Poll: How Long Have You Been Flying HPR?

[jimzcatz]

I think better question is how low is your membership number. Yes, it is a badge of honor to have a low one, I got mine in 1990 I believe. There are only 4 or 5 people I REGULARLY fly with that have a lower number then mine. zi got my 20 year pin from Tripoli last renewal, I was at 22 years.

 

[MClark]

I think better question is how low is your membership number. Yes, it is a badge of honor to have a low one, I got mine in 1990 I believe. There are only 4 or 5 people I REGULARLY fly with that have a lower number then mine. zi got my 20 year pin from Tripoli last renewal, I was at 22 years.

I am 414 but I launch with 3, 15, 22, 36, 132. So I am kinda the new guy
Tom Blazanin is the only TRA member with a cert level and TRA number the same, 3.

M

 

[dixontj93060]

I am 414 but I launch with 3, 15, 22, 36, 132. So I am kinda the new guy
Tom Blazanin is the only TRA member with a cert level and TRA number the same, 3.

M

That's pretty amazing.

 

[Initiator001]

And that person was Jerry Irvine . .

Nope. Never saw him.

Who I DID see was Les Derkivitz (SP?) from Las Vegas. Les used to fly with myself and other members of the AeroTech staff.

I was wearing my High Sierra Rocketry T-shirt. Les was the only one who remembered that company.

I wonder how Steve Buck is doing?

 

[Initiator001]

I think better question is how low is your membership number. Yes, it is a badge of honor to have a low one, I got mine in 1990 I believe. There are only 4 or 5 people I REGULARLY fly with that have a lower number then mine. zi got my 20 year pin from Tripoli last renewal, I was at 22 years.

I joined TRA in August 1986.

#153 (Not current).

 

[GuyNoir]

I think better question is how low is your membership number.

My NAR number is 19250.

My TRA number was 995.

 

[thobin]

While I have only been flying HPR for 3 years I joined Tripoli and NAR in 1997 with the intention flying HPR but never did more than MPR. My family was very young and I was very broke and I had no business wasting time and money on it! (*cough* wife *cough*) But I never have been a BAR I have always launch rockets in one form or another LPR, MPR since I was a wee one. I even took my rockets to collage with me and launched them a ton there.


TA

 

[markkoelsch]

Well, I am 46, and flew my first rocket (with my Dad) when I was five years old. Did that up until high school, but then school, sports, music, and girls eliminated the time to do rockets.

Fast forward to my mid-twenties. Was helping a friend move when we stumbled upon his box of Estes. I ran home, got my stuff, and hit a local high school and commenced to flying. Shortly after that, we hit a local hobby shop, and saw these strange black motors from a company called Aerotech, kits from Loc, and High Power Rocketry magazine. I think it was an F-50, and copy of HPR, and a Loc Graduator that came home with me that day.

A few weeks later, we started flying mid power. Did that for a couple of years when I got wind of a local Tripoli group. Went to a launch in late 1996, and was hooked. Did my L1 cert on a Loc 4 using an Aerotech H220 in March of 1997.


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[fyrwrxz]

Long enough to have afforded a way better house.......

 

[gdjsky01]

I became a LPR BAR in 1996' and upon getting to my first ROC-Stock ... I became a level 1 dude in 1997. Been going since then. I have taken one hiatus because when we moved I had no place to build. And building for me is at least half the fun. But I never 'got out'.

What I have noticed is everyone is in an all fired rush to go from level 1, to 2, to 3. Then they burnout. Too bad. I saw it in astronomy too. It becomes more about the equipment than the universe. Imagers especially. Same here. Most of you WILL tear through whatever part of this hobby you like and be gone. Some people stick around for the friendships. But they rarely launch. They just hang out. Then there are the long term lovers of rocketry that just keep going. Rare. But there. Others legitimately can't afford it anymore. But I think unless you are homeless (why do you have and Internet Connection?), you COULD find a challenge in rocketry you CAN afford. The problem is Testosterone. Most of you would not be caught dead trying to build a 1/2A Rocket Glider or 1/2A Heli-Roc that stays in the air for 60 seconds. Too bad. Because both are harder than your level 1 or level 2. Most exotic designs are best made as LPR rockets first. Balsa and paper are easy to work with. Look at what HornetDriver and ScottyDog do. Amazing rockets. LPR.

I am very fortunate. I love whoosh pop from a 1/8A MicroMaxx Deuces Wild to an L thundering away. I am still Level 2(*) after getting my Level 2 at LTR-ROC in .... beats me '99? '98? I have yet to launch a two stage AP rocket. My largest motors were flown last year... K360s (ONE n/s over a full J). (I have the Sublime ready with a K550).

Level 3 I figure A) Should be savored. Not something to rush into. B) Why the hell tear through the hobby and burn out? Have you done small clusters? Bigger ones? Time delayed one? Black power and AP? What about staging? Or clustered staging. Why fart around with a huge two stage that costs $400 to launch? A G motor to a G motor in lighter weight rockets are just as satisfying (IMO) and costs 30 bucks for the reloads plus casings (one of which you can probably borrow). Parallel staging? Drop parallel staging. Cluster staging? All these can be tried with BP or MPR AP.

