Your tax dollars at work.
Posted on 06/25/2004 5:27:26 PM PDT by eno_
On a recent weekend, Erik Ebert traveled to Nevada's remote Black Rock Desert to shoot a rocket 11,000 feet in the air. But before he could even think about launching, he had to cross his fingers and hope that the motor he had ordered for his rocket would also be there, hand-delivered by the vendor.
That's because, thanks to increased regulation after 9/11, it is more difficult than ever for rocket hobbyists like Ebert to legally store rocket motors -- which often include fuel that is now classified as an explosive -- at home. That often means the motor has to go straight to the launch site in the middle of nowhere.
"To store at a house, you need to get additional storage permission, and for me, since I live in a residential area, it's basically impossible," Ebert said. "You have to get local fire marshal approval. The fire marshal's not going to give you permission to store explosives."
(Excerpt) Read more at wired.com ...
Does this include the little C-6-0, B-12-3, and other sizes I used to buy from Estes in Colorado and Centuri in Phoenix? They used to sell those in the hobby stores also. I guess a budding boy terrorist could build his own mini bazooka with something like that.
I don't know, but I don't see the "D" and larger sizes at the Wally Mart anymore. In fact, I see a whole lot fewer Estes rockets nowadays. What a folly. The ATF should just be disbanded.
Im still pissed that the nanny state made K-Mart stop selling those cute little turtles about 30 years ago!!
Your tax dollars at work.
Interesting. I've seen D-sized motors at hobby stores as recently as last week.
Just because Wal-Mart doesn't carry it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Actually, I think we do.
Think of it as evolution in action.
Yeah, they should should be licensed and registered
Oh yeah why? I used to build my own solid fuel mixtures in high-school. I did not require any registration, comrade.
If I wanted to build another on, I would and tell the ATF to KMA and come and try to take it away from me.
At least I will DIE A FREE MAN instead of an enslaved coward.
Courtesy of Austin Area Rocketry Group.
OK, cowboy.
Think about it this way: What if they hit a bird? Huh? How would you feel then?
I heard a great Coast to Caost interview with the man who really invented one of our rockets. He was a boy genius. As he was talking, I thought about just this point... In today's society when a child isn't even allowed to stay in a classroom, car, or home alone - how could they ever get permission to have a separate lab where they built rockets with explosive fuel or use a farmer's field to fire them off?
Before, if a bridge came down, good stout men would have built another one up by the end of the week. A creek is flooding? They would clear the debris. Bad guys coming around? They'd defend their families and shoot them.
Now it would be demanded that these MEN wait for a three-year environmental impact statement, pretend they can't clear a creek (might hurt fish, the heck with flooded homes) and are told they have to call police before they bravely defend their loved ones. After all, owning a gun doesn't give you the right to USE it!
Liberal "safety" will turn us into ignorant morons sooner rather than later... It is killing the very essence of this amazing country.
Ummm...like firing up the ol BBQ ?
LVM
LVM
Man, what a great picture. What a great hobby. Almost as great as Model Railroading.
I used to build rockets as a kid.
I recently got the bug again and ordered a few rockets and an "educator's pack" of engines (24) online. I didn't want them to go too high (I lost most of my rockets in my youth because they blew away), so i just bought A's, but B's, C's and D's were available.
I don't know if I'll have them by the 4th though. UPS will no longer deliver "hazardous materials", according to the online hobby shop, so they went "3rd class hazardous" USPS mail.
The package is trackable, but there's no ETD. The USPS could learn a lot from UPS and Fedex...
(written by babyface00 using neefer's account because he's too lazy to log off and log back in)
42,000 feet? oy vey!
My ammo comes UPS...rocket engines are more hazardous than that?
Now Muttly want model rocket railroad.
Please be more careful...there are impressionable Muttlys watching.
Amen!
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