Information about your rocket you’ll need to have at safety check when going for your L1 certification at CMASS

At CMASS we adhere to the NAR HPR certification procedures (for L1 found here: https://nar.org/Level1HPRCertificationProcedures). This means high power flying with CMASS is limited to the Woodsom Farm Park flying field.

Before starting on your certification adventure, we STRONLY recommend reading the procedures on the NAR website. We also recommend that you attend one or more CMASS on-line meetings to discuss things as you’ll get many useful tips and tricks from the members there… we do like to talk.  Finally, we also STRONGLY suggest that you perform simulations of your L1 candidate rocket.  There are free and paid simulation software packages (OpenRocket and RockSim respectively) that will be more than adequate in determining the viability of your rocket.  These simulations should assume a 6 foot rail (don't even ask about rods) for an extra margin of safety.  Otherwise, for anything that isn't clear here, go the forums and post your questions there... someone will get back to you.

Many clubs in the northeast have seen large growth in college student groups attempting L1 certification.  CMASS is a very large club and we typically have over 250+ launches in any given session, often over 300.  In order to prevent oversubscription of the high power pads, CMASS has instituted additional requirements for college groups as follows:

1. The number of certification attempts for college groups at any given launch are now limited to a maximum of 10.  We recommend if multiple groups are present, that they decide amongst themselves how they would like to assign the 10 launch slots.
2. College students without any rocketry experience should be able to pass the Jr. L1 Exam (this is taken on the nar.org website). The practice exam can be found on this page of the NAR website.  All information needed to pass the exam can be found at the NAR website.  The on-line course and exam can be found on the NAR website under "members -> continuing education" menu path.
   

What should you bring when you’re ready:

1. First, get to the field in the morning.  Wind will likely be less then anyway!  Too many times there are people showing up within the last hour of the day hoping to launch an L1 attempt.  This is a recipe for disappointment, as there is often a queue!  Even if you and your rocket are fully prepped, if you bring it up to safety check at 3:45 PM you stand a good chance of being disappointed!
   
   

2. Your NAR card. You must be a member in good standing to do HPR with any NAR section.  You can download a digital version that you can print out. Evidently NAR cards are now a paid for extra that you have to buy, however the digital download from nar.org printed out or on your phone will do.  You can download it from the NAR website under your member profile.
   
   

3. Your L1 certification form with the applicant’s information filled out, I.e. the top block on the sheet. The other sections are for you AND your certification team to fill out pre/post launch.  Junior L1 candidates and unexperienced but well mentored college candidates should also have proof in some form of Junior L1 exam passage.
   
   

4. Your rocket/motor/equipment!

Be prepared to answer the following questions below (and possibly others!). These will be easily answerable once you’ve done a simulation using either openrocket, rocksim, rasaero etc. which we HIGHLY recommend.

1. Location of CP, CG, and the stability margin.
   
   

2. Speed off of the rail assuming a 6 foot rail. The faster the better. Generally this should be at least 32 mph (45 to 50 feet per second).  Rail length can be set in your sim software's preferences.
   
   

3. Thrust to weight ratio of your model and chosen L1 motor, using the average thrust of the motor, and total loaded weight of the rocket/motor combination. It is strongly recommended that you choose a motor such that this ratio is 5 or more.  Be sure you compute the weight in Newtons to make it easy on yourself! Also, if it’s a kit, DO NOT rely on the manufacturer’s published weight. Once epoxy and paint etc. are applied, not to mention things like hardware links etc. the weight can be far above what the manufacturer specifies! WEIGH EVERYTHING.
   
   

4. Descent rate on the main parachute. You’ll need either simulation results for this, or check with on-line parachute vendors such as fruity-chutes, top-flite recovery etc. They usually have chute size vs weight vs descent rate charts. Shoot for 20 mph (29 fps) or less. There is a nifty calculator here:
   
   https://fruitychutes.com/help_for_parachutes/parachute-descent-rate-calculator
   
   

5. Printout of your rocket’s simulation summary for corroboration.
   
   

6. You will be asked as to how you arrived at your answers.

We want you to be successful and have a good time flying with us... safely!  This is rocket science, and it’s quite possible to cause serious damage and personal injury if things go horribly wrong. The NAR procedures were established to minimize this risk as much as possible and to this end, finally, PLEASE do not show up and ask to certify if you’ve NEVER built or flown a rocket before OR don’t have a highly experienced mentor to guide you. Getting sound advice and mentoring before you go down this road is the best way to avoid disappointment!  Come to the meetings, come to the launches.  You will NOT find a shortage of folks willing to help you!