SINCE THE ARTICLE ABOUT A HOBBY ROCKETRY MANUFACTURER'S PARTING 'JOKE' was posted (Tenant's parting 'joke' brings New Hampshire bomb squad — Rocketry Planet, June 23, 2007), I have received some very interesting e-mail, divided along two polar lines: in support of or not in support of it. Most of the people who wrote were in the first class, displaying strong support that actions such as those reported had the potential to be injurious to the hobby. There were a few from the latter class, saying it was no big deal but that by me posting the article, that action had the potential to be injurious to the hobby, suggesting that the primary motivation must be sensationalism to drive traffic to Rocketry Planet.

Perhaps its time to share the primary motivation behind Rocketry Planet since some of you may have missed the previous implementation of it when I owned Rocketry Online. My goal is to make a positive contribution to the rocketry hobby by sharing information via the Internet. I chose a portal format to deliver breaking news, other related data of significant value, and to provide a medium in which interested parties can exchange things of value. In the 10 months Rocketry Planet has been established, it has shattered my old traffic records I had at Rocketry Online, when rocketry was considered in its heydey but the Internet was much younger. I think most anyone will say the end result is better than Rocketry Online was in its infancy.

So the last thing I have a need (or a desire) to do is blacken the hobby's eye just to sensationalize an article and drive traffic to the site. So, one might ask, why would I post an article such as this one if it's not for sensationalism? Glad you asked.

The article in question is about someone who I call a friend. I have known Paul Robinson for years and know him to be a good and decent man. Do you really think I would want to do something that could harm a friend of mine? No way, not for a moment. Believe me when I tell you I was torn about running this article. I literally wrestled with it. Why, then, was I torn?

The Internet, as we all know all too well, in the past 10 years has permeated every fiber of society. It's literally everywhere. In the early days of the Internet there were very few references to hobby rocketry in the traditional media, an information source that does try to sensationalize news to build viewer dependency. I liken their actions to buying an alcoholic a drink — once they know you're hooked, they keep 'em coming. As such, in those days, most media articles were mostly based on curiosity. Internet media has progressed much like print media about our hobby did in the 60's, going through the same curiosity stage early on before later evolving into maximum shock value. But print media in the 60's lacked one thing that has led the Internet revolution: the hyperlink.

It should be pointed out that I didn't write this article, just like I didn't write the article on the Bluegrass Rocketry Society and the FAA or the various other articles on the subject of bombs and bomb-making. But someone did, and the articles were related to hobby rocketry. More importantly, someone else read them, and that someone had a hyperlink at their fingertips, just waiting to be forwarded.

Picture this scenario: A rocketry club in Tennessee has appeared before their town council to request permission to conduct a monthly launch at the town park. Nothing big, probably not even over FAR101 requirements, explained in detail to the council. The town's attorney speaks up, suggesting that they table the vote until he can check it out, see what the dangers are.

"Come back next month," the council president says.

So the attorney, back at his office, turns to his PC and queues the Oracle of All Things Knowledgeable (i.e. Google), and says, "Tell me about hobby rocketry, hobby rocketry and town councils, hobby rocketry and laws, hobby rocketry and injuries, hobby rocketry and arrests, hobby rocketry and terrorism," you name it, the mind boggles. And the Oracle speaks volumes. Hundreds of thousands of answers. "Take your pick," the Oracle says. And so the attorney does, and he reads. And reads. And reads. For good measure, he forwards the most interesting (i.e. shocking) ones to the council member's e-mail addresses, too. The hyperlink.

The rocketry group appears back in front of the town council the next month and the council president speaks, "We're sorry, but we are denying your request to launch model rockets at the town park based on our research. It's just too risky."

"But sir," the club president says, "the hobby has a 50 year record of safety with no fatalities."

"Perhaps," the council president says, "but we read about that situation up in Kentucky recently."

"You do know about the danger those planes were in, don't you?" the council's attorney says.

At this point, the club is dead in the water unless they really did know about it ahead of time and were able to respond from-the-hip in a cogent and intelligent manner, telling the town council exactly what happened, how that club in Kentucky had filed for and were given an FAA waiver in advance, how the airplanes were never in any real danger because of the manner in which an RSO and LCO coordinate a pre-launch visual and audible check to see if any planes were in the area, but most importantly, to demonstrate how the newspapers that wrote the articles were the ones who were sensationalizing the events by painting a bad picture due to the general public's lack of knowledge about the hobby.

Even after the club president explains all of that in detail they may still be dead in the water, but they are guaranteed, absolutely, positively to be turned down if they have no response. And the only way to have a response is to know of the events, know about the various articles and to have a pre-formulated response plan if the subject comes up. Can you keep up with all of the events happening all over the country in every state all by yourself?  I can help.

