Anyone not pass their Level 2 on first try?

[DAllen]

Took me 2 tries to get my L1
Took me 2 tries to get my L2
Took me 2 tries to get my L3

I don't wanna talk about this anymore

 

[PayLoad]

To be fair, although most stuff on the practice exams should be common knowledge (motor designation meanings, CP & CG, when to arm your rocket, etc.), much of it does seem to be material that needs simple memorization, or googlefication if you will (If a farmer is in the middle of a two square mile property, the house is painted red, and the wind is blowing 10 MPH from the east, where should you park your car?)

I jest, but you know what I mean.

 

[DAllen]

To mess with whoever the prefect is at the time when the flier goes out to get their certification rocket (regardless of level) I always shout something like, "HEY DON'T FORGET YOUR 5 MINUTE EPOXY."

 

[jmasterj]

What ever happened to understanding the material?

OP said he tested badly, not that he misunderstood the material. I would encourage everyone to understand things, but that's not required to pass the test.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

To mess with whoever the prefect is at the time when the flier goes out to get their certification rocket (regardless of level) I always shout something like, "HEY DON'T FORGET YOUR 5 MINUTE EPOXY."

Isn't the real reason for a countdown to make sure the CA in the fin can is set?

 

[PayLoad]

https://www.nar.org/high-power-rocketry-certifications/
On the sample exams, I get 100% on Section A – Applicable Regulations, Section B – Rocket Motor Designations, and Section D – Rocket Stability, I simply cannot get above 93% on the Section C – Range and Safety Practices. Dammit. Time for more reading and my 30th try on the sample tests.

 

[Hobie1dog]

https://www.nar.org/high-power-rocketry-certifications/
I get 100% on Section A – Applicable Regulations, Section B – Rocket Motor Designations, and Section D – Rocket Stability, I cannot get above 93% on the "Range & Safety section. Dammit. Time for more reading and my 30th try on the sample tests.

I've been reading my study guide since 2012, I think 10 years is enough.

 

[cwbullet]

As a Prefect, I have found it not uncommon to have failures. Learn from them and move on.

 

[cls]

What ever happened to understanding the material?

Understanding will be revealed later, grasshopper.

 

[Off Grid Gecko]

I'll let you know in about 48 hours, lol.

Passed my exam at the last meetup and launching this lil birdie sometime Saturday if the winds are favorable.
It will be 90s of stress for me just because I like my rockets to fly straight and true and have good recoveries,. Club guys were urging me to launch it that day, even found me a motor. But then I wanted to double check my altimeter, then I couldn't find a screwdriver, etc. I was like, It's a sign. Next Month.

Might bail Sat too if I don't feel good about the flight but went over my checklist last night and I have other rockets I can fly also. I have a smaller I motor to launch as a celebratory flight if everything goes to plan.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Understanding will be revealed later, grasshopper.

EPIC response

 

[kenstarr]

Passed the written exams for Tripoli L2 no problem, flew the rocket and learned a lesson about parachute packing. Fixed the cracked fin and flew again and got it! This was a few years ago now. One of these years I'm going to do my L3. For real this time.
Ken

 

[Hobie1dog]

Passed the written exams for Tripoli L2 no problem, flew the rocket and learned a lesson about parachute packing. Fixed the cracked fin and flew again and got it! This was a few years ago now. One of these years I'm going to do my L3. For real this time.
Ken

You'll have to start over again now, same thing I'm doing now.

 

[Steve Shannon]

I'll let you know in about 48 hours, lol.

Passed my exam at the last meetup and launching this lil birdie sometime Saturday if the winds are favorable.
It will be 90s of stress for me just because I like my rockets to fly straight and true and have good recoveries,. Club guys were urging me to launch it that day, even found me a motor. But then I wanted to double check my altimeter, then I couldn't find a screwdriver, etc. I was like, It's a sign. Next Month.

Might bail Sat too if I don't feel good about the flight but went over my checklist last night and I have other rockets I can fly also. I have a smaller I motor to launch as a celebratory flight if everything goes to plan.

Good for you not giving in to go fever.

 

[John Beans]

Here is the AltimeterThree flight graph from my L2 practice flight:

As you can see, it's a pretty perfect ballistic up AND down. The nosecone was too tight, and I made the mistake of adding a little piece black electrical tape for good measure to prevent drag separation. Bad decision, and bad choice of material on top of that (electrical tape's viscoelastic properties means it is stronger than you think when stretched quickly). No drag separation, true.

No separation at all, in fact.

The data for the above graph was downloaded standing over a hole in a rocky hillside.

I never saw the altimeter again. It received a fitting burial along with the 4" diameter nosecone and a portion of the fuselage.

 

[Off Grid Gecko]

Here is the AltimeterThree flight graph from my L2 practice flight:

As you can see, it's a pretty perfect ballistic up AND down. The nosecone was too tight, and I made the mistake of adding a little piece black electrical tape for good measure to prevent drag separation. Bad decision, and bad choice of material on top of that (electrical tape's viscoelastic properties means it is stronger than you think when stretched quickly). No drag separation, true.

