A few years ago I was lucky enough to download a glossary of rocketry terms it was a great reference especially when your new and all these words are being used that could mean a number of different things.

I will try and keep each letter of the alphabet to a post so the posts are not to long.

Hope you find it helpful.  

3FNC: Three Fins and a Nose Cone, the description of a generic rocket.

AARC: Adelaide Advanced Rocketry Club INC

Advanced Rocket: see 'High Power Rocket'

AGL: Above Ground Level. This is CASA-speak which, when talking about an altitude permission, refers to the maximum altitude you can legally fly under that permission. It is usually added to the MSL (Medium Sea Level) altitude of the launch site to give an altimeter reading that pilots must avoid. Example: if your launch site is at 1,500' MSL and you have a 3,000' AGL waiver, then pilots must stay above 4,500' to be safe.

Air Start: Any motor that is started after first motion of the vehicle. Upper stage ignition of a multi stage rocket is a special case of air starting. Usually it is outboard boosters started after a central motor has lifted the vehicle, or visa versa. This can be done by a flashbulb/motion switch, timer, or simply a piece of fuse started by the exhaust of the pad start motor.

Amateur Rocket or Experimental Rocket: The class of non-professional rocket beyond HPR. Amateur rockets use structural metal parts and very often the motor casing doubles as the airframe (as with professional rockets). These rockets can be very large and powerful, capable of placing payloads many miles up. Activities in this field (one can scarcely call it a hobby) include formulation and manufacture of propellants and thus can be EXTREMELY hazardous. This is the main reason that amateur rocketry is not to be attempted alone. Another is expense as these vehicles can run many hundreds or thousands of dollars and take months to build. The equipment necessary to safely pursue amateur rocketry (sandbagged bunkers, loading pits, standby fire truck, etc.) are quite beyond the resources of most individuals. Not all amateur rockets are so large. Many of the "beginner" vehicles would qualify as HPR or even model rockets in terms of liftoff weight and total impulse, but fail the ARA codes due to their metal airframes and user-compounded propellants. Note: There is a fine, but significant, difference between using a metal cased reloadable motor with pre-manufactured fuel slugs and packing a pipe with zinc/sulfur (a common amateur beginner fuel). Liquid fueled vehicles are becoming more popular among amateur groups. These can produce up to 1,000 lbs of thrust for up to a minute from a LOX/Kerosene engine which can propel the vehicle to altitudes of over 40 miles. Some hobby! The ARA do not sanction amateur rocket activities.

AP: Ammonium Perchlorate, the oxidizer used in composite rocket motors. Other components are Aluminum powder (fuel) and polybutediene rubber (the binder holding it all together). This is the propellant mixture that the Shuttle SRB's use.

Apogee: The highest point of a rocket's flight path. (More literally, the point farthest on the flight path from Earth.)

ARA: Australian Rocketry Association INC

B/G: Boost Glider. A glider which is boosted to altitude by a rocket motor. The pod containing the expended motor may separate from the glider at ejection to be returned by streamer or parachute (this is typical but is not required). The more aerodynamically clean glider section is then free to glide more slowly.

Baffle: See 'Ejection Baffle'

Ballistic Coefficient: A measure of a projectile's ability to coast. It is defined as Cb = M/CdA where M is the projectile's mass and CdA is the Drag Form Factor (q.v.). At any given velocity and air density, the deceleration of a rocket from drag is inversely proportional to this value. Intuitively, it is the principle behind why a tightly crumpled piece of paper can be thrown farther than a loosely crumpled one.

BAR: Born Again Rocketeer. An individual who has re-discovered the hobby/sport after an absence of several years. Contrast "BOR"

Base Drag: A component of aerodynamic drag caused by a partial vacuum in the rocket's tail area. The vacuum is the hole created by your rocket's passage through the air. Base drag changes during flight. While the motor is firing, the drag is minimal since the tremendous volume of gas generated by the motor fills thisvoid. The drag takes a sharp jump at burnout when this gas disappears (note: tracking smoke has very little effect on base drag due to its low density). Base drag can be reduced by the use of a boattail to transition the main body diameter down to the motor diameter which helps direct air into the evacuated area. When properly designed, a boattail can reduce base drag below zero (i.e. actually generate a small amount of forward thrust) by making use of the "pumpkin seed" effect.

