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New FAA Rocketry Regulations Issued
The FAA has just issued the long-awaited official change to the Federal Air Regulations pertaining to hobby rocketry that they have been developing for several years. These changes have been through the public comment phase and both the NAR and numerous individual NAR members provided comments, many of which were adopted.
The changes are extensive and are well-explained by the FAA in the official announcement of the new rules. The biggest change affecting the largest number of NAR members is that the category of "model rocket" is expanded up to a liftoff mass of 1500 grams and no FAA notification of any kind is any longer required for launches of model rockets up to this limit. Previously notification of the FAA was required for "large model rockets" over 453 grams. |
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NAR Insurance
The NAR's $1M liability insurance coverage is one of the most important benefits of NAR membership. The individual member insurance that is included with your dues provides primary coverage (after a deductible) for your own liability for rocket flights that you personally conduct and that are flown in accordance with the NAR Safety Code, regardless of where or when they are flown.
The "site owner" insurance that sections can obtain (now for free) protects the owner of a flying site from his liability resulting from launches held by an NAR section -- once again if they are fully in compliance with NAR Safety Codes. This insurance is almost always required by a launch site owner before they will permit rocket flying on their property. For complete information on the details of NAR insurance, see the FAQ's on the NAR website. These have just been updated. |
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Survey Results Posted
The results of the online survey of NAR members which was conducted between August 1 and November 1 are now posted on the NAR website. |
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NAR Technical Services (NARTS) has a wide range of NAR and technical products available for sale through their online store.
New this month: CD with all 24 of the R&D reports from NARAM-50. NAR Tech Review #20, $15.
NAR Historical Films and Photos, a 2 DVD set with dozens of films and hundreds of photos of NAR events and members since the 1950's, $15.
NAR Membership Pins, commemorating 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, or 40 years of membership. $4.50 to $10 each. |
Past Issues of Electronic Rocketeer Posted
Previous issues of this electronic newsletter are now posted on the NAR website in the news archives section. |
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Updated Pink Book Posted
The NAR Contest & Records Committee has released an updated edition of the U.S. Model Rocket Sporting Code (the "Pink Book") reflecting the rules changes approved in July for the current 2008-2009 competition year. These rule changes included approval of electronic altimeter use in altitude events and approval of several FAI (international) events for use in US competition. The new edition is posted on the NAR website. | |
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Message from the NAR President
Greetings!
The FAA has just implemented a complete revision of their regulations affecting hobby rocketry flying. This affects all of us, and the changes are in my opinion mostly reasonable and in some cases very helpful. FAA listened carefully and respectfully to all of our inputs in the process of developing these new rules .
The results of the NAR member online survey that so many of you participated in are going to be very important to your Board of Trustees as we shape the services and guide the future direction of your NAR. We are already studying these results, and have posted them on the NAR website as well. Much of this newsletter and many of the weekly updates to our website's content are in response to feedback from the survey, and the survey results will also shape the agenda of our March 2009 Board meeting at NARCON. As other examples of response, a project to restructure our website is now underway under Mark Bundick's leadership, and Tom Beach has lined up an author for a series of Sport Rocketry articles on high-power rocket construction (but he could use more authors on high power technology topics!).
Is your section doing anything to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo missions? The first anniversary date was for Apollo 7 on October 11 and many NAR members built and contributed Saturn 1B models for a spectacular commemorative dinner hosted by LAUNCH magazine for Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham. If you're doing something to commemorate one of the other missions, from Apollo 8's launch on December 21 to Apollo 11's landing on July 20, let us all know in the NAR Sections Yahoo group forum.
Best wishes for a happy holiday season and new year, and may Santa bring you all the rocketry items on your list. Personally, I asked Santa to bring me a favorable decision by the court on our long-running lawsuit against BATFE since no other means of getting a decision, including our recent request for a hearing, seems to be working!
Be safe, have fun, and pay forward.
Trip Barber, NAR 4322
NAR President
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Information on TARC, the world's largest rocket contest and a national event for teams of 7th-12th grade students, is available at the event website, and there is more information on TARC on the NAR website's Team America page. Registration for TARC 2009 closed on December 1.
NAR Senior Member volunteers are needed to serve as "mentors", or local rocketry advisors, to TARC teams that register from places near where they live. If you'd like to be part of this rewarding "pay forward" NAR program, contact president@nar.org. |
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NAR History Program
Our celebration of the first 50 years of our existence during 2007 - 2008 brought to our attention how unique and interesting our history as a hobby and as an organization really is. While some of the most important physical objects of our history are currently safely stored in museum or private collections, few of them are actually on display, at least so far. But there is much more to our history than just the old models; there are the old clubs, individuals, and events that shaped what we are today and that also deserve to be remembered. The "NAR History" DVD collection of old films and photos (now available from NARTS, see their ad) was a great start.
In 2007 the NAR Board received an offer from long-time member Art Nestor to serve as the "NAR Historian", and to assemble a digital archive or online museum of photos, newsletters, and personal narratives of members, sections, and events from the first 50 years of the NAR. Art has received and assembled a lot of material already, and is organizing it into an archive that we will be able to access through the NAR website. But he needs lots more content and is missing information on many of the NAR's early sections and members. So if you have digital photos of people, events, or historic models or other objects from the past, or scanned copies of newsletters, please contact Art Nestor and make them available so they can become part of the NAR's emerging "digital museum". | |
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Range Safety: Pre-Flight Safety Check
The first and best line of defense for ensuring flight safety at a rocket launch is at the point of pre-flight safety check. At any organized launch, some of the most experienced fliers should be assigned to a shift of this important range crew duty. A good safety check-in procedure can catch and help the flier correct many of the errors (even by experienced fliers) that might otherwise result in a safety problem in flight. Sometimes rockets have serious issues that can't be easily corrected on the field, and in these cases, the safety check-in person has the responsibility and needs to have the authority to say "sorry, this rocket cannot fly here today, because ...".
Some of the most important things to look for at safety check include:
1. Is the rocket likely to fly stably and straight and are all its parts (fins, nose, etc.) likely to continue to remain attached during boost?
2. Is the rocket powered by a motor with enough thrust, enough power, and the right delay time to have a safe trajectory, and is this motor secured in the model well enough that it will not pop out at ejection?
3. Is the recovery device appropriate in size and type to produce a safe landing speed?
4. Are all the elements of the recovery system chain -- from attachment to the body, through the shock cord system to the recovery device itself, strong enough to remain connected at ejection, and are they protected and packed in such a way that they are likely to deploy fully?
The best single "how to do it" reference on doing safety check is the material for the NAR's "Trained Safety Officer" self-paced qualification program that is posted on the NAR website. Check it out -- and maybe even consider earning this elite optional qualification and endorsement on your NAR card. | |
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