Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 3:40AM John Gordon please contact Ralph Roberts regarding the Safe Lock for the ROCC Type 4 magazine at Williams' Farm the center lock has quit working and we can't get into it. We need help ASAP Ralph Roberts 704-568-1070 704-560-0147 Cell 704-866-3115 Work
News Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 4:30PM Rocket Ralph reports that the the center lock on the engine magazine isn't opening. This means there will be no access for engines on Sunday March 22. Sorry for any inconvenience, we'll get this working as soon as possible.
News Friday, March 20, 2009 at 5:20PM NO MORE ATF PERMITS REQUIRED FOR HPR! (well, maybe...) For the time being at least the ATF regulation of APCP has been vacated. See the next story below for the official NAR & Tripoli announcements or our our rocketryplanet.com/group/rocc if you are a member for more details. So if you have been on the HPR fence - jump on the bandwagon and fly some APCP! Level 1 certification requires a well built rocket and basic knowledge of rocketry and it opens up H and I motors to you. Everything you need will be available from Ken at our launch so break out the wallet and get cracking and by next month you can be L1 (or higher). Ken Allen - HPR Dealer Again! Ken Allen has confirmed that he sent a large order in to Aerotech yesterday. He may have a number of HPR motors this weekend on site. Ken will be attending both days of our launch. Weather For once all reports look good. Wind on both days looks to be light (7mph). Saturday the direction of the wind may be odd - it appears that it may be blowing down the runway away from the road - which could make recovery a bit odd - plan accordingly. Sunday appears to be a more typical wind direction - towards the intersection of Hopewell and Tines. All of this is likely to change as we get closer to the actual launch date. Setup Time I am planning on our standard setup time - 10am. If there is a great deal of desire to setup at a different time please let me know. With Daylight savings I suspect we will be flying later than we have been. As the days start to get longer we may push the setup time later in the day but for this weekend we're sticking to what we have done all winter. Food Ralph should be there with Hot Dogs, Chili, Slaw & Chips on Saturday ONLY. NAR HPR Contest Rules As some may have known I have been serving on the team drafting the NAR HPR rules. I have not been the primary contributor - just a guy to bounce ideas off of. I'm not 100% thrilled with where things have gone but it's a start. I have a draft of the rules available. I will try to remember to bring these with me to the field. I am also interested in running one or more of these as a provisional event. I would love to see this happen in April - let me know if that works for you at our meeting. Meeting We need to have a quick meeting both days to cover a few minor topics. I'm thinking Noon or close to it will work but if you have other ideas let me know. Help/Volunteers Needed We're going to need LCO's and we'll need help on the setup and tear down. We're trying to keep the launches informal but I'm thinking we need to get more LCO participation so I may start asking folks to sign up for a timeslot and stick to it to help keep the racks from filling up and letting rockets cool their heels and altimeters batteries run down. Sincerely, Brad Shea ROCC President roccprez@rocketrycarolina.org
News Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 6:07PM TRA Prefects and members: There have been many questions that we all had on the effect and timing of our court victory on Monday, March 16, 2009. As we expected, there is some lag time dialed into the legal process and the following statement describes the timing and steps we must take in the next several weeks. Please make sure you understand exactly what this all means (do not hesitate to get in touch if you are in doubt) and make sure members in your prefecture are aware as well. I know all of us would like to see this all at the final ending point of the long legal process. But be patient and hang in there. We have waited nine years - let's wrap up the remaining days calmly and wisely. Ken Good TRA President ************** JOINT TRA/NAR STATEMENT ON THE LAWSUIT VS BATFE March 18, 2009 After a conference with our legal counsel, we provide the following information to our members on how to proceed in the aftermath of the favorable decision by Judge Walton in our lawsuit to eliminate the unjustified regulation of Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP) imposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). We cannot offer legal advice to individual members, and members should consult their own legal counsel if there are any questions about how to proceed. First, we should assume that the judge's decision "vacating", or rendering null and void, the BATFE regulation of APCP will not take effect until the period for appeal by the BATFE has passed without their filing an appeal. This will be approximately 60 days from now. However, even if an