NARCON 2018

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MichaelRapp

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Very excited about NARCON 2018. :) The year I decide to get back into rocketry, it literally is in my backyard.

Hope to see some of you there!

If you see a relatively shy guy with (embarrassingly) long hair walking around, please say hi. I’m so new at this hobby that everything is a candy store! :)


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Very excited about NARCON 2018. :) The year I decide to get back into rocketry, it literally is in my backyard.

Hope to see some of you there!

If you see a relatively shy guy with (embarrassingly) long hair walking around, please say hi. I’m so new at this hobby that everything is a candy store! :)Rocketry Forum

Be sure to say hello, Michael! I'll be the guy all over the place wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Oh, and be sure to come to my session where I highlight the modeling techniques used to build my 1/12 scale Little Joe!

James
 
Sitting in the DFW airport awaiting my flight to IAH.
Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and many new ones as well.

John
 
We are sitting in the restaurant at the Hilton, (sort of) enjoying the overcast view of the lake.

Looking forward to a bit of relaxation tomorrow before NARCON kicks into full gear.

-- Roger
 
NARCON 2018 is already a success for me. I got to meet and thank Tim Van Milligan for his videos. :)


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I enjoyed day one. The keynote by BSP.space was absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed the vendor forum as well...I got to put faces to the names of some of the vendors I've only heard of here and The Rocketry Show. And I bought two small kits from Aerospace Specialty Products (quality looked amazing to my beginner's eyes).

(I've been thinking of starting a sounding rocket theme once I get my skills up, so picking up the 18mm WAC Corporal from them seemed a logical place to start!)
 
I got to chat briefly with Vern and Gleda Estes...and saw but did not yet speak with Lee and Betty Piester.

And yes Andy Jackson (ASP) has quite the interesting display of goodies on sale. Roger and Bracha (jonrocket) do as well.
 
I had a really enjoyable time at NARCON 2018. I am so glad I went, even though I am still very new to rocketry.

I spent Day Two essentially in the model rocketry talk track. The first presentation was by Trip Barber on TARC and how to win it. The biggest take away for me from his talk was the importance of a systematic approach to taking data and experimentation. The importance for me is clear; I'm never going to get a solid grasp on this hobby if all I am doing is putting random motors in rockets and launching. In light of how my day ended (more later), his talk was quite prescient.

The second talk I attended was by Tim Van Milligan (I certainly was not going to miss his talk!). It was really interesting. He walked through the software programs he uses to design rocket kits and prepare them for production. I especially enjoyed his demonstration of the tricks and workarounds he had to do in Adobe Illustrator so that the laser cutter would cut the fin sheets correctly and efficiently. After his talk, Tim graciously signed my copy of his book, Model Rocketry Design and Construction.

The presentation that followed was by Amy Heidrick of the Museum of Flight. She gave an update on the progress of cataloging the G. Harry Stine Collection. I had no idea the collection was so massive. As I have a peripheral association with a research library myself, I enjoyed her detailing of the progress made and the challenges still ahead.

Before slipping out to grab some lunch, I picked up another rocket from ASP Rocketry. Because....rockets. :)

After lunch I attended James Duffy's presentation on his 1/12 scale Little Joe. I think I spent the entire presentation with my mouth agape. I had never seen a scale model up close before, let alone a 1/12 scale one! His presentation was riveting (pun intended, his detail on the rivets amazed me). He also generously passed around components of the rocket and construction supplies so we could get a really close look at it. If ever wanted to know what a year's worth of work on a rocket can produce, I now know. I don't know if I'll ever get into scale modeling of this sort, but I sure had a wonderful introduction to it.

I now switched tracks to the high power rocketry track and listened to Gary Rosenfield's talk on the beginnings of high powered rocketry. I know next-to-nothing about high power rocketry, let alone any of its history. Gary's stories of the beginnings of Aerotech and the struggles in the nascent years of this part of our hobby were really fascinating. Lee Piester also contributed a hilarious story on having to quickly come up with an alternate expansion for the acronym LDRS for a fire marshal (Let's Do Rockets Safely seemed to work).

Switching back to the model rocketry track, I listened to Glenn Feveryear's talk on the new National Rocketry Competition. I know nothing about rocketry competition, but I quickly picked up on the notion that this year debuted some substantial changes from previous years. While Glenn's talk highlighted those changes, rocketry competition looks like a lot of fun. The entire notion of competing nationally while flying locally is just cool. I definitely want to try competing at some point.

It has already been a really long day by this point. I debated whether to go to the final session or not, but the desire to take a break and get some coffee won out so I drove home (I live only eight miles away). After resting for a bit and getting some coffee, I journeyed back to the Hilton for the banquet.

I really need to thank James Duffy, the lead co-organizer of NARCON 2018. Not only is he an excellent MC, he is perhaps one of the most hospitable individuals I've met in recent memory. I'm new to rocketry. I just recently joined my local club. I know nobody at the banquet. After complimenting him on his Little Joe presentation he instantly introduced me to a group of other rocketeers. And then, by sheer happenstance, who else happens to sit at the same table as me? Tim Van Milligan and John Beans -- the person responsible for getting me over my initial frustrations in rocket construction and the person who, as I understand it, is the inventor of perhaps the biggest game changer in the hobby in years. Is this really happening?

The food was quite good.....a rather large display of Tex-Mex, fajitas, and tamales. Scott Parazynski's dinner keynote was also extremely enjoyable. And to the shock of perhaps everyone in the room, we all ended up with a copy of his book, signed and personalized.

Now, remember Trip Barber's talk on the importance of collecting data? The highlight of the evening for me was when Tim gifted me the Altimeter Three he won as a door prize. I can't say thank you enough (and to John, for donating so many of them as door prizes). I am going to have so much fun with this.

