I am very lucky to live close-ish to Bong in Wisconsin, where WOOSH (NAR) and Tripoli Wisconsin practically trade launch weekends throughout the year...topped off with Wildman setting up shop at most of 'em. WOOSH guys launch at Tripoli launches, and vice versa; it's almost one homogenous group of guys...including many of the most experienced & dedicated experts in the hobby. Other than the rocket-eating trees bordering a relatively tight launch site, and the fact we have seasons, it really a rocket paradise.
I've been out of the hobby for almost a decade after becoming a BAR...I guess I'm reborn again
. I joined Tripoli at that time, but let my membership lapse, so my certifications flew away, per Tripoli policy. Had I joined NAR, that wouldn't happen, but honestly, I have no problem re-certing, and might try to do both in one day after I recover from rotator cuff surgery.
But now I have to choose between the two orgs again, and I'm leaning towards WOOSH simply because of the fact NAR certs don't go away if you lapse a bit (I know TRA has a 1 or 2 year window for that, but still...). At face value...other than that...it's practically a coin-flip. So I'm asking if I'm missing anything....are there any advantages of being in Tripoli that would offset the somewhat trivial reason I'm leaning to NAR? Not just at the national level, I'm also hoping some Bongers can provide some un-biased opinions on any pros/cons specific to "our" organizationally-diverse group of regular fliers. Thanks!
Dean