Safety Questions - Range Is Closed

Safety Question: If one portion of the range is closed and rockets are launching, does that restrict all activities in other areas of the range? The reason I ask is that I saw a video the other day from a launch several states away. The LP racks were launching, and there was a person out doing something under one or more of the MP/HP rockets. My daughter was looking over my shoulder and asked what he was doing with his hand under a motor when any part of the range was active. I didn't have a good answer, so I thought I'd come here. Every organized launch I've been to has closed all parts of the range when any rockets were launching.

So the question to the crowd is: Under what circumstances (if any) is it OK to be out on the range when some rockets are launching? I'll go ahead and assume that the minimum is that the power to the pads where you are working must be off and that you are more than the minimum safe distance from any active pads.

[edit] I want to be clear that I don't want to bash anyone. I saw this one way, but I don't know enough to know how other people see it. [/edit]

Low power (up through E) pads need to be 30 feet from personnel when launching. High power pads need to be 100 feet for H, I, &J motors. Someone can be at high power pads when launching low power because they are at least 70 feet away. LCO better make sure he/she is firing the right pads.

boatgeek said:

Safety Question: If one portion of the range is closed and rockets are launching, does that restrict all activities in other areas of the range? The reason I ask is that I saw a video the other day from a launch several states away. The LP racks were launching, and there was a person out doing something under one or more of the MP/HP rockets. My daughter was looking over my shoulder and asked what he was doing with his hand under a motor when any part of the range was active. I didn't have a good answer, so I thought I'd come here. Every organized launch I've been to has closed all parts of the range when any rockets were launching.

So the question to the crowd is: Under what circumstances (if any) is it OK to be out on the range when some rockets are launching? I'll go ahead and assume that the minimum is that the power to the pads where you are working must be off and that you are more than the minimum safe distance from any active pads.

[edit] I want to be clear that I don't want to bash anyone. I saw this one way, but I don't know enough to know how other people see it. [/edit]

Click to expand...

Your assumption is correct.

Yes, minimim distances allow this but as a practical matter I'll always ensure that folks loading rockets on one part of the field have eyes on a rocket that is being launched before I push the button. We usually have more than minimum separation between the low,mid, and high power pads as well.

Boatgeek....save this, print it out for future reference.

At many large launches they set up multiple banks of pads. Load right, launch left... non stop action. Safe practices still need to be observed of course, as mentioned above.

URRF2 had 4 banks, right was low and mid power racks, and two rows of HPR pads for up to L motors. Left was 2 HPR rows safe distance away for L sparkies. 3 large M pads were even further to the left, and waaaaaaaaaay out where 2 large towers for the N, and O's to fly off of.

I have been to a FEW launches that load everything (no launching), then launch everything (no loading). The wait time between begin load for a cycle, and flying, then begin time again was usually in the 30 to 45 minute time frame.Morel ike 45 at a big launch.

MASSIVE waste of time. All the time spend loading, could have been spent launching. And all the time spent launching could have been spent loading. So it took them 8 hours to do about 4 hours worth of flying. I also witnessed a friend who had waited a full cycle to load (pads were full), then when the next load cycle opened, a bunch of kids ran to the LPR pads and took all of them before he could load. He waited another cycle. but never got to fly due to one of the most ridiculous and discriminatory launch decisions I've seen (I was about to go into details but this is enough for now). So he waited over an hour and a half to NOT fly his rocket. That was the last of that group's launches he ever attended.

I had gotten tired of their time-wasting procedures and never went back either.

It's easy enough to run ranges that have multiple launch control systems so that one area can be active while the other area is "clear" for loading.

I even built a club's single launch panel with a rotary selector switch to choose between one 5-pad rack, another 5-pad rack, and then a 5-pad Junction Box with long extension cord leads for up to 5 HPR pads. Everything at a safe distance apart (Well, the HPR fliers at other pads had to move out of the way when another HPR model was ready to fly).

The panel has three lights on top to show which is selected. Also each rack has a buzzer that sounds when the rack is armed, as well as a red "brake light" that flashes when armed, so everyone can see and hear which rack is armed. For the HPR Junction box, a VERY loud Piezo beeper that can be heard hundreds of feet, and super-bright LED truck tail light, that flashes when the HPR Junction box is armed.

That was all that the club needed, simple and compact. But the principle is there. For a really big launch, better to have separate panels.

- George Gassaway