So am I legal?

This should be in the FAQ!

oops!

Nope.

No.

But you know very little about regulatory matters.

Tripoli members and webmasters do not read the regs, they just encourage you to "just fly rockets". Tripoli will take care of it for you :)

Jerry

Which can be fixed with the stroke of a pen.

Because it is model code and parts of SOME state laws. It is not a federal standard, law or regulation.

Thank god.

Correct and how horriffic that is, you have not even begun to realize yet.

No because all motors are exempot, so the definition doesn't matter.

They cannot easily change the regs via a NPRM, so they unilaterally change rules on PERMIT HOLDERS, which TRA has caused all HPR vendors and most HPR users to be.

Ironic, eh??

So quite strokin you pickle & stoke your pen.

You know, the details of compliance and certification and the lawsuit, ad infinitum, ARE confusing. But, I think, the root causes of all this are being overlooked. It's not the chemistry, IMHO.

Schumer, Lautenberg, and Moschella made it quite clear, I thought, that explosives and propellants were NOT the real issues to the Feds; rockets are. The NFPA is an insurance advocate concerned with liability issues; they are worried about possible payouts on claims. BATFE is only concerned with maintaining administrative law power and authority in order to justify their continued existence after the big split; they don't want an exemption to ursurp their regulatory power.

We are being affected by many forces, yet seem to be fixated upon, or lost within, the details of motor regulation. We can't seem to keep the forest in view.

SpaceShipOne just won the X-prize. Civilian participation in space development is at a new beginning. The public has an ear turned towards private aerospace right now. How are we capitalizing on it?

Geez, I mean the X-prize winner used a hybrid motor. What a way to promote hobby rocketry and hybrids. They reached "space", not because of government funding or national effort, but through an understanding of rockets, among other things.

It is the VERY example of the benefit of sport rocketry to the nation. Its the "I told you so" comeback to ignorant regulators and regulations. It is the archetypical justification for our sport, beyond simple fun. Who will promote and further private sector space development? New blood interested in space and rockets. It is not just NASA's game any more. It demonstrates that ideas and interest are more powerful than big budgets, that rocket science is not the domain of only a few. It shows the positive side of our sport and our endeavors.

SS1 demonstrated that innovation and new ways of thinking are what makes things previously impossible, possible. Mr. Rutan and his team have lowered the aerospace bar forever, have generated a "space connection" closer to the masses than ever before.

THIS is what we should be promoting and expanding upon. We need a generation of rocket scientists to finish what Burt and Steve started. We need to throw SS1 into the faces of ignorant legislators and ask for their support in advancing private aerospace by encouraging it, not killing it off.

Its the ideal time for sport rocket entities and enthusiasts to align themselves in a cooperative effort with these fledgling private aerospace companies to promote and advance private space development. Scaled Composites has planted the rally flag, we need to gather around it.

Hey, welcome to my situation! I have one of those 29/40-120 casings. I love that thing. It's lot's of fun to use and I have had maybe 100 successful flights with it. But it hasn't been used in about 5 years. Why? Can't buy reloads for it anywhere. We had 5 hobby stores close around here in the last few years. The closest one is over 50 miles away. Can't even buy Estes motors anywhere but Walmart anymore.

So my advice is, if you can get away with using and can find reloads easily, use that sucker for all it's worth. I certainly miss flying mine.

Both Commonwealth and ehobbies have 29mm reloads available. Yes, I'd rather get them from a local brick-and-mortar operation, but they ARE available.

David Erbas-White

Ookie W>>

The people who want to regulate rocketry don't care. They're the kind who think all power should be in the hands of the government, not the people.

Or Tripoli.

Those reloads are readily available via mail-order.

-Kevin

When you only have an active market of 5000 buyers, dealer distribution is not supported. When you have a manufacturer who is always capital crippled, even if there is a market, he cannot sell into it.

Jerry