A FEW WEEKS AGO, I was talking to a modeler who was getting ready to take the written test portion of the Level 2 high-power rocketry certification. What surprised me was that he didn’t know a lot about the technical or regulatory aspects of the hobby. Basically, he was getting all his knowledge by memorizing the answers in the test “study guide.” To me, this is very scary. But I don’t think that this was the rare exception; as I had a similar experience this past weekend with a different modeler.

Inspiration can be found in numerous places and often comes unexpectantly.  Mitch Marchi II's unique fin beveling tool is just one of those pieces of simple ingenuity that makes you slap your forehead and exclaim, "Wow, I could've had a V8!"

With my level-3 certification attempt looming, one detail of the launch (the rod or rail) had not been finalized. When I became aware of the new Xtreme Rail by Payload Specilities, the decision to purchase the heavy duty system was an easy one.

In a recent edition of Design News, Texas rocketeer Joe Peck had an article published about his model rocketry project.  "Case #97: Project Dragon Fish: Joe Takes Rocket Science to New Depths" was Peck's version of his own Polaris program featuring underwater rocketry.

Second only to LDRS, the annual Airfest at Argonia, Kansas is, as the Kloudbusters would like to put it, the largest rocket launch of the year. This year's Labor Day weekend launch opened at 8:00 AM on Saturday, Sept. 5th. The weather was outstanding. The sun was shining and the winds were light, about 5 mph. In other words big, beautiful blue Kansas skies.