Last time i spoke to Estes on the phone, they indicated that the hobby is shrinking.
While Estes is the big player in the hobby and we love lots of what they do, there are more sources for parts and kits that may be sapping some of their business away. Also, anything above the lower levels of mid-power would be totally out of their scope.
There are lots of influences on the hobby and I'm hoping the advancement of the commercial space programs will spark some interest like the Space Race did in the 60s and 70s.
I still think the biggest issue is available land on which to launch rockets....at least it is for me.
NAR membership fluctuates, they aim for 5800 steady members, and trying to grow. You'd think it would much, much higher, but it isn't...
I think we do a poor job of promoting the hobby.
They could garner higher membership numbers if they didn't charge $75.00/year...
That is simply too high a price to pay per year...
Flame on boys...
I have thought for some time that rocketry should be on television.
Best fixed by local club STEM launches and flyers in any hobby and toy stores that will allow them.But, of course, many people have no idea that it even exists.
I've seen them in some Hobbytown USA shops next to the rockets. RC aircraft flying is a broader hobby and you can do it your backyard or even in your home with the smaller stuff. Anything except really low power rockets need more than the typical backyard.Oh, and recently, at a Barnes & Noble, I noticed a ton of RC aircraft magazines. Nothing on rockets - nothing in bookstores, anyway.
They could garner higher membership numbers if they didn't charge $75.00/year...
That is simply too high a price to pay per year...
Flame on boys...
They could garner higher membership numbers if they didn't charge $75.00/year...
That is simply too high a price to pay per year...
Flame on boys...
Discovery did have a few specials covering LDRS with the Mythbusters girl. I only saw the last one and was disappointed. They only covered the oddest of the oddrocs, leading viewers to believe that this is what the hobby is about. Covering some of the contests would have been far better.
Possibly one of the reasons why Canada is rated 7th on this list while we're 14th:I know the subject of this thread is model rocketry in the United States but we have model rocketry in our elementary schools here in New Brunswick, Canada. My youngest son will be studying the physics of flight as his last "block" before his grade 6 year end and building/flying their own rockets will be a part of it. I believe it's quite common across the country although sometimes even the teachers don't have info to pass on to parents...such as where to purchase rocketry supplies. Is rocketry a part of the curriculum in elementary schools in America? If not, it should be.
Possibly one of the reasons why Canada is rated 7th on this list while we're 14th:
https://thelearningcurve.pearson.com/index/index-ranking/overall-score-highest
$62.00 - over 26 years old
$25.00- under 26 years old Other cheaper options also. Good Deal!!
We need to make more low and mid power launch without rocket Inspection, and biblical rules and especially the annoying peoples who bring those rules , just peoples and kids who have fun without all those annoying high power rules to peoples who just want to launch small rockets. I make one 2 years ago, it was really fun, beside 2 persons we were all level 3 and 4 launching mid power. Less rules , more funs. It dont means peoples do what they want, just some supervision, a LCO thats it. And let the kids press the button.
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