Rocketry Planet brings those articles to you in unadulterated fashion as a service so that you can see what is being said about your hobby and pre-formulate a response. On the articles that hit real close to home, a "Leave a comment" link is included so you can discuss your pre-formulated response with other readers, as two heads really are better than one. If the readers choose to use that opportunity to comment for other purposes, I can't be held responsible for that — it is up to the individual to maximize the opportunities they are given every day.

Given that line of reasoning, it now becomes apparent why I wrestled with the decision to publish the article on Paul. If I didn't, he would most likely avoid the publicity the event would bring, at least for a short time. After all, it was on the Internet in several places, including his address, so the clock was ticking. But if I did publish it and that allowed one club to salvage a launch site, helped one member to be allowed to store motors in his town, brought one youth into the hobby who became the next Paul Robinson, not because of what happened, but because the person being affected was able to respond in a cogent and intelligent manner, it would be worth it. If it helped that person appear that he was current on nationwide current events affecting his hobby, it would be worth it. If it helped at all in any way imaginable, it is worth it. I hope Paul understands.

In the end, if it also helps from preventing something like that from happening again, wouldn't that be worth it, too? Paul has and probably will take a lot of grief over this, but no one else who has read the article will ever do that. Never again. Do you think any club will ever launch close to an airport again after reading the Bluegrass Rocketry Society article? Not without having every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed three times. Terry Dean has taken a lot of grief also over that situation, but no one will ever do that again. If one similar incident is prevented, isn't that a good thing for the hobby?

I hope you prefer to be knowledgeable based on an unadulterated source of news rather than to have it filtered for you. I am very sure that the people in the authoritative positions know exactly what has transpired, wouldn't you prefer to be on that same level of knowledge? Literacy beats illiteracy every time. Knowledge is a strenth.

Rocketry Planet presents what the media is saying about the hobby and the people in it. It does that to assist you in the pursuit of the hobby and to ensure its longevity. It's up to the individual to make the best use of it. And I am doing it with no sensationalism, just the facts, as I know them. On this position, I won't change, so keep your noses clean. I won't write about you if you don't, but someone else might. And now you know what that means.

Darrell D. Mobley is the editor of Rocketry Planet. You may reach him by email at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . If you would like to comment publicly, post your response below.

07-08-2007 02:02 PM  #1
shockwaveriderz Model Rocket Historian   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 24	2 points and a comment 1. flying model rockets near airports is safe and legal and totally exempt from faa oversight, as long as they are not creating a collision hazard. so sez GH Stine. If the club considers it safe while the local ATC tower doesn't, something has to give. 2. you make an important point: local jurisdictions, whether they be school facilities or park facilites require PRIOR landowner consent. Thats the cardinal rule. As for Robinson's "antics"... I'm sure he's on NSC surveillance as we speak, made the no-fly list, and the terror watch list all at the same time. Terry Dean NAR 16158

07-08-2007 03:19 PM  #2
crontab Certified Level Three   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 204	What kind of lunacy is this? Quote: 1. flying model rockets near airports is safe and legal and totally exempt from faa oversight, as long as they are not creating a collision hazard. so sez GH Stine. Last time I checked, G. Harry Stine was dead, but even in his lifetime, his word didn't mean crap when it came to jurisdiction and the law. Flying rockets near airports may be safe and they may even be legal, but they are not "totally exempt" from FAA oversight. Not when they include J motors such as those used for Level 2 certifications like your club did on the day in question that created the fiasco that ended up in the papers. This is one subject which you never seem to comment on. You want everyone to believe that you were only flying "model" rockets on that date when you were flying high power rockets as well. And a recoverying rocket poses more of a danger to an aircraft than one presenting a collision hazard, as they are subject to be sucked into the engine. Quote: If the club considers it safe while the local ATC tower doesn't, something has to give. What kind of idiocy is this? It isn't the club's position to determine the safety of situation when their activities are being questioned by the local ATC. It is the club's responsibility to accept the AHJ's position and protect the hobby from propagating the image of renegade rocketeers. This is NOT the type of battle to be fought on the flying field, as any fallout from the incident is going to come back and haunt the entire hobby. G. Harry Stine would have called you a buffoon for maintaining this line of reasoning.

07-08-2007 10:54 PM  #3
Steve_Shannon When in doubt, ask Keenan   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 1844	To answer Darrell's question: Your reprinting of the article is a service, not sensationalism. The original article(s) may be sensationalism, but by reprinting the article you do the rocketry community a service because we are able to respond appropriately to the article.

07-10-2007 12:08 PM  #4
R2K Certified Level Three   Joined: Jul 2007 Posts: 145	I dont really know where the flying near airport story came in, but every wild act, taken well out of proportion and context of a general history of respect and saftey in the public eye, is a significant retrograde step in our ongoing problems with the post 9-11 reactionary ATF. Really sad to hear that J motors were being flown. Even a modest J rocket is typically 3 - 4 inches DIA and well over 3 lbs. A J motor case is enough to destroy an aircraft engine (much worse than a bird) as would a fiberglass airframe. Something to think about.