No separation at all, in fact.

The data for the above graph was downloaded standing over a hole in a rocky hillside.

I never saw the altimeter again. It received a fitting burial along with the 4" diameter nosecone and a portion of the fuselage.

Our hearts go out to you, sorry for your loss. Was this an extra large tube or something, like 6"/8"? It didn't separate nor pop then I wonder if something had to go wrong with the ejection charge or there was enough room that it held the pressure and bled off through the vents.

 

[Steve Shannon]

Our hearts go out to you, sorry for your loss. Was this an extra large tube or something, like 6"/8"? It didn't separate nor pop then I wonder if something had to go wrong with the ejection charge or there was enough room that it held the pressure and bled off through the vents.

4” diameter nosecone.

Sorry to horn in on John’s post. It’s always a good idea to ground test ejection charges, even when using motor deployment. A 4” rocket body has 4 times the volume of a 2” rocket body, assuming the same length.
Also, factory charges cannot possibly be perfectly sized for every rocket they fly in. When CTI first introduced their 29mm motors we saw a rash of failures to deploy. We (members of our Montana based club) wrote to Jeroen and he explained how to add more BP to the factory charge and CTI ended up increasing the factory charge.

 

[John Beans]

Our hearts go out to you, sorry for your loss. Was this an extra large tube or something, like 6"/8"? It didn't separate nor pop then I wonder if something had to go wrong with the ejection charge or there was enough room that it held the pressure and bled off through the vents.

It was quite a while back, I've gotten over it. Never fun at the time, though, and pretty public.

4" diameter Madcow Super DX3, if I remember correctly.

Painted bright orange so I could find it if necessary.

Not at all necessary, as it turned out.

The only photo I can find is a cheesy AltimeterThree promo shot I did at the time for the mobile app.

Careful eyes will notice the strakes I added. More than my usual, "Why bother painting this?" that I usually did back then.

 

[RocketmanAleks]

@PayLoad, out of curiosity, are you doing anything to strengthen the fins on your LOC Vulcanite? A J425 is going to get that thing moving past Mach, and 1/8" plywood could start doing some interesting things. I bring it up merely as a suggestion, as I hate to see people have issues on cert flights.

As for the test, I recommend you just run through the practice exam a few times a day the week(s) leading up to taking the test. The ones you miss, dig a little deeper and try to figure out why you thought the answer was what you thought, and correct your thinking. A few days, and you'll be acing the practice exam. I'm not great at tests either, but having done prep as I've described, I did just fine on the actual test. The questions are the same as the practice exam, it's just a matter of which one's you'll get.

 

[ksaves2]

Going for Level 2 Cert NAR.

I know rocketry, I'm just lousy at testing. Am I worrying over nothing?

LOC Vulcanite on a J425R already built, just need to paint.

Shoot, just study the questions from both groups. You'll do fine. I rushed my TRA L2 flight as I wanted to do Research motors with the prefecture I was in that was "going over to the dark side". First flight attempt had a deployment failure on a single deploy rocket with a J350 and hit the ground. It was an essentially 4 inch diameter "Estes" type cardboard tubed rocket that I designed on the "Rocksim" program. I was bummed but members of the prefecture said, "Awwwwww, just stick an extension on a coupler on the bunged tube and it will be fine." It was a 4 inch cardboard tubed rocket, not a fiberglass job. The fincan I made was armored with aerospace grade 2545B epoxy. It was intact without issue. I analyzed it and the loose black grains in the engine grain bag were from the ejection charge and stupidhead didn't realize that because I was too "green". They leaked out of the canister and I was too stupid to realize that. The ejection charge was "undercharged". Will never do that again!
Brought the rocket back up to length on the repair and the second flight was a shoe-in. Still have the rocket. Has flown many times thereafter as I converted it to dual deploy after life as a single deploy rocket.
Anyone who can fly a large cardboard tubed rocket, not reinforced by fiberglass and can get it to work nominally without zippers is a master in my book. I did and I "ain't going back there!" Fiberglass tubes from here on out as they are more forgiving for my "stupidness".
O.K. Modroc stuff I still fly cardboard with the max of an E-30 but that's as far as I go in a smallish launch site. Oh, but I have some "short" cardboard rocs I've flown with a G and are "ok". (Had trackers in those.) Aw gosh, I did some DD "I's" that worked perfectly fine but of course that was at a waivered launch site. Study and you'll pass your test. I got a "100" on my TRA test back in the day. So it was also recognized by NAR and I pay to both groups. NAR even looked up my old number from the 1960's and gave it back to me!
Kurt

 

[C.O.B.H.C.]

Going for Level 2 Cert NAR.

I know rocketry, I'm just lousy at testing. Am I worrying over nothing?

LOC Vulcanite on a J425R already built, just need to paint.

