Camden, SC: ROSCO Sport Launch: 13-14 August

Guys,

Camden, SC: ROSCO and ICBM Launches Are Back

It is with great regret that I notify the community that we have lost our field. After NSL, Supersod notified me that they no longer wish to have use their farm to launch rockets.

The leaderships of the clubs is attempting to find a new location to launch but until further notice, there will be no further launches. I will post here when we are open to launch again.

Chuck Haislip

Oh man ,,
I am so sorry to hear this Chuck..
And thank you so much for all your service to rocketry as well...
This is never an easy thing to hear, no less deal with...

Teddy

I did not see this coming...

Thanks. It has shocked our club as well as the club leadership.

Really bad news - seems like you've had that field forever...

cwbullet said:

Guys,

It is with great regret that I notify the community that we have lost our field. After NSL, Supersod notified me that they no longer wish to have use their farm to launch rockets.

The leaderships of the clubs is attempting to find a new location to launch but until further notice, there will be no further launches. I will post here when we are open to launch again.

Chuck Haislip

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20 years from what I am told.

Out of curiosity, did they state a reason why? I am sure that other locations which rely on sod farms to launch would like to hear the feedback to understand what made them want to revoke your access.

I heard through my club just now. I would like to know why. Did something happen at NSL? I heard residential development might affect waivers...

They've been flying there since before '95 I'm pretty sure, so 20 years at least. That's where I cut my teeth on HPR and went to my only LDRS. Very disappointed.

I really regret not going down for NSL despite having nothing to fly.

There is an industrial park nearby and we put a rocket on a building (?damage) and they complained loudly to the farm. The farm decided it was not worth it.

That would do it. Sorry to hear that another launch site is lost.

I would have never thought the NAR launch would loose the field. As prefect on the TRA side, I worried at every launch that it would be one of my guys. Ultimately, it was not a local flyer or a TRA member. It was someone from out of town.

Time to turn on the southern charm and try to win back the field or get another.

Hi all, this is sad, but apparen'ty has happened. Anyone know the details?

Check out this thread:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?125956-ROSCO-and-ICBM-Launches-on-Hold

cwbullet said:

I would have never thought the NAR launch would loose the field. As prefect on the TRA side, I worried at every launch that it would be one of my guys. Ultimately, it was not a local flying. It was someone from out of town.

Time to turn on the southern charm and try to win back the field or get another.

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Please please please do not blame this on the non local flyer. How many other rockets from local guys have landed on or gone through the roof? This is a club fault. If there had already been some roof landings, the club should have worked to put restrictions in place to help minimize this. I bet a simple altitude restriction could have prevented this.

Altitude restrictions are not just the club responsibility. Every time you fly a rocket you should ask what if. This may be engineer I me but an FMA (Failure Mode Analyses) before flights is in your responsibility.

Pointing fingers isn't going to do anything to help the situation.

As I understand it, the club has been flying there for about 20 years. So, this must be a rare occurrence. Some analysis, though, needs to be done to understand what went wrong and what needs to be done to avoid having it happen again if the group has a chance of convincing the landowners to let them continue using the site. It's a beautiful launch site which I would love to visit again, so I hope some Southern charm, backed up with good rationale, will save the field.

-- Roger

Brent said:

Altitude restrictions are not just the club responsibility. Every time you fly a rocket you should ask what if. This may be engineer I me but an FMA (Failure Mode Analyses) before flights is in your responsibility.

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I agree as well, however the flight in question was within the scope of the waiver, and with a non local flyer, within a reasonable fma. The bottom line is- if the buildings getting landed on has caused a problem in the past, the club should have protected itself and not left it up to any flyer to make a choice.


With this in mind, please understand that this is a sad situation and I am only trying to defend a friend of mine.

I am a local Orangeburg flier and member of both ROSCO and ICBM. I am not a club officer and do not speak for either club.

This is a very unfortunate situation, but was in no way the fault of the flier. We all knew the risk existed, but we also believed the risk was low. It could have happened to any of us. I support the flier, and every flier, who came to join us in a wonderful celebration of rocketry this past weekend.

This is on the club. We will work through this. I personally appreciate all of the support that we have received.

Kindest Regards,
Michael

iqsy59 said:

I did not see this coming...

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Ditto. This was quite a shock. I wish only the best of luck to Chuck & all the other folks with ROSCO & ICBM in their attempts to get another field.

I still don't understand what happened, and the definition of the phrase "put a rocket on a building" in this case. Did the rocket crash into the building? Did it land via parachute but still harder than the building was able to support? Or did it land safely but in a place where the property owner had to come out to allow retrieval of the rocket?

