I'm struggling to understand the benefits of joining a rocketry club and /or assocation?
Sure they made sense pre-internet, but in today's information age and being a scratch building LPR older retired fart such as myself, what's the benefit?
There's a local spot here where I can launch, and I've got all my own launch gear.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments.
National organization = liability insurance and protection of the hobby
Club = a good flying field where waivers and such are taken care of
Otherwise, I tend to agree with you. I cringe when I see the cliched response to a newbie on the forum:
Newbie: "Hi, I am new here. I would like to launch rockets with my 8 year old kid."
TRF guy: "Welcome to the forum! First off, join your local club."
Aargh! Why is joining a club so important? Club launches are full of old men, require a long drive to get there, have time-consuming launch queues, and then some stranger behind the LCO table launches your rocket. Is that fun for an 8 year old?
How about starting out on your own? Build a launch system and press the button yourself. Fly from the local schoolyard, park, or backyard (Hell, back in the day, we launched from the middle of my suburban street). Collect the neighborhood kids to join you. Quickly learn the performance difference between A, B, and C motors. Learn to play the wind to avoid landing in the woods or in the cranky old lady's yard. Chase the rocket and catch it (small Estes rocket, of course). Life's simple pleasures......
I am not much of a joiner, so the second approach appeals to me. As for information, I have learned more on this forum than anywhere else. By a long shot.