I was craving some deeper insight into our hobby and heard about Mark Canepa's book: Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships from a few other club members. I decided to buy it, and WOW, I have to say I was not disappointed.
I'll admit that I am not much of a reader. I read maybe a book a year. This book was so good, I really found it fascinating. The book does an amazing job of explaining the origins of high power rocketry. I have a newfound appreciation for some of the original ground breakers (rule breakers!) and the fight that had to be fought to establish our hobby.
Early on, I found myself viewing the NAR as the "bad guy" which is absolutely not the case, and the book does a great job of showing how the initial resistance of the NAR and seeming opposition to the high power guys was really just careful calculation about moving too quickly and wanting to make sure the work to establish the public and government perception of model rocketry as the safe hobby it is was not compromised. My respect for both organizations was cemented reading through the BATF legal battle and how both the NAR and Tripoli came together for the common cause. I knew what the eventual outcome was but reading through the sequence of events and rulings actually got me worked up. I'm thinking "How in the world are they gonna come out on top?". It was really interesting.
Finally, I loved seeing so many names mentioned that I recognized mostly from this forum, but also from my local club. Again, it really gives me a much stronger sense of where this hobby came from, how it was established, and gave me a newfound respect for why we have the rules we do and how fragile our situation could be if we abuse the privilege the hobby's forerunners fought so hard to establish.
I HIGHLY recommend this book. Anybody who reads this will come away with a much deeper respect for our hobby and the people who made it all possible.
I'll admit that I am not much of a reader. I read maybe a book a year. This book was so good, I really found it fascinating. The book does an amazing job of explaining the origins of high power rocketry. I have a newfound appreciation for some of the original ground breakers (rule breakers!) and the fight that had to be fought to establish our hobby.
Early on, I found myself viewing the NAR as the "bad guy" which is absolutely not the case, and the book does a great job of showing how the initial resistance of the NAR and seeming opposition to the high power guys was really just careful calculation about moving too quickly and wanting to make sure the work to establish the public and government perception of model rocketry as the safe hobby it is was not compromised. My respect for both organizations was cemented reading through the BATF legal battle and how both the NAR and Tripoli came together for the common cause. I knew what the eventual outcome was but reading through the sequence of events and rulings actually got me worked up. I'm thinking "How in the world are they gonna come out on top?". It was really interesting.
Finally, I loved seeing so many names mentioned that I recognized mostly from this forum, but also from my local club. Again, it really gives me a much stronger sense of where this hobby came from, how it was established, and gave me a newfound respect for why we have the rules we do and how fragile our situation could be if we abuse the privilege the hobby's forerunners fought so hard to establish.
I HIGHLY recommend this book. Anybody who reads this will come away with a much deeper respect for our hobby and the people who made it all possible.
