NC Rocketry

Officially, we are Tripoli Rocketry Association Prefecture #65, also known as Tripoli East NC. We welcome all amateur rocket enthusiasts, children and adults, flying motors of all sizes from 1/4A through O. We have several level 2 and level 3 certified members of both the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the National Association of Rocketry on site at most launches, and we can assist in certification flights for high-power rocketry enthusiasts who are members of either national organization.

Our launch site is on the Paul farm in rural Pamlico County, near the town of Bayboro, in eastern North Carolina. There, we have 3,800 acres with no trees, no power lines, and one 2-lane public road. We have an FAA waiver to use 17,500 feet of airspace. There is no finer rocketry venue on the east coast. We hold monthly launches at Bayboro from September through April.

Spectators are welcome at all of our launch events.

When we’re not flying, the ncrockets e-mail list is available to get the latest news, ask for help, or share our rocketry successes with each other.

Other helpful links:

NC Rockets Walston Transmitter Frequency Assignments

Links to Rocketry Resources, Vendors and FAQs

Mike Nay (mnay2001 at gmail dot com) is the current prefect of Tripoli East North Carolina. He can administer Tripoli L1 and L2 certifications and written tests.

Dave Morey (dave at morey dot com) is currently managing this website and the e-mail list. He can administer NAR L1 and L2 certifications and written tests.

Jim Livingston (livingston at ec dot rr dot com) is a member of the Tripoli Technical Advisory Panel. He can administer Tripoli L3 certifications.

It is customary for the Spring WELD event to suffer from horrible weather conditions, and that was half-true for this weekend. The weather forecast for Saturday was “windy”, and that was exactly what it was! The winds started out at more than 15 MPH and increased all day long, there were periods of more than 25 MPH. I spend most of the day sitting in the lee of my truck and trying to keep my tool boxes from blowing off the tables. There were some bad dust storms on the eastern margins of the field that obscured the view of the tree line, it was just plain horrible, most of the time it was hard to stand up straight. In spite of the conditions, Warren English showed up and flew 2 rockets: A small rocket called?Ghost?on a G motor of some sort, that drifted so far he needed about an hour to find it and bring it home. Then he flew his new 4″ rocket, called?Scratch,?on an Aerotech I357T (I think). I?m a little vague about those 2 flights because those two launch cards did not make it home with me. They might have blown away! Continue reading →

Saturday was a great example of a point I have been trying to make for several years: The weather forecasts for the far east of North Carolina are not very accurate. Saturday?s forecast was fairly discouraging, promising only a few hours of poor weather followed by drenching rain starting at about noon to 1 PM. In fact, the skies were cloudy, winds were mild, and we could have flown all the way to 6:00 PM without getting wet. The cloud ceiling was around 3000 to 3500 feet all day, so nobody was extremely inhibited about flying, everybody had something in the box that would stay within that range. Continue reading →