13: Mike Nowak and James Duffy – FAI Competition Rocketry

James Duffy, left, and Mike Nowak, right, at the opening ceremonies of the European Space Modeling Competition in Ukraine, 2015

Here’s an episode we recorded a while back, and since it’s been a hot topic recently due to virtual NARCON, we’re dropping it now.

We chat with Mike Nowak and James Duffy – two skilled rocket builders who’ve been competing on the American team in international rocketry competitions for years. FAI – the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale – is the world governing body for air sports, including model rocketry. The International Championships for Spacemodeling are frequently held in Europe, and until next year, have never been held in the United States.

That’s about to change, as the Internats will be held in the U.S. in 2023, giving Americans the opportunity to fly for the national team without the often challenging aspects of getting themselves – and their fragile model rockets – overseas.

We talk with Mike and James about what it takes to build good competition scale models, what competing in the internationals is like, and much more, on this episode of The Model Rocket Show.

In other news, the N00b has opened an Etsy shop of rocketry-related t-shirts and coffee mugs. You can find it by clicking here.