Message from the President

Message from the NAR President (June 2023)

Fellow NAR Member,

I hope your Memorial Weekend was relaxing and, like me you spent some of that time at a rocket launch. I was at the National Sport Launch held near Alamosa Colorado at an excellent launch site. The event was sponsored by the San Luis Valley Rocketeers and hosted by Event Director, Matt Abbey. Matt was an excellent host, the range was awesomely huge, and the accommodations great. Thanks to all who volunteered to make this event successful and thanks to all who attended to fly. I am looking forward to next year!

Safety Minute:

I would like to bring up a safety issue that occurred over the weekend. This is intended to be a reminder to all about the importance of ensuring that onboard or component electronic systems should be operated and secured in a safe manner, on and off the flying field.

An incident happened at one of the hotels in town where some of the National Sport Launch attendees were staying. Please note, while the incident is still being investigated, I will not provide specific information about what happened. In brief, a high-power rocket motor accidently ignited in a hotel room. There were no serious injuries, but the room was damaged and guests at the hotel had to leave their rooms while the fire department controlled the situation and cleared the smoke. Let me remind all of important safety considerations:

• Please avoid bringing high-power motors into hotel rooms, especially with ignitors inserted into the motors.
• Do not assemble ejection charges in hotel rooms.
• Do not assemble complex rockets in hotel rooms.
• Treat assembled rocket motors, igniters, and ejection charges with care and high levels of safety.
• Please, make sure that all electronics are turned off and disconnected from any igniters or ejection charges when not in a safe location.
• Please understand the safe operation of all electronics you use.
• Please ensure there are no igniters in any rocket motors, particularly high-power motors, unless on the pad or otherwise deemed safe at an outdoor location.
• Please follow the NAR Model Rocket and High-Power Safety Codes on and off the flying field.

Let’s be safe out there!

Additionally, I am aware that there is some chatter on one or more of the rocketry forums about the use of rails for larger rockets. Apparently, the rumor is that the NAR Board of Trustees is secretly considering implementing a rule/policy change that would require all larger rockets to be launched by rails only. Although some NAR Sections have local range requirements that rockets above a certain size must be launched from a rail, there is not a NAR-wide requirement for requiring rails to be used for mid and high-power rockets. Our NAR Sections can implement launch requirements that are more stringent than the NAR safety codes; organizationally, we leave this to the discretion of the local club. The NAR encourages factual and open discussions about safety issues related to the hobby and discourages ill-informed discussions based on conjecture or rumor that is unfounded.

Thanks, and now back to fun things.

In case you missed it, the American Rocketry Challenge (ARC) finals were held on May 20 at Great Meadow Foundation. This year’s event was fun and well-run, as usual. The winning team, Hardin Valley Academy from Knoxville, Tennessee, were a first year Rocketry Challenge team and are looking forward to going to Paris in a few weeks to fly against teams from France, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to all the NAR volunteers who dedicated their time and effort to make the American Rocketry Challenge a success. Your commitment to inspiring the next generation of rocket scientists and engineers is truly commendable. Without your hard work, we would not have been able to provide such a valuable experience to the participants. We appreciate your contributions and hope to continue working with you in the future. Thank you once again for your support!

Until next month, be safe, have fun and pay it forward.

John N. Hochheimer
NAR President
NAR 74537 L3

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Message from the President, (May 2023)

Fellow NAR Member,

I want to start out this month’s column with a sincere thank you to Trip Barber for pulling together content for the many issues of the eRocketeer over the past 5 years. Trip has been dedicated to making the NAR the best we can be and has spent a lifetime giving back to the community and pitches in when he sees a need. I am sure he will find something to fill the time he spent corralling articles and content from our contributors. Thanks Trip!

In case it is not obvious, we have changed the format of the eRocketeer. Todd Schweim, our Director of Communications developed this new look for our monthly newsletter, and I am excited to hear how our members feel about it. Please go to our Members Forum to let us know your thoughts.

ARC – American Rocketry Challenge – has a new brand identity. So, drop the “The” and the “T” moving forward, as we will now refer to the world’s largest rocket contest as ARC or the American Rocketry Contest. I like the change and hope to get TARC out of my vocabulary and replace it with ARC.

Speaking of ARC, I know there are 100 teams practicing, getting their rockets and gear ready for a trip to the finals, raising money for travel expenses, and bragging to friends about their accomplishments. Thanks to all of the volunteers who help students to build and fly rockets as a part of ARC. And a big thanks to the range crew who will gather on May 19-20 for the 2023 ARC finals.

Have you signed up for and are you planning on attending the National Sport Launch West? I’ll be there and hope to get some of my rockets out from being packed for moving and ready to fly. As your flying season gears up, please inspect them to make sure they are in top shape and ready to fly. Look at things like parachutes, shock cords, glue and epoxy joints, and electronics before you head out to a flying site.

Another safety reminder – let’s continue to be vigilant about fire safety. Make sure your fire equipment is in good shape and ready for action. Clear areas around launch pads of combustible materials. Keep an eye out for potential problems when rockets eject on or near the ground; don’t assume that nothing is burning, go inspect and make sure everything is safe.

Board elections are open for voting; please vote. Also, we have changes to our bylaws that require a member vote to ratify. Voting is easy and can be done in person, by mail, or electronically.

Until next month, be safe, have fun and pay it forward.

John N. Hochheimer
NAR President
NAR 74537 L3

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Message from the President, (April 2023)

Fellow NAR Member,

The NAR volunteer community has lost a key and dedicated volunteer. Our NARTS manager, Brad Cline, passed away unexpectedly. Brad served as the NARTS manager for about 15 years. He did an excellent job of updating our store offerings and was praised by our customers for his attention to detail and timely fulfillment of orders. We will miss Brad and our prayers are with his family.