appeal is filed, it is possible for the Court�s judgment to be in effect and BATFE regulation to be nullified while the appeal is pending. We will advise you if this is this is the case. If BATFE should appeal the decision, regardless of the fact that there is almost no credible basis for such an appeal or for the appeal to be approved by the Department of Justice, we should await the results of the appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals before assuming that BATFE no longer regulates APCP in the long term. However, unless the appellate court grants the agency a �stay of judgment� (which they may request, should they appeal) final judgment will be considered in effect at the end of the 60 day period mentioned above. At that time, the Judge Walton�s decision will take effect and could only be nullified by an overturn on appeal. Should the appellate court grant BATFE a stay of judgment, we will have to await the decision of the court before Judge Walton�s decision would be considered final and in effect. An appeal could take up to six months, and possibly more time. If there is no appeal, then the regulations are automatically cancelled even if BATFE chooses not to publish a notice of such cancellation. We will keep our members advised of the status of any appeals and will let you know the exact official date on which the regulations are no longer in effect. After this official date, you will not be required to have BATFE licenses or be subject to BATFE inspection or oversight for sport rocketry operations with APCP in any quantity and should show a copy of the Court judgment to any BATFE agent who takes an opposite position. Second, members should proceed for now on the basis that all these BATFE regulations remain in effect. Appropriate licenses are still required to buy, sell, possess, and/or store APCP until such time as the regulations are cancelled. If you have a license up for renewal between now and late May (or whatever later date may be determined by any BATFE appeal process), you will have to renew it if you wish to perform any of these transactions. Third, once the regulations are canceled, members are reminded that high-power user certifications are still required for purchasing or using high-power motors even if BATFE licenses are not. We have a great reputation as a self-regulating group of responsible hobbyists and our future success in defending the freedom we just won back could depend on maintaining this reputation. Fourth, this Court decision did not change the regulated status of other sport rocketry items such as black powder, some kinds of igniters, etc. To the extent that any of these items previously required licenses and magazine storage, nothing has changed. Nor does the decision affect licensing and regulation by other federal, state or local government agencies. We thank our members for their continued patience and for their sustained moral and financial support as we have fought this long battle successfully together. Ken Good, President Tripoli Rocketry Association Trip Barber, President National Association of Rocketry
News Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 5:41PM National Association of Rocketry March 16, 2009 Fellow NAR Members -- As the result of nine years of hard work by our legal team and the teamwork and leadership of a series of key leaders of the NAR and TRA (especially former NAR President Mark Bundick), and as a result of your generous financial support for our cause, this case is now over. We have completely and unambiguously won. The BATFE regulation of APCP was found by Judge Walton to be ".. arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law." and has been ordered by the Court to be "vacated" or canceled. Sounds good, doesn't it? The full text of the Court decision is provided below. Enjoy reading about how justice has been served and an arrogant and capricious federal agency has been defeated by two small all-volunteer organizations with sound "rocket science" on our side. We know that APCP is not a threat to national security, nor are we, and the court has agreed with us. TRA President Ken Good and I will be consulting with our legal counsel over the next several days on exactly what we have to do next to ensure that BATFE complies with this order, and to determine what recourse they might try to pursue to continue this battle (i.e. by trying to redraft their rule) with what likelihood of success. They will not give up and will not go away easily. Please do not do anything confrontational with any BATFE agent, do not tear up your LEUP, and do not remove material from any magazines yet, until we know exactly where we stand legally. We will issue a joint statement on what is next and what you should do as soon as we sort it out; this may take a few days. I believe that we have enough in the Legal Fund to cover all the remaining close-out costs of this case. Thanks for your patience and support while we fought this battle for you. And if you see Mark Bundick, shake his hand and thank him! Trip Barber NAR 4322 NAR President March 16, 2009 TRA Prefects