Bernoulli Effect: A phenomenon first described by the 18th century Swiss scientist Daniel Bernoulli who studied the pressures in moving fluid streams. The effect states that moving air will have a lower pressure than the still air around it. This is the principle behind how airplane wings generate lift and why beach balls stay "balanced" on top of fans in those hardware store displays
The effect is significant in rocketry when using altimeters or any other kind of payload that senses the ambient pressure around the rocket. The air moving by the payload section could cause the payload to indicate a lower pressure than the ambient still air, thus giving a false altitude reading. The effectdrops to zero at apogee when your rocket stops moving, but thealtitude vs. time curve will be wrong.

Bernoulli Lock: A phenomenon similar to the "Krushnic Effect" (q.v.) where the rocket seems to be "glued" to the pad at liftoff. This afflicts larger, flat-bottomed rockets launched too close to pads with flat blast deflectors. The exhaust gasses escape at great speed through the small annular space between the rocket and the pad creating a venturi which generates a low pressure region at the base. This pressure deficit can be significant, and if it is greater than the thrust being generated by the motor, the rocket won't go anywhere! This is quite possible as a 2" dia.rocket has, potentially, over 45 lbs (200 N) of "suction" available to hold it back, while a 3" rocket has over 100 lbs (460 N)! The old Centuri "Point" was an infamous Bernoulli locker when launched from an Estes Porta-Pad with its perfectly matching round blast deflector.

BH: Berg's Hobbies located in Parramatta, New South Wales.

Black Powder: Basically, gunpowder. The 'traditional' model rocket motor fuel. Used by Estes and most other model rocket companies through F range. Rocketflite has black powder motors through the H range. See also "AP" and "Composite Motor"

Boattail: A transition section at the tail of the rocket which gradually narrows the body down to the motor diameter. Used to reduce base drag (q.v.).

Boosted Dart: A method of maximizing altitude for any given impulse motor. A sub-minimum diameter, unpowered "dart" section weighted for Optimum Mass (q.v.) is placed on top of the powered section. At burnout (maximum velocity) the dart is released and coasts higher than even a minimum diameter rocket could due to its smallcross sectional area. This technique is used in professional sounding rockets (e.g. Super Loki) as well as hobby rocketry.

Booster: On a multi stage rocket this refers to the sections (stages) which drop off in mid-flight. On single stage payload rockets,the term is used for the lower powered portion to distinguish it from the payload section. See also "Air Start"

BOR: Burned Out Rocketeer (facetious). Counterpoint to BAR (q.v.). Someone who has been going at the hobby too intensely, such as in preparation for a major contest.

Burn Out Velocity: The velocity the rocket is traveling when the motor runs out of fuel. Usually the highest speed achieved by the rocket. See also "Hyperterminal Velocity"

CA: Cyanoacrylate ('super glue'). A very strong adhesive popular for use in competition and high power rockets, as well as 'on the field' repairs. The three most common forms of CA are often referred to as 'hot', 'gap filling' and 'slow'. Hot CA is very thin and has strong wicking properties. It dries in only a few seconds. Gap filling CA is a little thicker and generally comes in 15 - 30 second bond times. Slow CA forms the strongest bond but its bond times are also much longer. Hot or gap filling CA is often used to tack parts into place prior to applying a stronger adhesive with a much longer bonding time (such as an epoxy).

Caliber: In rocketry, the diameter of the main body tube. Usually used when refering to some function of length, e.g. "The CP should be behind the CG by at least one caliber." The term is borrowed from the small arms industry where it refers to the bore of a rifle or pistol barrel, e.g. a .38 caliber pistol has a barrel with a .38" bore. Note that in large artillery, caliber refers to the *ratio* of barrel length to bore. For example, a 3 inch 40 caliber gun would have a barrel 120 inches long.

