From a timely email sent out by NAR President Ted Cochran:
Safety First: Oddrocs and other "special" rocket launches
Projects that push the limits of our hobby can be fun to do, and to witness. I enjoy seeing large projects, elaborate models, and things that look like they ought not to be able to fly at all ascending under rocket power nonetheless. When a project goes well, the skills, planning, and experience of the flyers are vindicated. It's also apparent when the flyers have planned for the worse--spectators, participants, and property are not put at risk, even if things do not go as planned.
Extraordinary projects require extraordinary planning, care, and attention to detail. We also need to remember that the general public may not understand our passion, nor appreciate our precautions, especially when things don't go well. We need to keep this in mind.
If we're going to build a giant fiberglass Statue of Liberty to fly in front of spectators on the Fourth of July, we need to commit to designing the rocket and planning the launch in meticulous detail. If things go wrong, we may have to answer questions about how stability was demonstrated, why the use of ductile metal was necessary, how the spectator distance was determined, what the launch criteria were, and so on--so we need to be prepared. Great, successful projects do this routinely.
Thank you for your efforts to maintain the image of our hobby as safe, educational, and fun!
