Is the model rocketry hobby dying?

Oh Lordy! I certainly HOPE so :)

It will grow again when cert as a gatekeeping function is eliminated.

ANY certified rocketeer shouold be able to certify any other rocketeer.

Further, certification should not be an access control tool, but a merit badge.

Jerry told you so.

Jerry

Who cares?

Not you.

You do not fly rockets and furthermore you are one of the leaders in the reduction of participation.

You have succeeded in your goal. Congrats.

Better than a job, eh?

Jerry

DUH!

Specifically how?

Not yet.

I have a job. When are you getting one?

Hardly. Kids can get started for a $30 starter set from Michaels or Hobby Lobby.

These folks were members because Harry had the wisdom to make them honorary members. perhaps today we should be making Homer Hickam, Bert Rutan, etc. honorary members.

Tried to work with them.No choice left but to sue.

Name me one NAR leader over the past decade who had a financial interest in the hobby.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Ithink Ray is keeping track. 8-)

They all do. They're interested in how much they're spending on their rocketry activities...

David Erbas-White

Bob you actually said something that took me off of "lurker status" and is actually a FANTASTIC idea. I don't know if you were serious or wanted sarcasm, but that is EXACTLY the type of PR that SHOULD be done. You should send that off you your NAR leadership friends for execution on that IDEA, and I don't mind you getting the credit for it!

Oh, Werner and Willey did attend laucnhes and science fairs. They participated and invested their time, money, and energy. So it wasn't just a piece of paper handed to them by Harry ... they ACTUALLY got involved :)

Just think if Burt or Homer (no not Simpson) were to attend a few launches and the publicity created ... just "thinking and paying forward" ...

Well I am sure Irvine will give you all the court docs you need, or at least tell you about them, but NAR really has dropped the ball in MANY ways over the years. And this current fiasco where they are suing the Fed is only making enemies and not friends in the District of Criminals, Washington D.C.

Werner and Ley, and others, saw the potential of model rocketry as a way to raise a generation of scientist, and researchers. Today its made in China, and the "bottom line", that motivate rocketry. Trust me, if Tunick could make more money selling Dog crap in 5lb sacks, than rockets, Estes/Centuri would be the leaders in Dog Crap Technologies! Vern has told me that he regrets what happened to his vision of model rocketry ... well thank God there is High-Power because without it, model rocketry would be in very very bad shape!

Now back to Lurking ... and I really mean that is a very good idea to get the big names involved ... you really do have a brain Bob ... despite what they say on the high-power groups :)

I don't disagree that we are making enemies to a degree but you have not experienced, first hand, the complete intransigence of our 'friends' at the BATFE. These guys simply do not negotiate. Period. We tried it for years before resorting to the courts.

Mark Johnson NAR Trustee, Retired

Harry had a LOT of connections. How we could use many of them today.

Homer has been to launches, both NAR and TRA. This was the first year commitments kept him away from the TARC finals. And he's occasionally posted to rmr. And if you need the "not Simpson" to know who we're talking about, you're reading the WRONG newsgroup!

But you're right. It's time that the NAR resumed handing out honorary memberships to notable people. The publicity would certainly help our cause. I'll add this to my list of things to bring up this summer at the NAR annual meeting.

So, let me throw this open and ask "Who else should be given honorary members?"

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Any Mercury-Gemini-Apollo astronauts Any Mercury-Gemini-Apollo controllers Guenther Wendt Bill Dana Current JPL unmanned mission project engineers (i.e., Mars Rover, Deep Impact, etc.) Sally Ride

and last, but definitely not least

TOM HANKS

(honorable mention to any actor who appeared in "From the Earth to the Moon")

David Erbas-White

P.S. John Travolta is a very high-profile pro-space guy, too.

You know who are lifetime members?

Folks like Bruce Kelly!!!!!

R O F L !!!!!

!!!!!

!!!!!

Correct.

Correct.

I actually give the man more credit than that. He has returned Estes "more" to a hobbiest philosophy. Seriously.

And he SOLD it for a reason. I regret selling USR, but as much as I wish my original vision was realized, they are selling kits anyway.

That was true for about 5 years.

Over.

Punishable offence.

TRA the list is LONG.

Jerry

This should be in the FAQ.

Hey NAR, you should have simply "lived the lifestyle instead".

Too late?

Why weren't they "transferred"?

Doing what?

Elsie Hickam, who so loved her Rocket Boys she let them destroy most of her cooking pots, pulverize her bathroom scale, and blow up her basement (twice) without resorting to either physical retaliation or reform school.

H3

It is better to confess ignorance than provide it.

To whom did you sell it? Did they buy a brand name, or a company?

You did, and look what it got you -- a felony conviction.