and Members: After a nine-year effort by the leaders of TRA & NAR, the legal team of Joe Egan, Marty Malsch, and John Lawrence, and with the generous and solid support of our members, we have at last won decisively in our litigation against the BATFE. The District Court opinion, issued today by Judge Reggie Walton and appended below, constitutes a clear and full victory, and vindication of what we have asserted these long and difficult years. As quoted in the opinion, BATFE�s regulation of APCP was found by Judge Walton to be "arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law." and has been ordered by the Court to be "vacated" or canceled. NAR President Trip Barber and I will be in communication with our legal counsel over the next several days on exactly what we need to do next to ensure that BATFE complies with this order, and to determine the details and timing of ending our interaction with the agency as a regulator of APCP. We are not making any assumptions concerning the agency�s next actions � they may consider an appeal or other further legal options to try to hang on, but the burden of proof is now on them, and their roadmap of such proof has utterly failed them. Until we understand the next steps and how we will ensure the agency adheres to this court order, please refrain from confrontations with any BATFE agent, do not surrender or destroy your LEUP, and do not remove material from any magazines yet. We will issue a joint statement at some point in the next several days on our next steps as soon as these are known. Thank you all again for your unflagging support and your enduring patience. Ken Good TRA President The full text of the Judge's ruling follows... click the "Read More" button.
News Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 12:44AM March 13, 2009 Today Judge Reggie Walton, presiding in our case before the US District Court, heard arguments from both legal counsel for NAR/TRA and the BATFE. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Walton stated that he was inclined to agree with our position. While this is extremely encouraging, there will be no formal written ruling until April, and BATFE may attempt to file additional information before that date. We expect that this ruling will provide some form of relief from the current regulatory situation. We thank our members for their continued patience and their generous financial support. We will provide members with immediate status reports as this case reaches its conclusion. Ken Good TRA President Trip Barber NAR President --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph's Commentary To remind everybody this is the appeal to the ruling on Count One of the original lawsuit that APCP is an Explosive. Our appeal was that based on true science that the burn rate of APCP does not put it in the same class as regular explosives. So, in effect it can't be classified as an Explosive. That has been the main argument that TRA and NAR have put forth in the case. This huge news for us if APCP is removed from the explosive list that means we would no longer need a LEUP to purchase High Powered Rocket Motors and Reload kits and that Ken could sell them again. That would be like it was in the glory days of the mid 90's where anyone and anyone would have H motors just lying around. Also, if they would be inclined, places like HOBYTOWN USA could carry at least the reload kits in stock. Could you imagine just running by and buying an Aerotech I211 for a launch the same day, SWEET!!! We can only dream... That's how it used to be and the way it should be. Based on what has already happened with the case I can't see the judge allowing any new information to be submitted regarding the case, that phase has already been completed maybe he just needs time to summarize what was discussed yesterday to draft the ruling. Obviously, it�s not a done deal but it looks very encouraging. I can hear the Fat Lady warming up, I think it is "Rocket Man" by Elton John or is it "We are the Champions" by Queen. ROCC ON!!!!!!!!!!!!
News Friday, February 27, 2009 at 9:31AM Due to scheduling conflicts and uncertain weather, we're gonna skip the make up launch day. See everybody in March!
News Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 9:28AM First off, we would like to thank everyone for braving the projected cold weather February, Sat the 21st and spent the day flying. A FOX news team came out from 1pm to almost 4pm taking stock footage and an interview with Charlie Ogino�s TARC team on what it�s all about.
News Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 9:17AM So, how is everybody doing after the ROCC January �ARCTIC BLAST� launch? We had our regular Jan weekend launch last weekend on Saturday the 17th. It was suggested that we name it the �Arctic Blast Launch�, which seems to fit the circumstances for the launch.
News Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 8:41AM I've put up some pictures, some from January shot by Todd, and some from February shot by Doc. Click on the Photos link to see them. Edited: Added more January pics from Todd.
News