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Originally Posted by Fireman
That sounds like the film I am looking for! Thanks for the link...
That DVD set should be great... Never knew it existed. I bet there would be a lot of familiar faces in those old photos as well. Sounds like a real treasure trove of early model rocketry. Who knows... I might even show up in some of those early pictures myself.
The price is certainally right. I am going to go check out the link right now.
Just one concern... Can anybody order from NARTS? Or do you have to be a current member? I had to let my membership lapse some years ago for financial reasons. As a senior on a very limited income, there is no way I can afford the current membership fees. Guess the N.A.R. doesn't have much use for an old guy like me...
Thanks again for the link!
The Fireman
formerly NAR 2217,
Peak City Section #2
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I hear ya... I did the same thing... dropped my NAR membership because the dues were just too darn high.
I don't fly competition, so I didn't need a NAR number for that.
The only REAL reason I wanted to be a member was to support the organization, and for the MAGAZINE. IMHO the mag's content had largely degenerated to the point of being mostly 2 things-- contest coverage, and HPR articles... neither of which particularly interest me. HPR had several magazines (at one point or another) to choose from, and the NAR mag was at the bottom of that list, so I guess the choice to include lots more HPR stuff instead of LPR/MPR was a political one... that and the HPR membership is the one with "money to burn"... "Golden Rule" sorta thing (He who has the gold makes the rules).
I fly off my own farm, and therefore I don't need the insurance to get a flying field. In fact a couple clubs fly off my land at various times, so their charter insurance should cover their activities when they're here.
Back in the late 80's when I was a NAR member as a high schooler, the dues were MUCH cheaper because you paid an extra $30 bucks if you wanted to be insured... that meant the dues were about $20 bucks or so. Somewhere along the line in the mid-90's I'm given to understand they made the insurance MANDATORY as part of the membership, thus instantly raising the dues for everybody by about $30 bucks yearly. Since I don't need the insurance, that's wasted money for me.
Since I don't spend tons of money on rocketry, the $62 dollar dues were about 1/4-1/3 of my yearly hobby budget... that's simply too much IMHO. SO I dropped it.
IF NAR had a subscription to the magazine ALONE, I would buy it, as I DID find SOME content interesting (aside from the contest coverage and HPR articles, some of which were interesting in their own right if for nothing else than FYI). BUT, alas, NAR DOES NOT offer a magazine subscription alone unless it's for a library or teacher's room. I guess this is just a way of trying to strong-arm folks who would otherwise not join into paying the full dues to get the magazine... Instead I just keep my money in my pocket and buy NOTHING from them since they don't want to offer the mag alone.
NARTS doesn't require you to be a NAR member, but the prices are higher for non-members, which is fine. I OCCASIONALLY buy stuff from NARTS-- bought the full set of ROTW books and supplements, stuff like that. Don't mind paying extra since I'm not a member, and it supports the organization.
I'd like to support it more but not at the kind of cost they're talking about...
It is what it is I guess... But I *do* think they're leaving money on the table and locking people out trying to foist a "one-size-fits-all" approach on it...
Later! OL JR
