sparksrockets
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- Aug 8, 2014
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I've been in a Texas university rocket club for a couple years now and have wanted to actually test solid/hybrid rocket motor performance and perhaps eventually develop our own motors after learning how to test the motors safely. This isn't a post asking how to make motors or anything right now, but I am interested in any stories about university rocket clubs obtaining a test site for development. We can't test on campus because it's heavily populated and we don't have the facilities for it (or the faculty that will allow us to make one ourselves), so instead we want to create our own test stand off campus. The main issue that I'm predicting will stop us are the liability issues of having a rocket test site on other people's land.
Here's some ideas that we have so far:
- Ask farmers for a spot on their land (pay rent for it)
- Build a relationship with a close by rural high school and make it about community involvement
- Actually buy land (lots of legal issues and we probably don't have the money for it)
- Ask local Tripoli members whether we could assist them in making their own test stand for their and our use
- Find low traffic places like small airports or quarries that might allow us to have our own installation (kind of like Boston University)
If any of you could contribute to this list with some of your own stories or tell us why one of these ideas wouldn't work it would be very helpful!
Here's some ideas that we have so far:
- Ask farmers for a spot on their land (pay rent for it)
- Build a relationship with a close by rural high school and make it about community involvement
- Actually buy land (lots of legal issues and we probably don't have the money for it)
- Ask local Tripoli members whether we could assist them in making their own test stand for their and our use
- Find low traffic places like small airports or quarries that might allow us to have our own installation (kind of like Boston University)
If any of you could contribute to this list with some of your own stories or tell us why one of these ideas wouldn't work it would be very helpful!