Capacitive Discharge: A type of launch controller which uses a large capacitor to store electrical energy from a battery. When commanded by thelaunch controller, the capacitor discharges a large current into the igniter. These controllers are often used with large cluster rockets to ensure all motors ignite simultaneously.

CASA: Civil Aviation Safety Authority Australia

CASA 101-2: An advisory circular to provide guidance to the public in the operation of rockets and the means whereby they may safely and legally launch them.

CASR : Civil Aviation Safety Regulations

CATO: A motor failure, generally explosive, where all the propellant is burned in a much shorter time than planned. This can be a nozzle blow-out (loud, but basically harmless), an end-cap blow-out (where all of the pyrotechnic force blows FORWARD which usually does a pretty good job of removing any internal structure including the recovery system) or a casing rupture which has unpredictable, but usually devastating, effects. Another form of CATO is an ejection failure caused by either the delay train failing to burn or the ejection charge not firing, but the result is the same: the model prangs. A CATO does not necessarily burn all of the fuel in a rocket motor (especially true for composite fuels, which do not burn well when not under pressure). For this reason you should be especially careful when approaching a CATO.

CHAD: Acronym for CHeap And Dirty. Used to refer to a quick and inexpensive (but usually inelegant) way to solve a particular problem or produce some end result.

CHAD Staging: A simple technique used to make a multi-stage rocket out of a single stage vehicle. A booster motor is taped to the end of the standard, single stage motor in the rocket. The booster is totally external to the rocket. The booster is then ignited in the usual manner. This technique only works with black powder motors. It will only work with models that are VERY over-stable to begin with. When CHAD staging does work, however, it is the most efficient staging method because it minimizes increased drag and mass associated with an added stage. (See Optimum Mass)

Chuff: A form of unstable combustion marked by brief bursts of thrust separated by periods of no thrust. Typically, the bursts come faster and become longer as burning proceeds, until stable burning results. The sound of chuffing is similar to that of a steam locomotive starting up. It generally occurs in a composite motor that is ignited too low in the grain.

Chuffing can be dangerous, since a short burst of thrust can launch the rocket off the launch rod, and a lull immediately following the burst can put the rocket on the ground. When stable burning ensues, such a rocket will be flying horizontally. See "Land Shark"

CG: Center of Gravity. The point about which a free body will rotate when disturbed by an outside force. For a model rocket, this is the point where the effects the masses of the individual components cancel out and the model will balance on a knife edge. As with a see-saw, a mass further from the CG will have a greater effect than the same mass closer in.

Clip Whip: A number of micro clips on short wires (usually three) all connected at their free end. Used to aid in the ignition of clusters (q.v) where each motor uses a separate ignitor.

Cluster: A rocket that fires more than one motor simultaneously. See also "Clip Whip" and "Davis Douche"

Composite Material: Hi-Tech materials, other than paper, wood or metal, used in the construction of rockets (see also "Phenolic").

Composite Motor: The term used broadly to cover solid fuel rocket motors using propellants other than black powder. Composite motors require different igniters and igniter systems from black powder motors.

Composite Propellant: In Hobby Rocketry, any propellant other than black powder. In military parlance (where the term originated) the term is used to denote propellants that are mixtures of oxidizers and fuels and to distinguish them from Single, Double, and Triple base propellants (which are either monopropellants or mixtures of monopropellants). Note that by the military definition, black powder is itself a composite propellant because it consists of separate oxidizers (KNO3 and sulfur) and fuel (charcoal). Further note that by the hobby definition, single/double/triple base propellants are composites because they are not black powder. No ambiguity arises, however, since the military doesn't use black powder (in rockets, anyway), and no hobby rocket motors use single, double or triple base propellants. See also "Single Base Propellants", "Double Base Propellants" and "Triple Base Propellants"

Confirmation Certification: The process whereby a member of ARA becomes certified as eligible to purchase high power (H and up) motors.

