Andy & Jim, flanking the red & white Quasar XL
Danville, 1996

Click on the photo to see the full panorama

Nope, these aren't the little Estes rockets we flew as kids.   These rockets have motors many times more powerful than those little cardboard and balsa kits.   Flying these means certifying with an organization like the Tripoli Rocketry Assocaition or getting an explosives permit so you can buy the motors legally (they're class B explosives), and applying for flight waivers from the FAA because these rockets are bigger, heavier, and fly to altitudes measured in thousands of feet!

Jim Crespo and I have been space freaks all our lives and friends for half our lives and got into HPR to design, build and fly rockets as far and as high as we can.   And let's face it - if amateur rocketry enthusiast like us can regularly fly small rockets to tens of thousands of feet, there isn't any reason why a few dedicated "rocket scientists" can't send a rocket into space.   The technology isn't cutting edge any more (it's 40-some years old), and it doesn't take a national effort anymore. Keep checking these pages for our progress!