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Hi my name is Chuck Pretto. I am a born again rocketeer. I started with the hobby in the late 60's. I wish I still had my original NAR number. About 5 years ago, the itch got me again, so I sought out the local NAR group. Come to find out, the local group, San Diego DART, held their launches only a couple of miles from my house. So I dragged my own son down there and we got hooked again. One thing lead to another and I started asking about the big rockets. I soon found out that the closest launch site for the Big Ones was at Ocotillo, about 100 miles east of San Diego. Then my work schedule changed which meant I had to work the weekends taking rockets out of my life once again.Then in Oct. of 2000 I made the first trek out to Ocotillo. This represented my second attempt at Level 1 certification. I had a earlier attempt at El Dorado Dry Lake in Vegas, but I built the motor incorrectly and suffered a serious blow by on the pad. Well things went better this time and I was certified on Oct. 14, 2000. The very next month I returned to try my hand at Level 2. This attempt was a complete success with the help of some of the other club members. Certification was completed on November 18, 2000, leading me to the present. I am currently working on two Level 3 capable rockets. One will be a scratch built rocket named Elongator and the second is a RDS kit named North Star.
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