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For John's level 1 rocket he dusted off his LOC Precision IV rocket that he bought in 1988. This is when John first joined Tripoli while attending college in Phoenix, Arizona.

As a "BAR" (Born-Again-Rocketeer), I visited a hobby-shop in Phoenix. I remembered shooting A,B,C, and D Estes motors as a kid, and to my surprise I saw F, and G Aerotech motors hanging on the wall. People talk about getting the "Rocket Bug." Well I was hooked. Additional to the motors was a catalog of LOC Precision rockets. I quickly ordered the LOC IV. Several of my college mates also ordered rockets.

The funny thing about it was we would shoot these newly-found, high-powered rockets adjacent to Luke Air force base. We used to use tin foil as wadding that would cause a large air-sectional cross section on the base radar. We couldn't figure out why helicopters would always fly over head to see what we were up to!

After returning to high-power rocketry, I found out when and where the local Tripoli shoot was and headed out to the dry lake. Dave Pacheco was the Prefect for the local club. Chuck and I both attempted to qualify for our level 1 certifications that day.

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