Continuity Check: A group of electrical techniques for checking the firing circuit through the igniter to ensure that the circuit is functional. This usually involves some type of light or audio tone activated by a push-button. The techniques range from a simple current limiting light bulb or buzzer placed in series with nichrome igniters, to sophisticated bridge circuits for sensitive, low current flashbulbs and electric matches.

CopperheadTM: The trademark name for an igniter produced by AeroTech, Inc. It is a laminated assembly consisting of a two copper foil strips separated by an insulator, with a quantity of pyrogenic compound on one end. It normally requires a special clip for electrical connections, but some rocketeers have mastered the "Z-Fold" which allows use of normal alligator clips. Also refered to as "crappahead"

Core Sample: Synonyms describing a failure mode where the model comes down fast and hard (nose first) and ends up tail-high in the ground (this is where large, colorful fins come in handy . Often the nose cone has separated (taking the recovery device with it) and the body tube ends up containing a nice 'core sample' of mud/dirt when pulled out of the ground. Also known as:

Auger In
Ballistic
Lawn Dart
Tent Peg
Yard Dart

CP: Center of (Aerodynamic) Pressure. The point on a rocket where stability-restoring forces due to airflow against the back part of the rocket (fins, etc.) exactly equal the disturbing forces against the part of the rocket ahead of that point.

The location of this point depends on the rocket's orientation at the time of measurement. If it is at a very small angle to the "local wind" (line of flight), the fins' restoring contribution will be large, while the nose's disturbing contribution will be small, resulting in a CP that is way back. The CP in this case can be located using the Barrowman Equations. If the rocket is nearly sideways, the CP will be much more forward. The CP in this case can be located by balancing a cardboard silhouette of the rocket.

Since all free bodies can rotate only on their center of mass, stability is usually a simple matter of placing your CG ahead of your CP, which ensures that the restoring forces of airflow on the rear of the model will always overcome the disturbing forces on the front.

A good rule of thumb for sport models (both high and low power)is to design the rocket with the CP one or two body diameters behind the CG.

Cruise Missile: A rocket which has failed in such a way that it ends up flying horizontally while still under power. A common example would be a multi-stage rocket which stages "dirty"(due to stability or structural problems) causing the upper stage to bend to near horizontal at ignition. Severe launch rod tip off or high winds have also been know to cause a cruise missile attitude.

Davis Douche: A method of igniting clustered motors by using a piece of fuse in each motor with all fuses dropping into a pie plate that has been dusted with black powder and taped to the bottom of the model. A single ignitor in the black powder "flashes the pan" igniting all the fuses at once. Developed in the early '60s by Joel Davis and detailed in an early Model Rocketry Magazine [late 1968 or early 1969, before they went to color covers].

Delay Train/Delay Charge: Pyrotechnic material in the rocket motor which burns slowly between the propellant charge and the firing of the ejection charge. This allows the rocket to coast towards apogee and slow down to deploy the recovery system at low speed.

Double Base Propellant: A solid propellant consisting of two monopropellants (usually nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose) and various additives. Double base propellants are used as smokeless powders in ammunition. They are also used in smaller military rockets but have been largely replaced by composites in larger vehicles. Double base propellants are not used in hobby rocketry. See also "Composite Propellant"

DQ: Disqualified flight.

Drag Coefficient(Cd): A dimensionless number used in aerodynamics to describe the drag of a shape. This number is independent of the size of the object and is usually determined in a wind tunnel. It is part of the basic drag equation F=.5*rho*V^2*Cd*A where F is the drag force, rho is the air density, V is the air velocity and A is the cross sectional area. All of these, except Cd, are directly measurable in a wind tunnel so Cd can be thought of the "fudge factor" that accounts for all of the aerodynamic peculiarities of a shape. The Cd for most sport type hobby rockets is in the range of .4 to .5. See also "Reynolds Number."