So, yes, I had a fantastic time. :)

IMG-2384.jpg
 
I had a really enjoyable time at NARCON 2018. I am so glad I went, even though I am still very new to rocketry.

I spent Day Two essentially in the model rocketry talk track. The first presentation was by Trip Barber on TARC and how to win it. The biggest take away for me from his talk was the importance of a systematic approach to taking data and experimentation. The importance for me is clear; I'm never going to get a solid grasp on this hobby if all I am doing is putting random motors in rockets and launching. In light of how my day ended (more later), his talk was quite prescient.

The second talk I attended was by Tim Van Milligan (I certainly was not going to miss his talk!). It was really interesting. He walked through the software programs he uses to design rocket kits and prepare them for production. I especially enjoyed his demonstration of the tricks and workarounds he had to do in Adobe Illustrator so that the laser cutter would cut the fin sheets correctly and efficiently. After his talk, Tim graciously signed my copy of his book, Model Rocketry Design and Construction.

The presentation that followed was by Amy Heidrick of the Museum of Flight. She gave an update on the progress of cataloging the G. Harry Stine Collection. I had no idea the collection was so massive. As I have a peripheral association with a research library myself, I enjoyed her detailing of the progress made and the challenges still ahead.

Before slipping out to grab some lunch, I picked up another rocket from ASP Rocketry. Because....rockets. :)

After lunch I attended James Duffy's presentation on his 1/12 scale Little Joe. I think I spent the entire presentation with my mouth agape. I had never seen a scale model up close before, let alone a 1/12 scale one! His presentation was riveting (pun intended, his detail on the rivets amazed me). He also generously passed around components of the rocket and construction supplies so we could get a really close look at it. If ever wanted to know what a year's worth of work on a rocket can produce, I now know. I don't know if I'll ever get into scale modeling of this sort, but I sure had a wonderful introduction to it.

I now switched tracks to the high power rocketry track and listened to Gary Rosenfield's talk on the beginnings of high powered rocketry. I know next-to-nothing about high power rocketry, let alone any of its history. Gary's stories of the beginnings of Aerotech and the struggles in the nascent years of this part of our hobby were really fascinating. Lee Piester also contributed a hilarious story on having to quickly come up with an alternate expansion for the acronym LDRS for a fire marshal (Let's Do Rockets Safely seemed to work).

Switching back to the model rocketry track, I listened to Glenn Feveryear's talk on the new National Rocketry Competition. I know nothing about rocketry competition, but I quickly picked up on the notion that this year debuted some substantial changes from previous years. While Glenn's talk highlighted those changes, rocketry competition looks like a lot of fun. The entire notion of competing nationally while flying locally is just cool. I definitely want to try competing at some point.

It has already been a really long day by this point. I debated whether to go to the final session or not, but the desire to take a break and get some coffee won out so I drove home (I live only eight miles away). After resting for a bit and getting some coffee, I journeyed back to the Hilton for the banquet.

I really need to thank James Duffy, the lead co-organizer of NARCON 2018. Not only is he an excellent MC, he is perhaps one of the most hospitable individuals I've met in recent memory. I'm new to rocketry. I just recently joined my local club. I know nobody at the banquet. After complimenting him on his Little Joe presentation he instantly introduced me to a group of other rocketeers. And then, by sheer happenstance, who else happens to sit at the same table as me? Tim Van Milligan and John Beans -- the person responsible for getting me over my initial frustrations in rocket construction and the person who, as I understand it, is the inventor of perhaps the biggest game changer in the hobby in years. Is this really happening?

The food was quite good.....a rather large display of Tex-Mex, fajitas, and tamales. Scott Parazynski's dinner keynote was also extremely enjoyable. And to the shock of perhaps everyone in the room, we all ended up with a copy of his book, signed and personalized.

Now, remember Trip Barber's talk on the importance of collecting data? The highlight of the evening for me was when Tim gifted me the Altimeter Three he won as a door prize. I can't say thank you enough (and to John, for donating so many of them as door prizes). I am going to have so much fun with this.

So, yes, I had a fantastic time. :)

View attachment 339590
Man that's awesome!

Nate

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Michael, you experienced what G. Harry Stine called "Paying it forward"...as you gain experience in this great hobby, it will be your turn to do the same :) In fact, I lived vicariously through the posts on the NAR FB page, and some of them were by you, so thanks. And thanks to the other contributors that helped us who weren't able to attend to virtually attend. I hope the presentations make it to a DVD that we can buy...and from what I've read, James Duffy and his crew deserve a big round of applause!
 
How did Beans' presentation sound?

I actually don't know. It's the session I missed when I decided to go home. Thankfully, Carol Marple recorded it and at the moment it is in the NAR Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/carol.marple/videos/10155146148152321/ (The video is a little shaky, but Carol did a fantastic job....she filmed many of the presentations over Facebook Live holding her cell phone up by hand the entire time. Her stamina is amazing.) :)

(I'm watching the video right now....enjoying it!)
 
Michael, you experienced what G. Harry Stine called "Paying it forward"...as you gain experience in this great hobby, it will be your turn to do the same :) In fact, I lived vicariously through the posts on the NAR FB page, and some of them were by you, so thanks. And thanks to the other contributors that helped us who weren't able to attend to virtually attend. I hope the presentations make it to a DVD that we can buy...and from what I've read, James Duffy and his crew deserve a big round of applause!

Glad to have helped! In my professional field it is the norm to tweet and/or Facebook conferences, so it felt normal to post and share. I'm sure the videos will be compiled at some point. There was at least one multi-camera setup roaming around.
 
Thanks Michael for a great trip report. I so wanted to go this year but timing just didn't work out for me. Maybe one year they'll have it in Southern California...
 
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