I'd love to have S.W.A.R.M. chartered as a Canadian Association of Rocketry section. I started down the road to making this happen a while back but was sidetracked with personal business and haven't gotten back to it yet. There are several advantages to getting this done:
- There are several Canadian altitude records that remain open. These include A, B, and C single stage, single motor and A, B, C, D, F complex, staged, cluster, or dart. Chartering as a CAR club would allow our members to make official record attempts in these (and other) areas.
- If we are ever to be capable of launching HPR, we need a trained Range Safety Officer. Being part of the CAR would certainly facilitate this. I do not yet know the process of becoming qualified but having CAR connections couldn't hurt.
- The most recent issue of Sport Rocketry featured coverage of TARC 2016. The Team America Rocketry Challenge is an annual event in which teams of students must build and fly a model rocket according to strict guidelines. This year's event requires a flight of 41-43 seconds and an altitude of 800' while carrying two raw hen's eggs. The top 100 teams are invited to Washington, DC in the spring for the finals to compete for $100 000 worth of prizes! Canada does not currently run this type of event--but we should! It would certainly start out on a smaller scale but it could grow over time. CAR involvement is almost certainly a must for this to happen, especially for students to have mentors and access to flying fields. I would love for S.W.A.R.M. to provide the push to get this type of event started.