Yesterday was my L1 Certification launch. I went to MDRA in Maryland, and I have never felt so welcome, never felt so much like I belong in my life. I CANNOT speak more highly of the people I met there, I CANNOT exaggerate how helpful they were. Go to a club launch. It feels like home.
Thank you both for the push. I just went and joined both NAR and TRA. Will see about joining the local clubs once I have membership cards. I'm guessing I won't have the paperwork in hand in time to make the Texas Shootout a fortnight from now, but I should be able to attend some launches later in the summer and see how the parts of HPR I'm fuzzy on work.Most rocketry clubs that I've ever been involved with absolutely love it when someone comes by and wants to look!
The few times I've seen a rocketeer or club get grumpy with a stranger is when the stranger keeps talking about "blowing things up" and other untrue stereotypes after being gently (sometimes not so gently) corrected.
And who knows, maybe L1 sometime in the next year?