This was to be my L1 cert flight.  Took advantage of the Cesaroni Certification promotion and got a free 2-grain motor case with the H152BS motor I purchased.  Mike Caplinger was overseeing my certification.  As I was inserting the rocket motor into the MMT (using masking tape as retention) it was sliding in with some difficulty and then suddenly broke free and slid in fairly easily.  That did not seem right, but when I tried to rotate it and pull it back out, it would not budge.  With a nagging feeling that the motor was not seated well, but unable to budge it and get it out, we headed out to the launch pad and set up for flight.  After Mike announced the launch and counted down I hit the launch button and barely looked up in time to see the Norad rip off the launch rod faster than I was expecting.  It was a beautifully, stable, straight flight with parachute ejection just past apogee (9 second delay).  I had a perfect deployment and fortunately light winds with that big 36" chute.  As it was the rocket came down about 250-300 yards west of the launch pad.  I was thrilled with the flight and elated to know I just earned my L1 Cert (all thoughts of a loose motor casing out of my head).  As we came up to the rocket, I was looking at the exterior looking for any landing damage and I could see Mike was more concerned with the business end.  Yes, it was a bit of a downer to see that the motor casing was missing and that I just failed my first L1 cert try.  Well, next month maybe.  At least the rocket performed well!