Just received my latest issue of Sport Rocketry, and I have to say that will all of the commentary about ER and HPR, it is nice to see that Sport Rocketry is providing a good mix of low, mid, and high-power rocketry. The issue contains the Rocket Motor Certification Listing, which is nice to see given the difficulties that there sometimes appear to be with getting information from other sources.
Last but definitely not least, is a great article on model rocketry and the Civil Air Patrol, showing our Squadron hosting the Group 7 'model rocket weekend' last year (on pages 20-22). We hope to do a repeat of this next month, but here's a problem--what to use for mid-power rockets? My local hobby shop that used to stock Aerotech no longer does, and it is difficult (especially with the current situation) to get a 'quantity' of E-F-G engines, and the rockets to fly them in, here in Southern California.
So, if anyone has a suggestion for a budget-priced mid-power rocket, along with a source of supply for whatever SU engines for said rocket, it would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, we will be stuck having the Estes 'E' engines as our top level motor for this year.
Note to Fred: this is what I needed all of the parts for... (and it was great to see you on Saturday!)
David Erbas-White
P.S. I flew my Estes Saturn V on an Aerotech E15-4 at the SCRA launch this Saturday, first time on anything other than an Estes 'D'. The flight was fantastic (best flight ever, after 4 flights on D12-3s), but it highlights the problem of finding any more SU engines that would work for this model. I certainly hope that sooner or later either Aerotech will get their act back together, or that someone else will enter the market for the mid-power engines.