re big amateur rockets in article c ky y mkk raistlin udev cdc com pbd runyon cim cdc com paul dokas writes i was reading popular science this morning and was surprised by an ad in the back i know that a lot of the ads in the back of ps are fringe science or questionablely legal but this one really grabbed my attention it was from a company name personal missle inc or something like that anyhow the ad stated that they d sell rockets that were up to in length and engines of sizes f to m they also said that some rockets will reach feet now aside from the obvious dangers to any amateur rocketeer using one of these beasts isn t this illegal i can t imagine the faa allowing people to shoot rockets up through the flight levels of passenger planes not to even mention the problem of locating a rocket when it comes down and no i m not going to even think of buying one i m not that crazy paul mine ll do feet and carries pounds of dynamite dokas could it be public missile inc in michigan from the description of ad here it sounds like they re talking about high power rocketry an outgrowth of model rocketry this hobby uses non metallic structural compoments and commerically manufactured engines ranging in impulse classification from g to p the hobby has been flourishing from early s and is becoming increasing popular technically this is not consider amateur rocketry any rocket with a liftoff weight greater than pounds or using a total impulse of g or greater requires an faa waiver to launch typically a group of people get an faa waiver for specified period of time ie week weekend etc at a designated site and time and all of the launches are then covered under this blanket waiver there is also a high power safety code which designates more specific rules such as launch field size etc finally in order to purchase any of the larger class b rocket motors you need to certified through either the national association of rocketry or tripoli rocketry association certification procedures require a demonstarted handling and safe flight at a total impulse level for more information watch rec models rockets newsgroup r michael jungclas uucp att ihlpb rjungcla at t bell labs naperville il internet rjungcla ihlpb att com
