Colin will be attempting his L3 Cert flight at LDRS in Canada. Cath and Marcus will also be making the trip to Canada, and will be taking some rockets to fly there. Good luck to Colin on the cert flight, and watch this space to find out if he is successful!

Cath has been appointed to the Tripoli Technical Advisory Panel, so can now sign off Level 3 cert flight designs. TAP members will also give advice and guidance to prospective Level 3 rocketeers. RSO's and launch organisers can also refer rockets of M, N, O power to TAP members for expert advice.

The latest message outlining the results of the joint NAR/TRA ATF lawsuit (22nd Dec 2004) can be read on the Tripoli Website.

To help fund the lawsuit, donations are required. TRA is holding a raffle for an exclusive high-quality jacket. All proceeds from the raffle will be contributed to the Legal Fund. Entries to the raffle must be received by 28th February 2005.

A few people have expressed an interest in attending either LDRS or BALLS in 2005, either for the experience, or to certify Level 3. LDRS 2005 will be in Canada - the first time it has ventured outside of USA.

TRA-UK will be organising an expedition to LDRS, so if you are interested in attending as part of a group, please email us... secretary @ tripoli.org.uk or use the online registration form.

Further expeditions to major overseas Tripoli sanctioned events are planned, so watch this space!

If you wondered why Cath spent most of the Canterbury Cup weekend and the IRW week sanding tubes and generally coating everything in dust, then the reason was that both Cath and Marcus were attempting Level 3 Certs two weeks later at BALLS 13, in Black Rock, Nevada.

Marcus flew his minimum diameter attempt on an Animal Motor Works M1480-RR, but unfortunately suffered a suspected drag separation. Sadly the motor casing was damaged, but Cath eventually managed to borrow a replacement casing for her attempt. On September 11th, Cath successfully launched 'Ginguar Must Roar' on an Animal Motor Works M1900-BB to 14403ft, gaining her the status of Level 3. The rocket also achieved Mach 1.4 which caused all of the stickers to either melt or disappear completely.

Congratulations to Cath, and lets hope Marcus is successful with his second attempt!

For some time, Tripoli United Kingdom has been dormant... but not any more! Coinciding with Cath & Marcus' Level 3 cert attempts at BALLS, Tripoli UK has been brought back to life. The UK prefecture was reformed in September 2004, with newly Level-3 certified Cath Bashford as the new Prefect. The prime reasons why Tripoli UK was reformed was to provide access to Tripoli-sanctioned events, and access to Tripoli insurance. This is particularly relevant for high-performance rockets; rockets with motors larger than M-class or not classified for use in UK; and experimental rockets, where flying in the UK is neither feasible nor legal.