Drag Form Factor(CdA): The Drag Coefficient (q.v.) of an object multiplied by its cross sectional area. This is used to scale the drag value for a particular object from the dimensionless Cd. Theoretically, every object of a similar shape will have the same Cd regardless of its size, meaning that both a grain of rice and a Zeppelin would be the same. Multiplying by the area allows comparisons of the true drag between dissimilar objects. For example, the original Honda Civic had a horrible Cd, and makers of large luxury cars, with a little edge rounding, were easily able to beat it and proclaim "Lower drag than a Honda Civic!" in their ads. This is patently absurd as the Honda had such a tiny cross section, thus much lower *actual* drag. See also "Optimum Mass"

Drop Staging: See 'CHAD Staging'

DT: Dawn Trading the main supplier of rocketry motors and rocketry products across Australia.

Effective Exhaust Velocity: See Impulse (Relative)

Ejection Baffle: A device used in some rockets to eliminate the need to use wadding to protect the recovery system. Usually composed of some type of metal wool or mesh to absorb the heat of the ejection gases before they reach the recovery compartment.

Ejection Charge: A small quantity of black powder used to generate gas pressure within the rocket to deploy the recovery system. This is activated when the delay train (q.v.) burns through. On rockets with electronic ejection timers, this may be a separate small container of black powder which is triggered by a signal from a timer or other control unit.

Electric Match: A type of igniter originally designed to set off fuse-type blasting caps (i.e. a match that can be set off from a great distance electrically). It requires a very low electrical current (~10 mA range) to activate.

Engine: A machine that converts energy into mechanical motion. Such a machine is distinguished from an electric, spring-driven or hydraulic motor by its consumption of a fuel (from *American Heritage Dictionary*).

EP Rocketry: Eyre Peninsula Rocketry a South Australian section of the ARA

Estes Dent: A semicircular deformation of the leading edge of the body tube cause by the nose cone snapping back and striking the body at ejection. The problem is intensified by short shock cords which don't absorb as much energy before reversing and give the nose a closer target with better aim So named due to that company's policy of providing very short shock cords in their kits.

Experimental Rocket: See "Amateur Rocket"

FAI: The Federation Aeronautique Internationale. An international organization located in Paris, France that tracks world records for aeronautics and aeromodeling.

Fillet: A reinforcement of the joint between the fin and the body tube of the rocket to improve the rocket's aerodynamics and to strengthen the fin mount. See also "TTW"

GSE: Ground Support Equipment. Anything you bring to the launch site which is necessary to fly your rocket, but doesn't actually fly with it. Obvious examples are the launch pad, launch controller, a prep table, etc. Less obvious examples are payload support stuff like receivers and tape recorders if you're flying a broadcasting type data collection payload.

Hang Fire/Misfire: Terms which refer to abnormal ignition. With hang fire, the motor usually ignites after a considerable delay. Misfires never ignite. Hang fires often appears as a misfire until the motor ignites some time later. This is the main reason the safety code advises not to approach a misfired rocket for one minute.

High Power Rocket(ry) (HPR): Hobby rockets that exceed the total weight, total propellant or single motor total impulse restrictions of model rockets as defined in CASA 101 -2 (q.v.) but otherwise conform to the same guidelines for construction materials and pre-manufactuered, solid propellant motors. High power rockets have no total weight limits, but do have a single motor limit of no more than O power (40,960 NS total impulse) and have a limitation of 81,920 NS total impulse.

HMR: The Handbook of Model Rocketry. The official NAR handbook for the hobby. Originally written by G. Harry Stine (NAR #002) in the mid '60s (the first edition came out in 1965) and currently in it's seventh edition. It has expanded it's scope with the hobby by adding computer programs (not always the best sorted out) in the fourth edition and giving a nod towards the existence of HPR in the current one.