The following is not of the same scale or impact as this, but we lost a mid-power to lower high power field 20 years ago under similar circumstances, not to a high power rocket, but to a low power rocket (though built with LOC 'armor-piercing' plastic nose) with severe weathercocking and failed ejection punching through a house under construction over 1500' away. I met with the builder the next day; I was prepared to file a claim with our NAR insurance but the builder said he'd absorb it, and he called the school system (it was their property) to end our permission to fly there. The field was sufficient for H and I flights, but over the year and a half we were there, home construction encroached steadily. We would have lost the field within another couple of years anyway due to half the field becoming a subdivision, the other half to a new high school).

cwbullet said:

I would have never thought the NAR launch would loose the field. As prefect on the TRA side, I worried at every launch that it would be one of my guys. Ultimately, it was not a local flying. It was someone from out of town.

Time to turn on the southern charm and try to win back the field or get another.

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Chuck,
Though I don't know the particulars of the situation
I'd really like to think that with a week to cool down
the building owner will be approachable...
Feel him out....
Lay that southern charm on thick...
Stay positive...
After just a bit of time goes by he will see that this isn't the end of the world..
I'll go so far as to say maybe you could get him to
speak to the landowners in a positive manor for you....

Teddy

Guys,,
Everyone likes to fly high...
I LOVE to fly high....
The very last thing we should be doing now is making a rocketeer feel bad about this...
Who the heck cares who's fault this was...
Lessons have been learned by all involved,,, like it or not....
The addition of rubbing a nose in it serves one purpose alone---
to make someone feel bad,, and that can only accomplish negative things.....

This could have happened to ANYONE......
Who owned and flew the rocket that did this is completely irrelevant...........

Teddy

Guys,

I saw the flight. There was nothing reckless or improper about it whatsoever.

It was windy, and therefore, plenty of rockets were weather cocking in the direction of the other property.

It was a simple matter of the main chute not fully deploying, and it dropping down on that side rather than drifting back toward the launch area.

IMHO, the rocket's owner has no culpability. IT JUST HAPPENED.

To paraphrase a biblical quote: "Let those of you who have never had a parachute malfunction cast the first stone"

tbonerocketeer said:

Please please please do not blame this on the non local flyer. How many other rockets from local guys have landed on or gone through the roof? This is a club fault. If there had already been some roof landings, the club should have worked to put restrictions in place to help minimize this. I bet a simple altitude restriction could have prevented this.

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I was not trying to place blame per say. I was just saying that I always though it would be a TRA flight and a local flyer to get us kicked off the field. Every flight, I am worried I will be the guy to live in Infamy.

It could have happened to anyone. It does not even matter if the local guy or a visitor. I feel terrible for the flyer. He just had rotten luck. I do not think this was an altitude problem. It was a chute failing to open problem and rotten luck.

LW Bercini said:

Guys,

I saw the flight. There was nothing reckless or improper about it whatsoever.

It was windy, and therefore, plenty of rockets were weather cocking in the direction of the other property.

It was a simple matter of the main chute not fully deploying, and it dropping down on that side rather than drifting back toward the launch area.

IMHO, the rocket's owner has no culpability. IT JUST HAPPENED.

To paraphrase a biblical quote: "Let those of you who have never had a parachute malfunction cast the first stone"

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This, I agree with.

Again, this is not the blame on a particular flyer. We are always one flight away from loosing our waiver and this was that flight. No blame. It was just terrible luck.

I merged two topics into one.

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cwbullet said:

Again, this is not the blame on a particular flyer. We are always one flight away from loosing our waiver and this was that flight. No blame. It was just terrible luck.

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I had hoped not. I just want to make sure this doesn't go that way as you and I both know people want a fall guy.

This is a bad situation, and I am sorry for the club. I hope you guys get your field back or find another.

I can certainly see why the sod farm would not want bad blood between themselves and the neighboring industrial park property owners, and that would trump their willingness to host the club. The sod farm might have thought that rocketry poses no threat to their own property, but if an angry neighbor points out the threat to the neighboring properties, that could be a real wake-up call to them.

Maybe the situation will cool down, and the industrial park property owner and sod farm owner will be open to reconsidering. You might want to offer to adjust your rules and your ceiling a bit to ensure not flying off the property. And you might want to offer to increase your insurance too. And then, there is always charm. :smile:

ThirstyBarbarian said:

*And then, there is always charm. :smile:

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Or money... seriously.

jderimig said:

Or money... seriously.

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I support this, if he agrees to a monetary fee when a rocket lands on his building it might change his mind.

This could also just be an excuse the sod farm was looking for to give us the boot.

Davidm said:

I support this, if he agrees to a monetary fee when a rocket lands on his building it might change his mind.

This could also just be an excuse the sod farm was looking for to give us the boot.

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Might want to find out what the actual damage was prior to offering money. If it was significant and at this time he's taking care of it himself, probably better not to poke the sleeping bear.