Hello

[andybside]

Hello everyone. Just joined the forum and wanted to reach out to my fellow rocketeers. My name is Andy and I am new to the sport. I am totally hooked. My family and I went to the last Richard Bong HPR launches and we had such a great time. Even my wife really enjoyed herself. We couldn't believe how exciting it was to watch the big boys fly. I have been building the low powered rockets now for a couple months, but after seeing the big boys, I really want to start a new winter project building a HPR. I am hoping to join WOOSH soon and hopefully meet some of you guys and start learning. I've been obsessively reading articles, newsletters, blogs, and watching videos so I have a general idea about how things work. I'm sure there are all kinds of tips and tricks that can only come with experience and help. I would really like to go for my level 1 certification next year when the HPR launces start up again. I live in Random Lake so its a little hike to get to some meetings, but I'm gonna try real soon. So once again, Hi Yall and I look forward to meeting some of you soon!!!

Andy

[shrox]

Hi Andy, welcome.

[Doug Sams]

Hello everyone. Just joined the forum and wanted to reach out to my fellow rocketeers. My name is Andy and I am new to the sport. I am totally hooked. My family and I went to the last Richard Bong HPR launches and we had such a great time. Even my wife really enjoyed herself. We couldn't believe how exciting it was to watch the big boys fly. I have been building the low powered rockets now for a couple months, but after seeing the big boys, I really want to start a new winter project building a HPR. Hi, Andy,

Welcome! It's fun to hear from new rocketeers. Mostly you'll read about low power stuff here - the group is mainly into classic model rockets from the earlier years of the hobby - but a few of us fly some HPR, and talk about it some here, so you'll fit right in.

Your enthusiasm shines thru your post quite clearly. It's infectious. Glad you made it.

Doug

.

[chadrog]

Hola, welcome to the insanity! Been a while since I've been to Random Lake, the Eagle's Nest still kickin? Spent a few long nights there. :D If you thought the last launch at Bong was good, wait till some people actually show up! Last month's launch had a rather small turnout, it get's way busier than that. The meetings are tough to get to for many, being during the week. I'd encourage you to try to get to some of our small field launches to meet and mingle- they happen twice a month, rocket season never stops around here. You'll find the WOOSH group to have a very broad base of knowledge covering all aspects of rocketry - from finishing balsa to packing a 20' parachute. Nothing is too small or too big! Look forward to catching you and family at a launch sometime.

[Randy]

Welcome!

Randy
www.vernarockets.com

[Les]

Welcome - Enjoy
And as you enter the realm of HPR, hold onto your wallet!

[Rex R]

hmmm, lets see. you say that you would like to get your level 1 in January...best start building now :). I would suggest that one of the Estes pro series 2 birds would give you a decent intro into the world of high power rocketry building techniques. you might want to investigate G. Harry Stine's Handbook of Model Rocketry and look into rocket design software ( Open Rocket is FREE). pace yourself and have fun.
Rex

[JohnNGA]

Welcome..you will find great people here and lots of good Rocket info.

[ThePlmbr]

Welcome Andy....Good luck with that future level one project. Greg

[Tau Zero]

To quote our own Craig McGraw: "Welcome to the asylum." ;) :D

[andybside]

Wow. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I really appreciate all the great replies.

Chadrog - I'm actually originally from Sheboygan. Been in Random for about 6 months now. I think that place is still rockin. I'll definitely make it out to some of the other launches. I have about 4 low power kits im working on that I wanna blast soon. Look forward to meeting you as well.

Rex - January isn't my goal. Just hopefully by spring. Yeah, I've seen those pro series 2 kits. I was considering them as a good starting point. Thanks for the advice.

Everyone else, like I said in my original post, I'm a total newbie. If anyone has any general tips or tricks that you feel would be beneficial, I'm all ears. Thanks again for the warm welcome and I can't wait to get out there and meet y'all

[Rex R]

just pointing out, that we usually start the high power season in January...if you're serious about joining WOOSH, memberships run from January to January the following year.
while some folks have used the pro series birds to cert...part of the cert process is the post flight inspection, an H will usually put one of those birds up around 2500'...finding it again at Bong can be a challenge. I would suggest something in the 3-4" diameter range to keep the rocket in sight.
tips:
for balsa fins, you will likely find this helpful: http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=10475
Rex
oh, and Semroc is usually the answer :)

[andybside]

Aaaaah. I see. Thanks for all the great tips. I will definitely check out the balsa tips. And actually I checked out the semroc website last night. Some pretty cool stuff.

[MadHatter]

Hi Andy,

Wow somebody from my neck of the woods, I hope to see you at the meeting.

Mark

[Russ]

Andy,
Welcome aboard. I don't think we got a chance to meet at Bong. My wife's family is located throughout West Bend, Adell, Plymouth, and Random Lake. Up there quite a bit.

As the fields get plowed, I have an area by the in laws off of county H and 144 that I can use. Nice for Midpower and great for LPR.

Hope to meet you at a club launch or meeting.

The Woosh folk are good people. They have taught me a lot. My biggest advice right now is to take the time to decide what you all want out of your L1 rocket. Sounds like your doing a lot of reading and learning already. Lots of choices, lots of great kits. Lots of great manufactures out there.

Don't hesitate to use the Forums here and TRF are both great resources as well.

Watch out for the Wildman trailer at Bong launches, it has some sort of vortex powers that seem to suck you in and drain your wallet. Once again welcome.

[andybside]

You too Mark. Where ya from?

Russ - yeah I know right where that is. About a 10 minute drive from me. Sometimes I go to adell. There is a big field there but you gotta be careful. It's surrounded by tall thick woods. Im also about 30 minutes from Sheboygan so I can hit up field of dreams. Assuming there are no games scheduled.