Yes you're worrying over nothing. It's all common knowledge and common sense stuff you should already know by the time you're going for your level 2. Back when I did my L2 in 2007 I think I read over the practice test prior maybe five times at the most.

I got my level 2 on my first attempt with a Public Enemy Rockets Extreme Performer on an AeroTech J460T. It was also duel deployment with redundant altimeters a Perfect Flite MAWD and a Perfect Flite HiAlts45K.

 

[askrob]

I will admit it took me some time to past the test. I'm not a very good test taker. It always stresses me, and even though I can try to memorize the answer, I will second guess myself.

I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but will share my experience.
I took the test 2 times back in April. Admittedly, I had studied for the previous test version, but hadn't studied fully on the new test.
This past Airfest, I took 1 test and failed. My wife then said, I think you are going to fast and not comprehending the question. It's true, I struggle with reading. Many times I forget what I just read.

Anyways, I slowed down, took the test, and missed 1 question!

I had my Madcow DX3 Dual with me. I bought a J250 the same day and launched, and recovered successfully, dual deploy with main set at 500ft. I named the rocket perseverance, but in retrospect, I should have named it "I passed the dang test!"

I had previously launched my Madcow DX3 on an I (don't remember which one), so at least I had some experience with it.

The next day I launched it on a K450, and got close to 10,000 ft.!

Now I'm starting to consider level 3. I should probably get used to redundant dual deploy first, but I think I can do it.

 

[Steve Shannon]

I will admit it took me some time to past the test. I'm not a very good test taker. It always stresses me, and even though I can try to memorize the answer, I will second guess myself.

I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but will share my experience.
I took the test 2 times back in April. Admittedly, I had studied for the previous test version, but hadn't studied fully on the new test.
This past Airfest, I took 1 test and failed. My wife then said, I think you are going to fast and not comprehending the question. It's true, I struggle with reading. Many times I forget what I just read.

Anyways, I slowed down, took the test, and missed 1 question!

I had my Madcow DX3 Dual with me. I bought a J250 the same day and launched, and recovered successfully, dual deploy with main set at 500ft. I named the rocket perseverance, but in retrospect, I should have named it "I passed the dang test!"

I had previously launched my Madcow DX3 on an I (don't remember which one), so at least I had some experience with it.

The next day I launched it on a K450, and got close to 10,000 ft.!

Now I'm starting to consider level 3. I should probably get used to redundant dual deploy first, but I think I can do it.

Thanks for sharing your experience. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.

 

[tsmith1315]

I had my Madcow DX3 Dual with me. I bought a J250 the same day and launched, and recovered successfully, dual deploy with main set at 500ft. I named the rocket perseverance

Perserverance is perfect!

Thanks for sharing your experience. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Indeed, that's a great story and something to be proud of. Congratulations on your successful L2 certification!

 

[UhClem]

I've been reading my study guide since 2012, I think 10 years is enough.

The NAR revised their certification system in 1996 and introduced the shiny new level 2 written test at that years NSL at Argonia, KS. It wasn't a good weekend for flying rockets. Since Saturday was a blowout, I spent some time going over the study guide they had handed out and took the test later that day. Not a great score but I did pass.

Theses days I highly recommend reading the reference materials like NFPA 1127 and FAR Part 101. There are details there that aren't covered in the exam but are still important.

 

[PayLoad]

Taking test tomorrow.

I score 100% on practice exams, only way I'll fail is if I choke.

I'm not even bringing my Level 2 cert rocket (Yo, Certify Dis, Too) to the launch, even though it is ready. No distractions.

I AM bringing my level 1 cert rocket (Yo, Certify Dis) and an I200 to launch it, after the test, in celebration or to cheer me up. We'll see which

 

[Hobie1dog]

Taking test tomorrow.

I score 100% on practice exams, only way I'll fail is if I choke.

I'm not even bringing my Level 2 cert rocket (Yo, Certify Dis, Too) to the launch, even though it is ready. No distractions.

you'll be wishing you would have brought your L2 rocket after passing the written test

 

[Off Grid Gecko]

you'll be wishing you would have brought your L2 rocket after passing the written test

I think it's a sound decision. It's not a race

 

[jadebox]

Years ago we worked with a company that developed training materials and courses for businesses. They gave us a brief course on how to create training materials and answered a question that I had never thought to ask.

Why are the quizzes we are required to take after reviewing a training package so easy?

It turns out they are designed that way - not so that everyone will pass, but because the quiz is more a part of the training than a way to test you on it.

If the questions were tricky, for example having possible answers for multiple choice questions that are nearly identical, it might cause you in the future to remember the wrong choice. By making the right choice more obvious, you are more likely to recall it.

So, when studying the test questions, only look at the test questions and the correct answers. Don't look at all of the choices. This way, when you take the test, you will be more likely to spot the right answers.

 

[Hobie1dog]

besides taking a yellow hi-lighter and going over the correct answer, pick out certain key words which match a word in the question and underline it with a red ink pen.