Due to the passing of our NARTS manager, we will temporarily close the NARTS store until we can get a new manager in place and everything back up and running. We will post notices on the NAR website to inform our members of changes.

Don’t forget to update and discuss your safety plans and actions with your Sections. Now is a great time to update and clean safety equipment, replenish the first aid kit, and make sure all emergency contact lists are up to date.

At our January Board meeting, we made the following actions:

• Audit of NAR Finances – the Board is working with our accountant to pursue an audit of our financial practices. This is being done to ensure we are following the best possible financial controls.
• Pursue 501(c)3 group/subordinate affiliation – this status will allow NAR Sections to be recognized in the same IRS status as the NAR. It is a procedural action and the Board will work with our accountant to determine the best course of action. Once granted, our Sections will be able to have donations recognized in the same manner as they would be if someone or organization donated to our parent organization, the NAR.
• Periodic review of dues structure – the Board agreed that it would be a good practice to periodically (at least every 2 years) to review our dues structure. This does not necessarily mean increases every 2 years, rather that the Board will make a deliberate effort to ensure that our dues reflects current financial needs of the organization.

The NAR Board also performed a review of By-Laws:

• Cleaned up gender references
• Changed “model” rocketry to “sport” rocketry
• Explicitly refers to Voting by electronic means – this was done to reflect current practices in voting.
• Clarified Annual business meeting – previously, there was some ambiguity in language between Board meetings and the Annual meeting of the association. Changes clarify the differences.
• Participation on NAR communication platforms – the changes clarify that participation on NAR communication platforms (like the NAR Members Forum) are member benefits and there are policies of participant decorum that will be enforced. Non-compliance with the policies can result in privileges being revoked, which is not considered to be an official NAR discipline action subject to a tribunal review.
• Membership Classes: Changed Leader members (16-21 years) and Senior members (21-25 years) to Young Adult members (16-25 years)
• Board of Trustees: Board may have up to 2 Young Adult Trustees who are recommended by Nominating Committee and ratified by Board. Young Member Trustees will have the same privileges and responsibilities as Senior Trustees. They are eligible 18-24 years at nomination and the term is 1 year and can be renewed for 2 additional years
• Officers are Senior Trustees
• Board working sessions can be held at the discretion of the President
• All financial reporting will be in the form of the IRS 990

These changes were accepted by the Board by unanimous agreement and will be included in the voting package being sent to all members. Members will be asked for a yes or no vote on the collective changes as presented. A copy of the revisions can be viewed on our website as a part of the minutes of the January meeting. The changes will also be included as a part of the voting materials for the Trustees election. The Board recommends members accept these changes.

Registration is open for NSL-West. Join us for a National Sport Launch May 27-29 in Alamosa, Colorado. This is the place if you are interested in flying your high power rockets. Event Director, Matt Abbey has a 52,000′ Waiver in hand.

Please remember that your Members Forum is for all members and our expectation is that postings are done in a civil manner and follow the spirit of our safety codes and NAR policies. Please be courteous to each other.

Until next month, please be safe, pay it forward, and have fun!

John N. Hochheimer
NAR President
NAR 74537 L3

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Message from the President, (March 2023)

Fellow NAR Member,

Congratulations to NASA astronaut and fellow rocketeer Woody Hoburg, the pilot on the SpaceX Crew 6 mission to the International Space Station that launched on March 2, 2023. Woody flew rockets before he started riding them! He was a TARC competitor from North Allegheny High School in PA in the first year of the TARC program (2002-2003) and went on from there to larger high power rockets and to MIT, first as a student then as a professor, before his selection as an astronaut.

As an organization, the NAR is doing so much to help young rocketeers succeed in academics, go on to STEM careers, and now even go to space. That’s right, when you, our members, help a young child fly their first rocket, do build sessions with scout and school groups, volunteer to mentor TARC, NASA Student Launch, Spaceport America, and ARLISS teams, your contributions are enriching the lives of these children and young adults.

What else can you do to encourage rocketry? Did you know members ages 14-17 are eligible to participate in our Junior HPR Level 1 program. This program offers a great opportunity to mentor younger members who are interested in high power rocketry. When we start our younger members off on a path of good building skills and a solid understanding of the nuances of building rockets to withstand the power of more powerful motors, you are giving these rocketeers a solid base to grow. For more information, go to our website.

Our flying season is getting started for the year. I am looking for some free time to check out my fleet for safety and repair needs. You can make your first launch of the year a safe and successful one by checking out your rockets, cleaning them up, and making sure they are flight worthy. Pay extra attention to those rockets that have been retired for a while; some of our building materials don’t always age well.

NAR Sections should also remember to do an annual safety stand-down. Section leaders should take some time at the beginning of your next launch or during an upcoming meeting to review procedures, make improvements to outdated safety operations, and clean up that safety gear to be ready for the season.

I’ll conclude with a plea to all of our members to fly safely and ensure our excellent safety record remains intact. The NAR recently paid our annual insurance payment — $107,000 this year. A significant contributor to the premium is our membership numbers (not a bad problem). I can’t imagine what the bill would be if we did not have the excellent record of safety we have. I also want to remind all that our insurance is not an excuse to fly unsafely. Please follow the safety codes, use common sense, don’t fly under marginally safe conditions, and help us promote our safety culture. NAR insurance is a safety net for good safe culture, not risky behavior.

Until next month, please be safe, pay it forward, and have fun!

John N. Hochheimer
NAR President
NAR 74537 L3