Here is some useful information for participants of the Model Rocket Design class or anyone interested in model rockets.
Information material from the class
Get rockets, parts and motors
These are all dealers I've personally had a good experience with or heard very good things about. Please support them, they aren't any more expensive than Amazon or nation-wide chains:
- AC Supply
- Performance Hobbies is often present at NOVAAR launches
- CS Rocketry
- Balsa Machining Services
If you want a brick and mortar store, try
- Hobby Lobby 240 Fort Evans Rd NE, Leesburg, VA 20176
Where to fly / local clubs
The launch sites differ vastly in comfort and size. If you want to fly small rockets, NOVAAR is great and the closest, if you want to fly very high, Tripoli Central Virginia is best, and if you want to walk over golf-course-quality sod to recover your rockets, the MD Rocketry summer launches are great.
- NOVAAR (NAR) launches year-round at Great Meadow, 5089 Old Tavern Rd, The Plains, VA 20198
- Tripoli Central Virginia (TRA) launches between October and April at Crittenden Ln, Rapidan, VA 22733
- NARHAMS (NAR) launches year-round at 12406 Old National Pike, Mt Airy, MD 21771
- Maryland Delaware Rocketry Association (NAR/TRA) launches year-round at two different sites near Centreville, MD
National Associations
While no club membership is necessary to fly rockets, it's helpful to be the member of a local club and the respective national association to have insurance and access to other resources.
- National Assocation of Rocketry (NAR) focuses on model rockets and competitions
- Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) focuses on large, high-power rockets and the experimental side of rocketry
Both associations allow certifications for high-power flights and the launches always offer launch opportunities from the smallest rockets up to the largest ones the launch site and weather conditions permit.