New enthusiast with some questions

merlinfire said:

Thanks folks, I think you helped me understand that a bit better. I still have a lot to learn, and I'm going to take it slow when it comes to the experimental motors stuff. I have all my fingers and I want to keep it that way. That said, what is the typical path to become L1 certified? Apologies if that's already been covered and I overlooked it

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Join NAR or TRA. If you want to go the EX route, join TRA. But if there is no TRA prefecture in your area, join NAR and certify through NAR. Join TRA later, and your NAR cert is transferable.

To cert level 1, build a rocket capable of handling H or I impulse. Let the club know you wish to try a cert flight. You are allowed to purchase one H or I motor for the purposes of certification.

Any TRA TAP or prefect can certify you, based on a successful flight and recovery within the safety code. For NAR, it just takes two witness at or above the cert level.

Mail in the paperwork, get your updated card in the mail.

Thanks. Definitely planning on talking with WSR out of Dayton.

typical path; build low power rockets for a bit, go to a hpr launch and see/hear the bigger motors, start building mid power (E - G motors) rockets, get tired of the small rockets, join either NAR or TRA (some folks do both, depends on what the local club is), build a HPR bird, fly and recover(undamaged it, fill out the paper work. lv2 one needs to pass a written test before the cert flight but otherwise the same criteria as lv1.
Rex

Rex R said:

typical path; build low power rockets for a bit, go to a hpr launch and see/hear the bigger motors, start building mid power (E - G motors) rockets, get tired of the small rockets, join either NAR or TRA (some folks do both, depends on what the local club is), build a HPR bird, fly and recover(undamaged it, fill out the paper work. lv2 one needs to pass a written test before the cert flight but otherwise the same criteria as lv1.
Rex

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...Sell kidney, convert dining table to workspace. Convert garage to workspace....purchase lots of tools and chemicals....

...Speaking of which, you probably already know this but PLEASE make sure you're wearing proper protective gear when building. The worst thing (generally) that happens to someone working on low-power stuff is usually
-making a mess
-sticking your fingers together with CA glue
-Getting dizzy from spray painting without enough ventilation.

When you start working with the materials of high power - fiberglass, epoxies, polyurethanes, more high-power tools - you'll want to invest in some quality protective gear - eye protection, hand protection, and a proper respirator. Get yourself a pack of 100 nitrile gloves and pretty much glove up if you're doing anything. Because mishaps with the adhesives, solvents, and tools of high power rocketry get quite a bit more exciting and likely to land you in the ER.

As I stated before, the Wright Stuff Rocketeers (WSR) are very active. We are a NAR club, so no homemade motors are allowed at our launches. However, you have to be certified L2 in Tripoli to do that, so that won't be happening soon anyway. Tripoli members can fly at NAR launches (and vice versa as we recognize each others certifications), but you can only certify in Tripoli if you have Tripoli people witness your cert attempts. If you would try to cert in Tripoli at a WSR launch you would have to line up people to do that as most of our members are in NAR. The interesting thing is you can certify in one organization and then join the other and your certification will be recognized.

The WSR website is down right now, but should be up soon. Our next launch is scheduled for March 18th at our high power field near Cedarville. You are welcome to come watch and fly rockets.

We used to be affiliated with the guys in the local Tripoli club (now going by Tripoli Mid Ohio), but we split several years ago. They are a decent group of guys, but they don't really have any meetings or do anything other than launch. You can come to our meetings and we will give you tons of free advice and help you with any builds you are planning. As I said, we have weekly meetings at eRockets where you can buy all sorts of low power, mid power and some high rocket stuff. And our club president is the owner of Merlin Missiles, and he has all sorts of high power rocket kits and motors you can buy. So our club has you covered from the smallest rockets all the way up to L3 kits and motors.

please note that workspace is additive, any area converted to workspace remains workspace...eventually it will consume all available space .
Rex