huh? I was in the 11th grade. And, btw, you apparently haven't been involved in studying why it blew up. The O-rings actually sealed themselves back off and were fine. The Challenger hit a 250mph shear layer at throttle up just past Max-Q. The shear layer caused the bottom mooring points of the left booster to pop because they had been weakend from plasma that vented before the O-rings welded themselves shut. When the bottom mooring popped the top of the booster was pushed into the top of the ET puncturing the tankage and setting it off. Had the MANAGERS and POLITICIANS at NASA followed the SAFETY rules put in place by the scientists/engineers they wouldn't have launched in that cold weather and O-Rings wouldn't have burned through. But that still wouldn't have killed the Challenger likely. Had the MANAGERS and POLITICIANS at NASA followed the SAFETY rules put in place by the scientists/engineers they wouldn't have launched with a 250 mph shear layer that had been reported by a commercial plane just an hour or two before. So, yes, I understand what happened there. Yes, I was 15 when it happened. No, I didn't let it happen. And, are YOU freakin' kidding me?

Hey, I know you have no idea how old I am and all. And I'm not shouting at you at all. I just wanted to put some of that info out there. We haven't done good enough PR yet to tell everybody what they are really watching on the show yet. I really do appreciate you watching the show and keep the critical comments coming because it will only make us do our job better. And who knows, there has to be some mutually beneficial stuff here for all of us. But seeing the majority of this forum saying how they are going to loudly oppose the show and try to get it shut down just shows people cutting off a nose to spite a face.

SecretSquirrel said:

I kind of regret starting this thread.

Click to expand...

I don't blame you.

Somehow we're tying the Shuttle to TV rocketry?!

Wow! Someone seems to take himself and his hobby a might but seriously.

There is a WORLD of difference between "made for TV" rocketry and manned rocketry.

There's also a big difference between hobby rrocketry and TV rocketry.

DocTravis said:

Hey, I know you have no idea how old I am and all. And I'm not shouting at you at all. I just wanted to put some of that info out there. We haven't done good enough PR yet to tell everybody what they are really watching on the show yet.

Click to expand...

That bolded statement could very well be the reason why so many people are resistant to the show. Unfortunately I am not able to see the show from where I live, but comments from others give me the impression that the attitude toward science, safety and the perception of the hobby is somewhat cavalier. Without good PR to explain that what you are doing is NOT typical for the "state of the hobby" people may get the wrong impression about the hobby in general.

Regarding some comments you made about commercial engines being "boring" and references to the founders of rocketry not having stores to buy engines, sorry, but I think its a logical fallacy. Sure the pioneers didn't have stores and they had to make things themselves but now that we do have them if people choose to use them in the hobby it doesn't make it "boring". Rather, it lets them focus on other things in the hobby or simply "flying for its own sake".

One of my other hobbies is automotive performance. To continue your line of thought into this hobby (and remember these are hobbies), in order to be active and not be "boring" in drag racing for having fun on the track, one shouldn't buy a crate engine but rather forge their own block and parts?

Sorry, Id rather spend my time racing just as others would rather use commercial engines so they can spend more of the spare time they have for this hobby for flying.

Thank you for your time.

troj said:

Somehow we're tying the Shuttle to TV rocketry?!

Wow! Someone seems to take himself and his hobby a might but seriously.

There is a WORLD of difference between "made for TV" rocketry and manned rocketry.

There's also a big difference between hobby rrocketry and TV rocketry.

Click to expand...

Thank you! I agree completely. But that is not to say there shouldn't be some mutually beneficial cross polination.

Travis

FAIW, I was entertained and didn't find the show much different than many of the other reality TV shows that featured rockets, many of which featured 'real' sport rocketeers. I could go to my blog and pull them up....but that would be work (you can follow the 'rocket stunts...' tag). I'm sure our hobby will survive this one too. I was entertained and the main disappointment was there were not enough details crammed in the whole 20 minutes or so.

Travis, I hope you get a Season 2 and fly your cell phone. Get a sat phone so you can get better coverage

Wow! I had a case of "Open mouth, enter foot"! DocT Thank You! for taking the time to, join, post and explain to us the difference of what you are doing and what content the producers allow within time constaints. NatGeo has lost my respect, you have gained mine. Carry on, perhaps in the future you might gain more creative control and turn RCR into a more truely educational show. For now I have been hardened against your show(Not your fault!) and may try it again in the future.

I still don't get why everyone thinks this will be "the end of rocketry as we know it". Does anyone here honestly think that what happens and a TV show about what some guys do on their property in Alabama that occasionally involves rockets will reflect on what we do in the open fields at sanctioned launches? Give me a break. The LDRS videos have done MUCH more damage to our reputation than shows like RCR and Master Blasters will ever do. At worst, you can use it to open up a discussion:

Neighbor: "Hey pal! Whatcha doin' with all those rockets in the back of your truck?"
Rocketeer: "Well, I'm heading out to a rocket launch!"
Neighbor: "Say - I saw some of them rockets on a show the other day..is that kinda what you do?"
Rocketeer: "Well, no - not really! That's a tv show that uses rockets, but they aren't doing what we do at a launch."
Neighbor: "Oh. Okay. Well, have fun!"

Yup...that conversation will certainly be the death of "rocketry as we know it". Just like Master Blasters was. Just like Rocketry Challenge was. Just like the Verizon Wireless commercials were. Just like Mythbusters was. Oh - wait...none of those had ANY impact on what we do. As a matter of fact, we are LESS regulated now than we were when those aired. Interesting.

Why are we complaining about guys with PhD's making their own rockets and motors when we seem to have no problem with guys that pass a written test and fly a pre-made J motor making their own motors and launching them at a "Research" TRA launch? Smacks a bit of hypocrisy to me. These guys are launching BY THEMSELVES on their own property, not in a crowd of people that are watching. Yes RCR is somehow dangerous and will be "the end of rocketry as we know it." Whatever.

The elitism on this board from time to time is absolutely APALLING! "I would never do it that way, therefore you are a threat and MUST be eliminated!!!" Give me a break, guys! One of the reasons I love this hobby so much is because of the people that I've flown with that have become such close friends willing to help anyone that needed help, and offering advice when needed. The closed-minded, judgmental personal attacks in this thread will go MUCH farther in doing damage to our hobby by turning people away than anything that might come up from a TV show.

Geez people - unclench and go build or launch something!