The Inside Loop


Editor Jay Smith [email protected]		 Model rocketry has been part of my life for as long as RC airplanes, cars, and boats. When I build a model rocket—especially one I designed myself—I get that same level of satisfaction as when I complete a model aircraft.
I experience the same excitement waiting to take it out to the field and see how well it performs. No matter what type of model you build, there’s a certain level of fulfillment knowing that you constructed it. Seeing it perform as intended is icing on the cake!
As a kid, I would ride my bike to the middle school—which actually was a flying field until they built the high school and middle school—to fly my CL Cox PT-19 and launch rockets with my friends. I spent my allowance buying fuel for my airplanes and rocket engines.

I also raced RC cars and boats across the state of Florida and have a couple of boxes of plaques and trophies I just can’t seem to part with.
To this day I still dabble in all of these hobbies, but of course my true love is model aircraft! So why am I discussing rockets, RC cars, and boats in an airplane magazine? Well, they are all being enjoyed at the International Aeromodeling Center here in Muncie, Indiana
Our site hosts a few model rocketry events each year and we have an off-road RC car track on-site that gets a decent amount of use in the summer. Even the pond in front of the administration building has gotten a fair share of small, electric-powered boats wet.
Something you may not be aware of is that all of these modeling endeavors are also covered under AMA’s insurance. The 2012 insurance summary can be found on the AMA website at www.modelaircraft.org/files/500-a.pdf. According to the summary, our insurance “Applies to accidents arising from the modeling activities of model aircraft, rockets, cars and boats, in accordance with the AMA National Safety Code(s).”
This month, as part of our “State of the Sport” series of articles, we feature Model Rocketry. Whether you have been involved in rocketry in the past or have thought about giving it a try for the first time, John Boren’s article will get you up to speed on another exciting way to get your models airborne!MA


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