From Ted Cochran, NAR President

From the emailed The Electronic Rocketeer - Issue #90- November 2015

Fellow NAR Member,

As I mentioned in the email I sent to all of you on November 21, our hobby has experienced its first on-field fatality. The incident was not associated with the NAR, but it nevertheless affects all us of who deeply care about our hobby's safety. 

In addition, as I wrote in the October eRocketeer, we also had a spectator struck by a land-sharking rocket last month at an NAR launch. These incidents, and some near misses we've also heard about, remind us that our hobby is not without risk. As our launches get bigger, with more flights and more spectators, we need to take more precautions--observing the safety code by itself may not be sufficient, nor the best we can do. 

We sometimes need to do more than meet the safety code requirements: When conditions warrant, we need to exceed them.

Please take a moment as individuals, and as Sections, to review your launch practices. If you can improve your safety by following any of the suggestions in the next article, please consider doing so. If your section needs funds to update launch equipment, flag lines, PA systems, warning systems, or other safety-related equipment, please ask for a Section grant.The NAR has sufficient funds set aside for just this purpose; no reasonable request will be refused.

 

As always,

Be safe, have fun, and pay forward, 

   

Ted Cochran
NAR President
NAR 69921 L3