Porthos II
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
- Messages
- 180
- Reaction score
- 0
I guess the time to start campaigning has come for the Tripoli BOD! Below is my resume submitted to the election committee.
Erik Gates
2006 Tripoli BOD Candidate
ERIK GATES
TRA # 8273
Level 3
Im Erik Gates; you may have seen me on Master Blasters launching a playhouse and/or a Mini Cooper. Or on Mythbusters helping Jamie and Adam bust rocket related myths. You also might have seen the 1/10 scale Saturn 1B project we are currently building with the ROC club. Proud builder and flyer of Porthos II and the Jayhawk. I guess I am having way too much fun as a Tripoli member!
Like most of you, I am a BAR that started flying model rockets as a kid. We grew up in Southern California in the '60s and '70s right smack in the middle of the aerospace industry. Dad was an engineer with TRW for over 20 years. He worked on the first lunar lander, the Pioneer space probeand on model rockets with his four sons at the kitchen table. The Sepulveda Dam recreation area was our range. My brother Dirk and I were the serious rocket nerds and we had fun building complex rockets together.
Years went by; we grew up, married, had kids of our own. Though my father passed on and Southern California is no longer the aerospace community it once was, Dirk and I still were fascinated with space and rocketry. So it's no wonder that almost as soon as the kids were old enough to push a button, we had them building rockets. I was the first back into the sport and soon pulled Dirk in as well.
We were frequent customers at Marty's Hobbies in Thousand Oaks, constantly buying more B, C, & D motors. One day we noticed the F & G Aerotech motors right next to the Estes motors. Our curiosity piqued, we walked out of the store with an Aerotech Initiator Kit. We were in rocket heaven! Then we happened across a copy of High Power Rocketry Magazine at the hobby store. We marveled at the sizes of the rockets and the huge motors. We had to get into this. Dirk joined Tripoli immediately, but once again, I made the real first move. For Dirk's birthday I bought him a PML Sudden Rush. Turnabout is fair play, and for my birthday later that same summer Dirk bought me a PML Nimbus. We were on our way.
Dirk received his Tripoli election materials in the mail and noticed that his long time friend and mentor, Ken Biba, was a member of Tripoli, too, and he was already certified level 3. The next time they chatted, Ken agreed to meet us at ROCstock XI and show us the ropes. So we dug out the rockets and headed out to the launch. We were overwhelmed when we got there. But Ken quickly lined us up with the essentials; black powder, lube, and our first motor reload. Dirk got his Sudden Rush in the air at that launch, and although he didn't get his level 1 certification, we were hooked.
The next few launches Dirk and I did our level 1 and 2 flights on dual deploy, electronic deploy rockets! We were not certing to get the certifications, we were certing on rockets we wanted to fly. We loved the ability to get rockets back, rather than watching them float away into the distance.
I have enjoyed the camaraderie that the rocket launches have brought into my life. The friendships that I have gained through high power rocketry will last my lifetime. I would like to give back to the rocketry community, and serving on the TRA BOD I think would be a way that I could accomplish this goal.
I think TRA has come a long way the last few years in opening communications between the BOD and the members, freeing itself from the frustrating magazine issue. I would enjoy helping TRA to continue down this path, and would like to keep communication open and flowing between the BOD and members. I would like to push the magazine proposal forward, as the reason I am here today is because of an HPR magazine I found on the newsstand. I feel we need to get an HPR magazine back on the newsstands if we want to continue to grow and expand high power rocketry!
I personally would like to work on the California issues that plague the flyers and motor manufacturers wanting to sell their motors in my home state. I was a critical player while running RocketSilo in getting the fees lowered in California and feel that was only a start. I still feel the California restrictions are far too burdensome on the flyers. I have helped start a CSFM committee, with the help of other southern California rocket enthusiasts, and would like to see some resolve on the rocketry restrictions in California.
I strongly support the motor certification process we have in place and I think that it is doing a good job of making sure the consumer gets what they paid for. When I started flying high power rockets there was only one major motor supplier, now we have close to a dozen choices for motors. Obviously the process is not too burdensome to overcome and I would like to see those choices expand even more in the future.
I also would like to see the experimental end of TRA expand and the envelopes pushed. I have enjoyed the ability to build and fly rockets that push the envelope of rocketry as we know it today, and hope to continue to do so. I think it is important to expand our horizons, to add to the list of approved motor types for experimental rocketry, and continue to be a leader in the high power rocketry arena.
I hope to see electronic voting for TRA elections, and would like to help in any way possible to accomplish this goal.
Our most pressing issue is the BATF regulation. This issue needs to be resolved for high power rocketry to expand and grow as I would like to see. I would work with the board to continue to fight the regulations, and help resolve this issue.
Personal
I am presently an Electrical Contractor and have been licensed in the State of California since 1994.
Married to my best friend, Beth - August 3rd, 2005
Father of three, and have had custody of my children for 14 years Jessica 18, Ashley 16, and David 15.
Live in Thousand Oaks, Ventura County, California
43 years old
In conclusion, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my resume and would enjoy the opportunity to work hard for the Tripoli Rocketry Organization to help continue making this organization to be as great as it is today, and even better tomorrow. I will greatly appreciate your support and your vote!
