Where can I launch model rockets on long island?

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tarmale

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Hi, my son loves his model rocket. The problem is we're not sure where to launch them. My husband has been taking him to the school but I really feel that we're probably not allowed to use them there. Is there anywhere on the island where we can go? I've emailed LIARS but nothing back yet.

thank you!
 
What power is it? does it use low-power engines such as A, B, or C?. if so, the school football fields are fantastic, and there should be no issue with using them, to my knowledge. If higher power engines are used, then finding a more open space would be better just for recovery's sake
 
For models like mentioned on previous post school or sports fields are great. Just check local bylaws to see if model rocketry mentioned in restrictions.
 
I looked on google earth, not too many options.
Heavy populated or trees.
Ball fields are going to be your best bet.
Check for clubs, upstate NY I believe has a decent facility.
It would also be a great outing for the family and a chance to see some BIG rockets!
Glad to see a youngster getting involved!
 
Well, we know you are really from Long Island, because you said "on" and not "in". I grew up in East Mildew (I mean East Meadow), and launched throughout the 1970's.

Regulations in those days in Nassau County required that we launch at the old (then empty, except for the Coliseum) Mitchell Field and we had to get a permit ($5 per year, then it became free) from Field House 1 at Eisenhower Park (near Mitchel Field). You had to show proof of liability insurance, which was the NAR insurance (in those days it was $300,000).

I have no idea what the current regulations are, but you should be able to search online for State and County laws and regulations, then do the same for any local city (if you are in an incorporated city). I forget how "villages" were handled....

So, do NOT take the word of people who do not live in New Your State or on Lawn Guyland who tell you to just go ahead and launch on a school yard. You may need a permit and/or permission of the property owner.

I moved to CA in 1980 and there are State Laws and Regulations. The Regulations require a permit to launch. I just got the State Law revised to align the definitions of "Model Rocket" and "Model Rocket Motor" with the national fire codes from N.F.P.A., so law changes can be made. The process took under two years - the first year was just a few letters and dropping into the State Senator's office twice to discuss the issue and meet staff. Then there was waiting for the next legislative session to get underway and the revised law was written in January and went through the committee process and one hearing (outstanding people went to testify at the hearing) and it passed unanimously in the Assembly and Senate and then the Governor signed it. It goes into effect January 1, 2016.

If you cannot get anyone from LIARS to reply to e-mail, try the telephone (if there is a number). I think they absorbed my old NAR Section (North Shore Section) many years ago.

Last time I looked (years ago) Mitchell Field had become another regional park, so there may or may not be any open space left if they planted it with trees. When I launched there it still had runways from the Air Base and the rest was open fields (part of the Hempstead Plain) .

Estes may also have all of the NY State laws and regulations on file. Oh look - here is their web page on the subject and it seems there are no NYS laws or regulations, so perhaps it is an "N.F.P.A. State" and you just have to check for local regulations. There are OFTEN local regulations throughout the USA - things covering all sorts of activities like skateboarding, model airplanes (noise, etc.) and model rocket launching.




Hi, my son loves his model rocket. The problem is we're not sure where to launch them. My husband has been taking him to the school but I really feel that we're probably not allowed to use them there. Is there anywhere on the island where we can go? I've emailed LIARS but nothing back yet.

thank you!
 
At last count LIARS was a club in name only as they had seemed to have run out of ideas for places on Long Island. Most of the folks there now fly with either METRA or (I hear) Radial Rocketeers out of central New Jersey. At least that was the case for MPR/HPR.
 
yes, that can be a problem: a club gives up on Model Rocket launch sites to serve the vast majority of the rocket flying public simply because the people who do all the work running the club prefer to launch larger model Rockets or high Power rockets.

Looks like a good opportunity for someone to resurrect the North Shore Section as a Model Rocket launching club on an available field (or fields if you can find a few different locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties). you could serve hundreds of families and thousands of scouts/youth groups/students.

