Rocket Challenge comments

I think the real issue with the "snitch" is the total impulse...

It was ~20-30 "d" motors from what I could see on the DSC

"total impulse" was probably into the "g" if not "h" range.

I wonder who RSO'd this, as it was flown by someone under 18, and possibly uncertified if the power required it! Also, seemed close to the crowd for the total impulse, but that could have just been the TV perspective. "I feel bad since I started 4 fires"

But then again the "slinky rocket" by Bruce Lee should not have been flown either.. DSC had a great shot where it was bending as it was loaded on the pad.... Who RSO'd that one! It only came back because it drag separated before shredding!

Reply to
AZ Woody
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I didn't pay that much attention until the motor flew by the aerial. That would be a good guess of smoke trails... :O

I watched that flashpan technique on the most motor attempt and was interested because I'd pretty much only heard about it. I can see how it was OK for that, but not sealing against the motors on the snitch fireballed the plastic body.

xxxxxxxxxxx "The Viagra Challenge"

Joel. phx

Reply to
Joel Corwith

What I wanna know is - why did they feel it was necessary to digitally erase the license plate of Hillybilly Rockitry's pickup, but leave the "Clinton Blows" bumpersticker?

(1st show, 4 minutes in).

Reply to
BB

How could someone get hurt by a dimensionless quantity? ;) Make that 32 ft/sec^2

When did brains start being a requirement to get into high power rocketry?

"May the one with no recovery failures cast the first stone". ;)

-John

Reply to
John DeMar

Maybe there's some privacy policy about License Plate numbers?

-dave w

Reply to
David Weinshenker

Look for one of the helocopter shots. (What? You didn't tape it?) The black area around the pads is what has burned already.

I know this was a problem because just before my flight Friday, there was a fire at the pads I set up at. In fact, they didn't get it out completely. I noticed some smoke rising near my rocket (It was ready to go and I was back by the LCO table.) After another brief delay to put out the fire (buckets just don't work that well.), my rocket was finally launched.

There was a nicely unstable EX rocket Monday that started a whole mess of grass fires. I think footage of the fire fighting efforts made the show.

And unless the launch area is already clear, no one is going to meet the requirements of Table 4.15.1 (125' radius for an M). This is a rule that should be removed. Or toned down to something more reasonable.

The FAA restriction is that you can't fly above an altitude with 50% cloud coverage. Even if you miss the clouds. It is possible (unlikely) that Kloudbusters waiver also waived this restriction.

Reply to
David Schultz

What he said.

-dave w

Reply to
David Weinshenker

I wish their onboard video had been shown from launch to landing. I checked Aurora's website, hoping it would be there, but alas, it isn't there either.

Reply to
David Stribling

it had 28 Motors.

also the slinky rocket was not "unsafe"

I mean sure it was a spaghetti but it was in no way endangering anyone or anything.

When you are that far away short of it being "dangerous" to only "itself" I say what the hell let it fly.

the snitch was cool BUT if I were rso I would not have let it fly under those conditions. Not because the rocket was unsafe (as you saw no motors reached anyone) but because of ground conditions. if it were wetter I would have said what the hell let it fly just do it wayyy out their. :-)

Reply to
Chris Taylor Jr

Perhaps such a "rocket" itself could have been scrutinized a bit more prior to blessing it for launch, but I think someone trying to say that the "clear area rule" is violated by this sort of thing makes no sense. Using that logic, a motor failure at any point in the flight could cause a fire beyond any reasonably cleared launch area. Translation = any fire resulting from a failed flight is a violation of the "clear area rule". Besides, the small areas of grass or reeds or whatever in this particular case were surrounded by larger areas of clear dirt in most cases. The small fires which resulted probably would have been inconsequential even if ignored. They weren't ignored. I think the people responsible took reasonably rapid action to put them out. I also think a lot is being made of this subject in the NG for the wrong reasons.

I wouldn't know the answer. I've been to a few LDRS events, not very many others HPR events with the exception of one or two MDRA launches in MD - so I am not the person to ask such a question.

Doesn't it seem that there are 2 ways to interpret any rule: the way that supports your argument and the way that does not? :-)

--

--------------- SeeYa !

-------------- Hello....... Is this thing on ?

Reply to
Cyberia

How does one decide what 50% is, or what the cloud altitude is? Is this supposed to be given by local weather reports or is there some accurate method of determining the thresholds?

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--------------- SeeYa !

-------------- Hello....... Is this thing on ?

Reply to
Cyberia

The town sent a big diesel water truck out from time to time. It "hosed down" the areas along the main access way between the tents. I think this was primarily aimed at dust control - there was a lot of that. The secondary purpose of the truck was that it hosed down the flyers and spectators, which they *very much* appreciated in the 110+ degree weather and 0mph winds.

Maybe they could have used this thing out in the flight area too, but that might have made walking out there a real mess - it was mostly bare earth.

--

--------------- SeeYa !

-------------- Hello....... Is this thing on ?

Reply to
Cyberia

See John... occasionaly we do AGREE on something. ;)

Douglas Caskey Vice President - Buffalo Rocket Society Inc.

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Reply to
RocketWeb

Also now that you know how much commercials cost,

Reply to
GCGassaway

I was thrilled to see at least a couple of our local club members on the show!

Trouble is, the general public doesn't know this. To anyone outside the hobby (and even many within) "amateur rocketry" simply means "rocketry that is done as a hobby, not as a profession".

I see this happen even in videos made by people who know the hobby. A lot of LDRS videos feature only the big rockets with big motors, and not much of anything else.

Reply to
RayDunakin

Was George at LDRS? I thought he's a NAR guy?

Reply to
RayDunakin

If it hasn't already been done, links to stuff seen on the show should be added to the flyrockets.com web site...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

20 D12s would fall in the H range. And since it's a complex rocket, safe distance is 200' Even 6 D12s is a complex high power rocket that requires a waiver and L1 certs, because the propellant is over 125g.

Didn't see this, but many bendable rockets fly fine once no longer constrained at one end by a launch pad.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

Folks are still using buckets of water to fight grass fires? Dumb! Without question the two best tools for grass fires are Indian Pumps (industrial super soakers) and those flap beater sticks. Any club running an organized launch should have at least one of these. Unless you're flying on a dry lake bed or salt flat. and it's miles to the nearest burnable object.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

FAA pilot weather briefing. 1-800-WX-BRIEF. If they ask for a tail number, tell them it's for a rocket launch and you have a waiver (or notification).

I can recall at least one instance where the FAA called us and canceled our waiver due to decreasing weather conditions (ceiling dropped below our waiver alt). Of course we had already shut down operations by the time they called us...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

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