Chit / Chat

My son and I both got our L1 certs this past weekend. Our approach was K.I.S.S. We built tanks (Apogee Zephyr) and flew them on the lowest motor that would still allow for a safe flight (H100). We opted not to use a chute release (one more point of failure). My son didn't even want an onboard camera taped to his rocket. I went with the camera and an altimeter (the Zephyr hit 1,340 feet). Both went off without problem.

We're still newbies but I'd recommend a similar approach. It was very low stress!

I'm interested in getting High Power certified, and I can't lose my rocket after I launch it! The minimum diameter kit I had in mind to launch might go too high (~5000 feet AGL on a typical H motor) and be hard to find after it lands. Is it a good idea to make a rocket which doesn't go as high, or is it perhaps better to get a GPS locator of some sort (or both!). Or is 5000 feet not high enough to worry about losing track of it? I guess I could add weight to the nose to keep the apogee low enough. I've also considered jumping straight to dual deployment, but I'm unsure if that is a poor idea for my first high power launch.

I of course might just be overthinking this altogether! My first attempt at this stuff just comes with a lot of costs, and I don't want to have to waste a rocket on learning stuff that other people already know.