Brian Perry - Member At Large

Like most people in high power rocketry, I am a born-again rocketeer. As a preteen, a friend of mine introduced me to model rockets. We built and flew small Estes rockets. I learned then a small rocket with the biggest motor that would fit in it was a lot of fun. As a teenager, I switched my focus to cars and girls. I went to Ivy Tech and received an Associate Degree in automotive. I then found a job in an auto shop and became ASE Certified. I have been working in the automotive industry for 20 years. When my daughter was young, I bought an Estes starter set from Wal-Mart thinking she might enjoy it like I did when I was young. We would occasionally fly small rockets as both my son and daughter got older. Then after a 4-H callout meeting my wife said, “Your daughter signed up for 4-H Aerospace, will you help her since you used to build rockets?” I never knew there were motors bigger than 18mm until her first rocket. It was bigger than any rocket I have ever built. At the 4-H meetings, I meet Doug Jackson and Vic Barlow. They brought some of their High Power Rockets to these meetings. I thought, “WOW! What is this all about?” I knew then, I wanted to try this. My daughter’s second year in 4-H Aerospace, she built a LOC Graduator, so I got one also for my L1 Certification. As Doug was teaching my daughter to build hers, I was learning how to build mine. Then on my 38^th birthday, I did my L1 Certification at the AMA in Muncie, Indiana. I then did my L2 in the spring of 2008. I achieved L3 in 2010 at our first Thunderstruck regional launch. I am more proud of my High Power Certification than of my ASE Certification.