Going to build a new pad.

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Shade

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A little background:
..I am a former Navy welder
..I also have at my shop, a mill, a lathe, a shaper, various welders, TIG, MIG, Stick, plasma cutter and a good pile of steel and some aluminum to work with.
..I have a 6’ length of 1515 strut and various diameters of launch rods.
..I am getting into larger rockets and hope to get my L1 later this year, then on to L2 and L3 at some point.
..This should be an easy build for me, but don’t want to get it done and wish I had a feature, but I do not want it over engineered. Looking for input and ideas from more experienced people.

Features that my new pad will have:
..I am thinking the blast deflector plate should be at or just above belt high, I am getting old and the knees do not work that well any more.
..Tripod in nature, where I launch here in Central IL, finding flat ground is easy, finding a hill is a trick.
..Elevation will be 90° from horizontal to vertical, Horizontal to aid in loading and prepping rockets.
..There will be a socket for a reasonably quick swap out for various rods and rails. Starting at ¼” rod and going up to 1515 rail. Using set style screw/socket head cap screw for locking in place, likely 2 of them.

Thoughts - Looking for ideas or input:
..Should I have it so I can rotate it? 360° or is just rotating the whole pad just as easy, I am leaning toward the latter.
..The feet of the legs, what should the inscribed circle be for good stability? I am thinking, if the blast deflector is 3 feet up and the rods are ~6 feet long, should the feet of the legs rest on a 9 foot diameter circle?
..The legs how to attach them, options.
....Detachable, where a socket and pin secures them or,
....Hinged and foldable with pins to lock into place.
..I am thinking keeping the blast deflector 90° to the rod or rail but I have seen angled ones also, but I have not launched anything bigger than a F engine, so what is better. Also an angled deflector will put a side load on the pad should I have a wider base to support it?
..What diameter or size should the blast deflector be, any rules on this?
..What else am I missing?

TIA.
 
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for examples of some nice pads, google 'fade to black launch pads'. note; if you come to one of the Woosh hpr launches, those are what we are using mostly.
Rex
 
I understand the desire to build your own pad. I love building things too! I built several LPR pads when I was launching small rockets at local schools and parks.

Because of the waivers required for HPR rockets, I only launch HPR at club launches and since the club supplies all of the pads, I've never felt a need to build my own. So my question is, can you bring your own pad to a club launch? Is it really needed? Is there really any value added bringing your own pad to the club launch?

I could bring my own pad to my club launches, but I would need a controller too since the club has pads for all available club controller leads. It would be much more trouble then it is worth to bring my own.

Your situation could be completely different, so I'm just throwing this out as food for thought before you spend time building something you won't really use much.
 
Depends on where you live, whether or not there's a club, how young the club is, etc. I build all my MPR with rail buttons, and I have no way to launch them except at a club launch. I wouldn't mind having a launchpad with rails that I could use on my own. Heck, an MDRM up to 500' is doable at a high school.

I certainly wouldn't pay $400 for one, but if I had the skills and interest to build one myself, I might.
 
Thanks for the input.

I understand the desire to build your own pad. I love building things too! I built several LPR pads when I was launching small rockets at local schools and parks.

Because of the waivers required for HPR rockets, I only launch HPR at club launches and since the club supplies all of the pads, I've never felt a need to build my own. So my question is, can you bring your own pad to a club launch? Is it really needed? Is there really any value added bringing your own pad to the club launch?

I could bring my own pad to my club launches, but I would need a controller too since the club has pads for all available club controller leads. It would be much more trouble then it is worth to bring my own.

Your situation could be completely different, so I'm just throwing this out as food for thought before you spend time building something you won't really use much.

Depends on where you live, whether or not there's a club, how young the club is, etc. I build all my MPR with rail buttons, and I have no way to launch them except at a club launch. I wouldn't mind having a launchpad with rails that I could use on my own. Heck, an MDRM up to 500' is doable at a high school.

I certainly wouldn't pay $400 for one, but if I had the skills and interest to build one myself, I might.
I live in central Illinois, I am friends with a number of farmers with large fields. I launch
more at home than I do at clubs, I can launch out of my front yard over a 40 acre field.
Get permission and keep they under 3000' and I am good to go.
 
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Thanks for the input.




I live in central Illinois, I am friends with a number of farmers with large fields. I launch
more at home than I do at clubs, I can launch out of my front yard over a 40 acre field.
Get permission and keep they under 3000' and I am good to go.

If you are launching on your own, by all means build your own pad.

Why does keeping them under 3000 ft. make a difference?

If your rocket is class 1, there are no altitude restrictions. If the rocket is class 2, you need a waiver for any altitude, even 50 ft. since there is no minimum altitude exemption that I've ever heard of.

Many L1 rockets can fit into the class 1 range, but L2 will certainly be class 2.
 
If you are launching on your own, by all means build your own pad.

Why does keeping them under 3000 ft. make a difference?

If your rocket is class 1, there are no altitude restrictions. If the rocket is class 2, you need a waiver for any altitude, even 50 ft. since there is no minimum altitude exemption that I've ever heard of.

Many L1 rockets can fit into the class 1 range, but L2 will certainly be class 2.

Apparrently I was under the wrong impression, I thought you had to keep all rockets
under 3000' for FAA rules. Clearly not, do you have a link or guidelines that define
Class 1 and Class 2 rockets?

And thanks for teaching me something!
 
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What you are looking for is FAR 101 which states that rockets under 3.3 lbs (1500g) with less than 4ozs propellant do not require a FAA waiver to fly. IIRC there is no altitude restrictions for FAR 101 unless its a Class 2 or 3 rocket
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rgn=div5&node=14:2.0.1.3.15#se14.2.101_122
Subpart C is specifically targeted at Amateur rockets

Thanks! So what I hear bantered about at the
hobby store I should take with a grain of salt... LOL
 
Thanks! So what I hear bantered about at the
hobby store I should take with a grain of salt... LOL

Absolutely! I suspect they may be more interested in making a sale then if you are actually legal. After all, if you're not legal, that's your problem, not theirs.

The class 1 vs. class 2 rockets are pretty well defined. If you launch class 1, you can pretty much do that anywhere. There may be some restrictions if you are close to an airport, but a call to the ATC should clear up any of those questions. You have to have a waiver to launch class 2, period. If you're doing class 3, you should be way past asking those type of questions on this forum.
 
You have to have a waiver to launch class 2, period. If you're doing class 3, you should be way past asking those type of questions on this forum.
I am just breaking into Class 2.
 
I am just breaking into Class 2.

I knew that, the comment on class 3 was just me being facetious.

You can get your own waiver for wherever you launch, but it can be a real hassle. You can launch on a local farm, but occupied buildings within 1500 ft become an issue, you can't just go out behind the barn and get a waiver for class 2. Also, how high your waiver is will depend on the recovery area. Everyone's situation is different, but for me, once I got into the class 2 rockets, I stopped building any pads or controllers for myself. I only launch at the club now and they take care of all of that.

Of course, if you really enjoy building pads and controllers and other GSE, join the club and volunteer. I built more pads and equipment for the club than I ever did for myself. The good thing about that is, you get to enjoy the building and the club pays for it.
 
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