At last count LIARS was a club in name only as they had seemed to have run out of ideas for places on Long Island. Most of the folks there now fly with either METRA or (I hear) Radial Rocketeers out of central New Jersey. At least that was the case for MPR/HPR.
 
For high Power Rockets, you must deal with the ability to obtain an FAA waiver - and there are a LOT of little airports on L.I.

For Model Rockets, you do not, you simply need to yield to aircraft and that means you do not launch when any aircraft is near and can see you from their windows. If they can see a model rocket launch, they can be spooked and think that it is a small S.A.M.

The FAA exempts Model Rockets from the F.A.R. as long as you do not present a hazard.


I always wondered why the Grumman Bethpage site or the old NAS on the south shore would not work.
 
You might want to try talking with the science teacher at the school, we used to have a rocketry club when I was in Middle school, maybe there is one there already, or maybe one can start.
 
I realize this is an ancient thread however when google searching this one comes up and it is what lead me here to register.

Basically model Rocketry all over Long island NY has been made illegal in all public parks and or fields with the exception of Eisenhower park where you have to pay quite a bit of money for the privilege of flying low powered rockets.

to be clear, owning and buying and selling of them and launching them on private land is all legal. but, by the government making them illegal in public spaces they have effectively banned them through the back door. nobody is going to have a large enough backyard or access to any type of farm with permission to launch them thus they are pretty much banned.

there are stiff fines in all parks for long island for doing anything hobby related. so this ban does not just effect model rocketry it applies to model aircraft, model cars, drones, and it even effects the throwing of any projectile of any kind.
some parks have signs posted on base ball diamonds requiring a permit just to play ball. public schools are totally out of bounds they have all kinds of firearms laws now that cover missiles and propellant this is why there is no model rocketry clubs offered at schools any more. i agree it is over the top but seems to be how it is.

over the last 3 weeks i've called towns all over and gotten pdfs of parks department rules, everyone has basically banned hobbies, there are 4 fields that allow aircraft with permits and AMA insurance but even they do not allow rockets or drones.

ok,, so what about a quick in and out for a launch; yes you could do it as long as you do not get caught. however my situation would be 2 small kids in tow with a launcher and some rockets and a quick setup in the field with launch and recovery then quickly take it all apart and run out of there, not going to happen.

at one park i had a conversion with a police officer about the subject and he told me he would fine me if he caught me and asked me to leave the area, so there is zero common sense or good human nature left in the island on the subject.

as a note thanks to all the laws and regulations the parks are empty. every park i went to was devoid of life and posted huge signs warning against basically all activity that wasn't banned requiring a permit.

so unless you know somebody with a football field sized back yard and they give you permission to launch from it you are totally out of luck for long island NY if you want to remain Legal.

otherwise like a guerrilla action and a van loaded full of rockets you have to be in and out in a heartbeat to be able to launch and get away with it.

many of the videos on youtube that show launches in parks in NY open the people to litigation by the state if they decided to peruse you.

there was a nice video of a kid flying a drone in Bethpage park, if the parks department wanted to they could prosecute that kid for a 1000$ fine under the 2017 rule book.

------

as a history note: i used to launch rockets in 1980s all over NY with no problems at all, the last time i launched in New york was in 1989.
now in the 1990s i was kicked out of alley pond park for flying a model helicopter as the police officer saw me and decided it was illegal and i was not fighting him over it.
that was 25 years ago and i'm sad to say it has gone so insane here it is mind boggling.

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that said if somebody from long island does actually find a place where it is legal or you do have permission to launch please let us know..... it is a blue state hell hole.

as another note after this idiot killed himself.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...an-decapitates-remote-control-helicopter.html

that guy was known by all the hobby clubs in the area and was Banned because he was dangerous.

the rules and regulations at all NY parks when into Hyper mode with banning everything since this occurred.
 
