On August 26, of this year, Alan Whitmore passed away suddenly. A man of many interests and talents, his passing was both sudden and unexpected. His passing is a loss to all his close friends and associates as well as Tripoli as an organization. The Board of Directors (and, frankly, all of the membership) of TRA extends our condolences and prayers to his wife Sallie and the rest of his family. He will certainly be missed and remembered.
For the past several years, Alan had
served as the chairman of the Tripoli Motor Testing (TMT) committee. With his passing, I was put into a position to seek out his replacement. His replacement would have to be someone with a strong background in standardization and data reduction. Someone whose reputation is above reproach.
I’ve spent the past few weeks talking to different folks I know from different parts of the country who they thought could do this important duty for the organization. Many people named one gentleman. I had the opportunity to talk at length with this individual about the committee and his interest in heading it up going forward. I offered the position to him and he accepted.
With his acceptance, I have the great honor of appointing Art Hoag as the new Tripoli TMT chairman. The BOD ratified my decision unanimously. We are now working on the logistics of getting all the testing equipment gathered up from Alan’s home in Chapel Hill, NC and getting it moved halfway across the country to the Denver area.
I have talked with both motor manufacturers who have use the service in the past few years about the appointment and upcoming move and promised them to do everything we can to get TMT up operational again as soon as possible.
Thank you Art for your dedication to Tripoli. The next time you see him at a launch, thank him personally.
Bob Brown
President, Tripoli Rocketry Association