Hobby Rocket: A general, collective term used to describe both model and HPR rockets to differentiate them from amateur/experimental rockets. The latter, while also non-professional, might better be called "Obsession Rockets"

Hyperterminal Velocity: A situation where a rocket is traveling faster than terminal velocity (q.v.) for a given motor. This is possible, for example, with a staged model with grossly mismatched motor combinations such as an F-100 staged to a B6. At staging, the upper stage will already be beyond its terminal velocity for the "B" motor. In this case, the upper stage will actually *decelerate* during thrusting and approaches terminal velocity from above.

Igniter: An expendable device used to ignite a rocket motor.

Impulse(Relative): A measure of the efficiency of a rocket engine. Similar to Specific Impulse, it is defined as the Total Impulse (q.v.) divided by the mass of the propellants. A little dimensional juggling shows that this gives the same units as velocity (ft/sec or m/sec) hence is sometimes called "Effective Exhaust Velocity." How quickly the reaction mass leaves the nozzle is a good measure of efficiency.

Impulse(Specific): A measure of the efficiency of a motor/propellant system. It is determined by taking the Total Impulse (q.v.) and dividing by the weight of propellants. This carries the potentially confusing units of "seconds" (as if it had something to do with the burn duration) but is due to weight and thrust both being force parameters hence canceling out (e.g. lb-sec/lb or N-sec/N). This is actually very handy since it makes the term independent of the units system (metric or English) since they both use "seconds" for time.

Impulse(Total): A measure of the total momentum imparted to the rocket by the motor. It is defined (for those who know calculus) as the integrated area under the thrust-time curve. For the rest of us, it can be thought of as the motor's average thrust times the duration of the burn. Measured in N-sec or Lb-sec.

Kicked: A term used to describe a motor which is ejected from the rocket while in flight. This often results in the failure of the recovery system. It is usually caused by not fitting the motor into the motor mount properly. See also "Prang"

Kitbash: Taking two (or more) kits and combining ("bashing") them into a new design. Often used as a contest event (Team Kitbash, where teams compete, Kitbash Duration, Scale Kitbash, etc) where the idea is to be creative in a limited amount of time.

Krushnic Effect: A very dramatic phenomenon where your rocket makes a tremendous amount of noise and smoke but doesn't go anywhere! This happens when the motor is recessed into the body tube by more than one tube diameter. If so recessed, the cylindrical volume below the motor forms a secondary expansion chamber which allows the exhaust gasses to expand below atmospheric pressure before leaving the rocket. Surrounding air aspirated into the exhaust stream causes turbulence which negates much of the thrust, along with creating the characteristic roar. A multi-stage model that ejects its booster motor, but not the airframe, is a perfect example. Very damaging; it almost always destroys the lower body tube beyond use. Named for Richard Krushnic, the rocketeer who characterized the effect in the late '60s. Not to be confused with "Suction Lock" (q.v.).

Land Shark/Worm Burner: A rocket which has failed in such a way that it ends up on the ground while still under power. Upper stages of unstable multi-stage rockets often end up like this, as do some (too) heavy HPR rockets with long-burning, low thrust motors.

Landis Loop: A ring used in a tower launcher to keep the back end of a egglofter centered during launch. Invented by Geoff Landis and named for him by Bob Kaplow.

LCO: Launch Control Officer: the individual responsible for safe operation of the launch range.

Lovelace Effect: A phenomenon where the nose cone is apparently "sucked" out of the body right at motor burnout. It is more prevalent on parabola, ogive and other low drag nose shapes. The theory (as yet unproven) is that since the nose cone has much less drag than the body, its momentum tends to carry it forward faster (or, more correctly, the body's drag decelerates *it* more quickly) putting tension on the nose-body joint. The condition is exacerbated by any nose weights added for stability (which also raise the momentum of the nose) and/or a loose fit of the nose in the body.

Another possible contributing factor could be the denser air (trapped in the body tube from ground level) exerting pressure on the nose cone once the rocket reaches a higher altitude.

