Competition Events
The US Model Rocket Sporting Code ("Pink Book") describes rules for 27 different rocket competition events. The Pink Book is a free benefit of NAR membership.
NAR Competition covers three skill areas:
- Altitude - How to maximize altitude without just switching to a more powerful motor? There is more to optimizing a model rocket for increased altitude performance than making it as light and small as possible. Model rockets that consistently and reliably outperform other similar models typically exhibit a high degree of craftsmanship. In order to be tracked, your model must be made visible at apogee, and for some events be able to recover it.
- Duration - Merely getting a model rocket to drift away to the next county is only a fringe benefit to challenging the NAR member to develop skills in reliable recovery system deployment. Imagine building model rockets that never lawn dart, parachutes that always deploy, shock cords that never break, and gliders that never crash. This is what top competitors have spent years trying to achieve, and have spent just as long in teaching others how to do.
- Craftsmanship - Building beautiful flying scale models of sounding rockets, missiles, and space launch vehicles can be an engrossing and rewarding pastime. Many NAR members devote all of their hobby-time to building such models. NAR competition offers you the opportunity to showcase and improve on your talents.
Additionally, there is another category of events that do not quite fit into any of the above categories.
- Miscellaneous Events - Spot Landing and Research and Development are two of the most popular of the miscellaneous events.
Official US Records can be set in many of these competition events.