Rockets and RC planes are banned in NY state parks and have been for quite some time - well over a decade. Our local RC club has a permit to fly in one of the local state parks - it requires quite a bit of effort to get and keep these permits.

I called my city parks department once to ask about getting permission to launch rockets with cub scouts in a city park. The woman I talked to was surprised that I called - she said I didn't need permission to use the park as a park.
 
Rockets and RC planes are banned in NY state parks and have been for quite some time - well over a decade. Our local RC club has a permit to fly in one of the local state parks - it requires quite a bit of effort to get and keep these permits.

I called my city parks department once to ask about getting permission to launch rockets with cub scouts in a city park. The woman I talked to was surprised that I called - she said I didn't need permission to use the park as a park.

you do now.

i spoke to some people on another forum today basically you will get conflicting information. the person picking up the phone will say they think it is ok , but then you download the rules or call the city the park is in and they will tell you the opposite. A similar situation occurred when i called the bethpage parks office they said it might be ok and i should call the town hall. called town hall and absolutely not.

i should drive by the ball field tomorrow and snap off a photo on my phone of the signs they have posted the only thing on there might be taking a photo of the sign itself, LOL!

the least amount of risk is actually launching out my backyard seeing where it lands and then knocking on the neighbors door and asking if you can get your rocket back or just leave it in the tree it falls in.

sucks i bought a zooch shuttle and built a big bertha and can't really do anything with it.

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I went through my city's laws and ordinances (and several other municipalities in the area) and the only prohibitions found were in NYS owned state parks. . In fact, one of the County parks has a dedicated RC field as well. A good friend is a local police officer and he also verified (in writing) that there are no regulations against rockets or airplanes in our local city-owned parks.

It may be worth a call asking why the local prohibitions exist.
 
Just come on up to METRA (metrarocketclub.org). We support LPR as well as HPR. This month we had a cub scout pack flying alphas on A8's and they (almost) all went away happy, except for the one who melted down when his motor didn't light on the first try....no worries 2 was the magic number.
 
Several years ago I was searching for a suitable public spot to fly model rockets. Now you Yankees may think that Texas is just a big place where the deer and antelope play, but that is largely a myth. True, there are still many wide open spaces but the Nanny State mentality has taken root here in the Lone Star state.

In driving around the countryside where I live I passed through the town of Celina, Texas and noticed that they had a very nice wide open park west of the city. So I contacted their Parks & Recreation Department by email and in a couple of weeks received a detailed response listing ALL of the activities that their progressive City Counsel had banned. After reading the very extensive list of banned activities I wondered if fornication would be acceptable and if I should make a followup email?

Nah....screw them!
 
There are a couple of threads I have read from various years talking about the death of the hobby by local ordinances, basically it is the same back door legislation shutting down the hobby. It isn't a one state thing it is all over now.
it does come down to enforcement, it is true you might be flying at a local field where it was banned years ago you just never checked and the park officers or police just ar not enforcing it until they decide to then you are in a world of pain.

the long island chapter of rocketry has been defunct for a few years now because they lost the private field and never found a replacement.

Around here any empty area is known and the cops patrol them due to past drug use and vandals so again I would be out of luck. On July 4th around here with all the illegal fireworks I might get away with it as the police will be busy but to coordinate all that with Childern won't happen. Driving long distance to a club field isn't possible either.
the whole point was going to a local school and having fun for a quick hour like I used to do as a kid.

if you Google other states you see the same issues. Arizona basically bans them from public spaces as a fire hazard, tribal land bans them completely. Texas has banned it in most places due to insurance or the possibility of people getting hit. PA has banned them in most parks, they preemptively banned them to avoid litigation. Each year they double down on bans.

it is the same nonesense with firearms basically I'm a shooter so I'm no stranger to the stupid of New York State.

i have one family member with a large piece of property that I see once a year I'll ask if they will let me launch there but I'm sure they will say no and the weather I'm sure will not cooperate on that single day.
 
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