There are many common ways of classifying rockets.
The FAA has Class 1/2/3. A basic system considering rocket and propellant weights. Works for them, but no consideration of style.
TRA and NAR take the FAA’s system into consideration (we all have to), but only loosely to not get afoul of it. This is also where stupidity of overlapping rules starts into play. TRA/NAR put heavy emphasis on motor class to break up rockets. A-G are Low Power, H+ are High Power. The overlapping begins with the fact many H motors are under 125 grams of propellant (which is the FAA class one limit). So you can have a Class 1 rocket with an H motor that doesn’t legally need a cert or waiver to fly alone (depending on your locality and NFPA level of adoption, we seriously need a map of this by the way). Just to make it confusing (it wasn’t already?) anything sparky or over 80N average thrust is HPR too. I need a lawyer or a shot at this point. Level’s 1/2/3 refer directly to motor classification, I’m not getting into that as my focus is more the rocket itself here, though the motor is certainly a consideration, my incoming point is that we focus too much on the motor itself and not the rocket/motor relationship, which should be more of the focus.
Those are the legal definitions, without getting into local laws or California’s absolute stupidity. There are also the common classifications.
The Rocketry Forum (and most rocketeers) Break things into LPR, A-D, MPR E-G, and HPR H-O. This breakdown again focuses entirely on motor size alone. Granted, a rocket’s size is going to be a function of the motor’s power, but this can lead to a vast difference in issues within every class. A total moron can build a 10″ sonotube L3 project in a weekend with wood glue, slap an M1297 in that bitch and let her rip. (RELAX, I don’t mean YOUR 10″ sonotube L3. that was a work of genius. I mean that other guy/group of kids). A very smart person could have a hard time keeping a 24mm MD from blowing apart on a CTI 6 grain load.
Two extreme cases, but my point is there are different challenges in various rocket styles, and those styles are more important factors in determining a rocket’s class than motor power alone. I did my L1 on an H133 Blue Streak, in a 2.6″ dia, 42 ounce Optima clone. It was a brain-dead easy flight to 1239′ single deployed and recovered without issue. Put that same motor in an MD blackhawk 29 and you’ve now got a show on your hands requiring a much higher skill level, tracking and dual deploy.
What’s my point? I don’t know if i have one. I started this post meaning to classify my own rockets and how I fly them. It wound up being something much different. I do think that CAR has a slightly better way of doing things. All G’s are MPR, damn the ave thrust. 4 levels (bit odd but ok), and I think electronic certs? I should look but too lazy right now. I’d love to see skill based cert levels Independent of motor class. Tracking and even DD would be a dicey thing though. While I think it’d be great to have a classification for it, to present more training and info to fliers… If you make it a cert level thing would you just push people to fly untracked SD flights when they should be doing tracking/DD? And do cert’s really even matter? Do we need a “meriet badge” system? Strictly speaking every rocket has to be RSO’d. That safety inspection should be done with no assumptions. Meaning any person should be able to hand a rocket to an RSO, and they inspect it for flight worth. The skill of the flier not considered, just looking at the rocket and getting info from the flier. Under that theory, past experience of the flier is entirely irrelevant. Any flight, cert or not, should see the same level of scrutiny. Surely first flights should see a bit more, but again, the flier’s experience doesn’t factor into that.
So to my original point…. My rockets. Hell this is so far from what this post became I’m not even sure it’s worth sharing at this point. Right… mine. Here we go.
LPR- A-E. 18 and 24mm. Estes stuff. Love building them, haven’t flown much lately.
Saucers- Just fun and dumb.
MPR- LOC stuff. 24mm AT stuff, 29mm E/F/G. My PKM and Onyx fit in here. Single deploy, small, portable, easy.
Sport/Fun- These can fly on G+ motors, but can single deploy on H’s still. The Optima, Vulcanite, Mini Magg fall in here. I’d like to build a few more in this class. Roll in around 40-53 ounces loaded. Turn in 500-800′ flights on G motors, 1500 or so on small H’s. I’d like to have a bunch of 38mm mount rocket’s built in this style to fly on a 38/160 case I’m dreaming up. good 1500 foot flights single deploy for cheap easy fun.
Fat high power- Anything big enough to fly to around 3,000 feet and single deploy reasonably well without tracking.
Off to the races- High thrust/weight ratio rockets, for me right now, anything getting up over a mile and pushing/breaking mach. Tracking, DD, full effort style flights.
Needs some refining, and yea, one rocket can fit into multiple categories depending on the flight. Just doing a minor brain dump here…. in reality, I’m focusing in on two style of flying, personally. The 29/38mm G rocket in the 40 ounce range (which is why I love 2.6″ rockets and want a 38/160 case, such a missing sweet spot in my opinion) and DD rocket’s riding 38/1200, 38/1320’s or 54/1706. Next stage will either be 54/2800’s or go up to 3″ motors. All in due time, but the point being I like fast fun flights at one end.. and then push to the top on the other end.