is there anyway to get a mentorship level 2 if you are under 18 legally? I’ve been wanting to do it for a while but still can’t as I’m only 14. My mentor level 1 certifiers have said multiple times that I have the skills to do it but I never even asked if it was possible at my age.
Let me try to unravel your question to make sure I understand.
Legally, (CPSC laws, not just NFPA based rules) a person under 18 years of age may not possess or use high power rocket motors. NFPA requires certification and limits certification to 18 years of age and over.
The Tripoli Mentoring Program (TMP) allows a person between 12-17 to learn about rocketry by flying with a mentor. If that young person passes the written exam they are listed as M and after they successfully fly an L1 rocket, they are listed as M1. Then, when they turn 18, their certification level is adjusted to show that they are Level 1 certified.
I think you’re asking if Tripoli would extend the TMP to support an M2 status which would automatically change to Level 2 once you turn 18. Of course a logical extension of that question would be to see if Tripoli would be willing to do something similar for L3, by creating a TMP Level 3 or M3 status.
The short answer (in my opinion) is no. Making such a change would affect a lot of systems currently in place, everything from record keeping, to our reciprocity with the NAR, and possibly to the cost of insurance.
But the other consideration is that there’s nothing to gain by doing so. It cannot change CPSC laws or NFPA based rules. Legally you’re still required to have a certified adult handling the motors and other energetic materials and serving as the flyer of record.
The TMP program already allows TMP M1 participants to build and fly rockets of any impulse that their mentor is certified to fly. By taking advantage of the already wide latitude of the program an M1 participant can show up to the first launch after they turn 18 and easily pass the written L2 test and then fly a rocket that they have been flying for years under the TMP.