Erik Gates
2006 Tripoli BOD Candidate
ERIK GATES
TRA # 8273
Level 3
Im Erik Gates; you may have seen me on Master Blasters launching a playhouse and/or a Mini Cooper. Or on Mythbusters helping Jamie and Adam bust rocket related myths. You also might have seen the 1/10 scale Saturn 1B project we are currently building with the ROC club. Proud builder and flyer of Porthos II and the Jayhawk. I guess I am having way too much fun as a Tripoli member!
Like most of you, I am a BAR that started flying model rockets as a kid. We grew up in Southern California in the '60s and '70s right smack in the middle of the aerospace industry. Dad was an engineer with TRW for over 20 years. He worked on the first lunar lander, the Pioneer space probeand on model rockets with his four sons at the kitchen table. The Sepulveda Dam recreation area was our range. My brother Dirk and I were the serious rocket nerds and we had fun building complex rockets together.
Years went by; we grew up, married, had kids of our own. Though my father passed on and Southern California is no longer the aerospace community it once was, Dirk and I still were fascinated with space and rocketry. So it's no wonder that almost as soon as the kids were old enough to push a button, we had them building rockets. I was the first back into the sport and soon pulled Dirk in as well.
We were frequent customers at Marty's Hobbies in Thousand Oaks, constantly buying more B, C, & D motors. One day we noticed the F & G Aerotech motors right next to the Estes motors. Our curiosity piqued, we walked out of the store with an Aerotech Initiator Kit. We were in rocket heaven! Then we happened across a copy of High Power Rocketry Magazine at the hobby store. We marveled at the sizes of the rockets and the huge motors. We had to get into this. Dirk joined Tripoli immediately, but once again, I made the real first move. For Dirk's birthday I bought him a PML Sudden Rush. Turnabout is fair play, and for my birthday later that same summer Dirk bought me a PML Nimbus. We were on our way.
Dirk received his Tripoli election materials in the mail and noticed that his long time friend and mentor, Ken Biba, was a member of Tripoli, too, and he was already certified level 3. The next time they chatted, Ken agreed to meet us at ROCstock XI and show us the ropes. So we dug out the rockets and headed out to the launch. We were overwhelmed when we got there. But Ken quickly lined us up with the essentials; black powder, lube, and our first motor reload. Dirk got his Sudden Rush in the air at that launch, and although he didn't get his level 1 certification, we were hooked.
The next few launches Dirk and I did our level 1 and 2 flights on dual deploy, electronic deploy rockets! We were not certing to get the certifications, we were certing on rockets we wanted to fly. We loved the ability to get rockets back, rather than watching them float away into the distance.
I have enjoyed the camaraderie that the rocket launches have brought into my life. The friendships that I have gained through high power rocketry will last my lifetime. I would like to give back to the rocketry community, and serving on the TRA BOD I think would be a way that I could accomplish this goal.
I think TRA has come a long way the last few years in opening communications between the BOD and the members, freeing itself from the frustrating magazine issue. I would enjoy helping TRA to continue down this path, and would like to keep communication open and flowing between the BOD and members. I would like to push the magazine proposal forward, as the reason I am here today is because of an HPR magazine I found on the newsstand. I feel we need to get an HPR magazine back on the newsstands if we want to continue to grow and expand high power rocketry!
I personally would like to work on the California issues that plague the flyers and motor manufacturers wanting to sell their motors in my home state. I was a critical player while running RocketSilo in getting the fees lowered in California and feel that was only a start. I still feel the California restrictions are far too burdensome on the flyers. I have helped start a CSFM committee, with the help of other southern California rocket enthusiasts, and would like to see some resolve on the rocketry restrictions in California.
I strongly support the motor certification process we have in place and I think that it is doing a good job of making sure the consumer gets what they paid for. When I started flying high power rockets there was only one major motor supplier, now we have close to a dozen choices for motors. Obviously the process is not too burdensome to overcome and I would like to see those choices expand even more in the future.
I also would like to see the experimental end of TRA expand and the envelopes pushed. I have enjoyed the ability to build and fly rockets that push the envelope of rocketry as we know it today, and hope to continue to do so. I think it is important to expand our horizons, to add to the list of approved motor types for experimental rocketry, and continue to be a leader in the high power rocketry arena.
I hope to see electronic voting for TRA elections, and would like to help in any way possible to accomplish this goal.
Our most pressing issue is the BATF regulation. This issue needs to be resolved for high power rocketry to expand and grow as I would like to see. I would work with the board to continue to fight the regulations, and help resolve this issue.
Personal
I am presently an Electrical Contractor and have been licensed in the State of California since 1994.
Married to my best friend, Beth - August 3rd, 2005
Father of three, and have had custody of my children for 14 years Jessica 18, Ashley 16, and David 15.
Live in Thousand Oaks, Ventura County, California
43 years old
In conclusion, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my resume and would enjoy the opportunity to work hard for the Tripoli Rocketry Organization to help continue making this organization to be as great as it is today, and even better tomorrow. I will greatly appreciate your support and your vote!