The term is named after an early '70s movie actress who, ahh, um...well, go ask your dad

MagneliteTM: An ignitor made by Rocketflite used mainly to start composite motors. A medium power device (2-3 amps at 12 volts), it requires significantly more than an electric match (q.v.), but not as much as a Copperhead (q.v.). It consists of a nichrome bridgewire dipped in a magnesium based pyrogen which burns *very* hot (~6000F), aiding in the ignition of stubborn composites, such as a "Blue Thunder". They come both single and double dipped, depending on how much "oomph" you need. The head is quite large so they work best in 29mm and larger motors.

Medium Power Rocket: A term used to describe rockets using motors in the 'E', 'F', and 'G' power classes.

MIF: Missing In Flight. A rocket that disappears with no sign of the recovery system deployment, and no other obvious failure mode (e.g. Prang or CATO). Sometimes called "into orbit."

Minimum Diameter: A rocket built with the smallest possible diameter body tube for the size of motor casing. Usually done to reduce drag in sport or competition models even though it can increase the difficulty of attaching fins and recovery systems. See also "Boosted Dart"

Model Rocket: An aero-vehicle that ascends into the air by means of a reaction motor, but without the use of aerodynamic lifting surfaces. The restrictions, as defined in CASA 101-2, are as follows:

The gross launch weight, including motor(s), will not exceed 1500 grams. Motor(s) will not exceed 320 NS of impulse (total) and no more than a total of 125 grams of propellant in multiple motor applications (clusters and/or multi-stages).

All components of said vehicle will be of wood, paper, rubber, breakable plastic or similar material and contains no metal as structural parts. See also CASA 101-2

Modroc: Model Rocket. Also seen as 'modrocer', or similar spelling, to mean 'model rocketry enthusiast'.

Monopropellant: See "Single Base Propellant"

Motor: Something that imparts or produces motion, such as a machine or engine. A device that converts any form of energy into mechanical energy (from *American Heritage Dictionary*).

NAR: National Association of Rocketry. A national hobby organization promoting model and high power rocketry in the United States. The NAR promotes rocketry related sport flying, competitions, and education.

NARAM: National Association of Rocketry Annual Meet. The NAR national championships competition, held in August of each year.

NARCON: National Association of Rocketry Annual Convention. An annual event sanctioned by the NAR oriented towards non-competitive (i.e., sport) model and high power rocketry. It includes seminars, R&D presentations and lots of sport flying.

NARTS: National Association of Rocketry Technical Services. A service provided by the NAR for both members and non-members. NARTS stocks rocket plans, technical reports, and other items of interest to rocketry enthusiasts.

Newton & Newton-second: Metric units used to measure thrust and total impulse (q.v.)respectively. One pound = 4.448 newtons.

NSL: National Sport Launch. An annual, national sport fly sanctioned by the NAR. It is currently held in February of each year so that it is midway between NARAM national meets.

NFPA: National Fire Protection Association. A private for-profit organization responsible for crafting rules and regulations dealing with fire safety issues which are beyond the expertise of local agencies. The NFPA is NOT a government agency and has no enforcement power of its own. It gathers experts in various fields to write safety regulations for adoption by local fire agencies (at the discretion of the Fire Marshal). The current NAR Model Rocket Sporting Code was developed by the NAR and NFPA. Both the NAR and Tripoli are members of the NFPA. G. Harry Stine ('the old rocketeer') was the chairman of the pyrotechnics committee of the NFPA.

NFPA 1122: The current NFPA regulation defining Model Rocketry. This document defines a model rocket as having less than 1,500 grams total launch weight, containing less than 125 grams of fuel (no more than 62.5 grams in any one motor), and no more than 160NS total impulse in all motors (no individual motor having more than 80NS of total impulse).

NFPA 1127: The NFPA regulation defining High Power Rocketry. The provisions of 1127 defines HPR as follows:

High power rockets have no total weight limits, but do have a single motor limit of no more than O power (40,960 NS total impulse) and have a total limitation of 81,920 NS total impulse.

#####: New South Wales Rocketry Association INC