The difference I guess is as I have said before. I love rocketry, not High Power Rocketry, Rocketry. I used to say everything but EX. But I have a friend who tempting me and so I may (MAY!) even learn to cast my own motors.

YMMV.


(*) Yes I am starting to think about my L3 and gathering parts... but I am in no rush!

 

[gdjsky01]

Exhibit A)
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?65754-Forgive-my-ignorance

 

[Mr Rocket]

Interesting that the poll shows relatively steady involvement with no decline.

 

[MountainRocketeer]

No, that is not what the poll shows. The time segments get progressively longer with each selection. The last option covers as much as 20 years, while the first option covers only 1 year. Yet there are more people who have been flying for 1 year than 20+.

In other words, approximately 20% of this pool of flyers is in their 1st year, but approximately 1% are in their 21st year of HPR--a 20:1 advantage for the newbies. This poll shows that after year 2, there is a major decline in participation.

My reaction was exactly the opposite when I saw these numbers. I was shocked at the attrition rate.

 

[MountainRocketeer]

I whole-heartedly agree with Jeff Gortatowsky. I am BAR and have been flying steadily since I introduced my kids 4 years ago. I got my L1 two years ago and next launch will be the first time I fly an I motor. I will get my L2, and probably my L3, but there is no reason to rush too hard. I enjoy low and especially midpower, too. It's about the building and creating and experimentation and personal chalkenge, not a rank. Too many people see this hobby as a competition to be the biggest or quickest or a race to certify. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE the big launches. I will get my L3. But if all this is is a path to getting the number "3" on my membership card, I would miss out on an awful lot along the way and after.

 

[dmlappert]

Bc


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[gdjsky01]

More people would stick around longer it they stop worrying about how big their balls are and instead worry about the performance and craftsmanship of "whatever" size rocket they have.
I have wonderful friendships in Rocketry. Truly amazing people. But other than rocketry, most of the time, we could not be more different.
I am not a "Lets BLOW IT UP BIGGER UH HUH" bumpkin. In the real world of aerospace, light makes flight. And minimum power for maximum performance is a holy grail to profitability.
We'd all be well served to do the same.

If you can make a F go a mile... which I *think* you can, why can't you make an H go 3 miles? Cause its HARD to get it back!

 

[blackjack2564]

Been flying "high"power since 1964 I guess........ cause back then the largest motor's were C's.

They were "high" power!!!:wink:

 

[Handeman]

I became a BAR in 2003 and attended my first HPR launch at BattlePark. I flew a lot of LPR and a couple of L1 capable rockets on G motors for a few years until I finished my scratch build DD L1 rocket and certified in April of 2007. My flights have been shifting to more HPR and less MPR and LPR ever since.

 

[dave carver]

I actually had a talk with Bruce Kelly years ago about this subject. He said the average member of Tripoli stays 2-3 years and that's it...on the average.

 

[jd2cylman]

I got back into rocketry as a BAR in 1997 I believe. Was looking to replace my (very expensive to me anyhow) hobby of equine timed sports such as barrel racing, flag racing, pole bending, and plug racing, otherwise known as speed events or gymkhana events. I at most times had two horses, one for barrel racing and pole bending, and one for ring events, i.e.: flag race and plug race. My hoses were getting on in years, and their health were declining. A good barrel horse was going for a minimum of $7500.00 and ring horses were harder to find as more money was in barrel racing, but they were in the $5000.00 to $8000.00 range too. Monthly expenses for 2 horses were roughly in the $100.00 range for me, since I didn't have to pay for boarding, as my parents owned and operated a stable. But, if they didn't, boarding a horse would have cost another $750.00 to $1000.00 a month! A good truck and trailer for going to shows would set you back another $30,000.00. Too rich for my blood. So the old middle school hobby of rocketry looked appealing. I found a Estes Silver Comet at a local hobby shop, now long gone, and I was hooked. Then I found out there were bigger motors than Estes D's, and OOOh boy! I had to try those! Got a LOC IV from Ross at Magnum Hobbies and a couple of F50's and G80FWL's and NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH GAS!! I got my L1 in 1999, and my L2 in 2000. My last horse I had to have put down the day after Christmas in 2003. He was 28 years old and I had him for 20 years. I still miss him every day, but hanging around with you nutballs (and otherwise fine, cough, cough, gentlemen and women) makes it much better. When a rocket gets old, you can set it on a shelf, or strip it for parts, or just toss it. With the horse, not so much. So, put in that sort of perspective, this hobby has been much easier on the heart/head. I've had a few breaks along the years, mainly during my divorce (much easier than putting down my horse, but still rough) and when the economy tanked around that same time, it made coming up with money for hobbies harder.