No NSL 2016 thread?

Has no one started a 2016 NSL thread yet?

You just did. I've already booked my room.

I'll be there. I was lucky when my parents retired to Murfreesboro, so I have a place to stay. Not sure if I'll be at the launch on one day or two.

Room booked. Vacation approved. Kit in hand. God willing, I'll have 3 rockets ready, all with 54mm MMTs. Two are special.

The 4" PAC-3 will be my L2 cert attempt.

A 4" Velociraptor was won last year at Southern Thunder's charity auction. It's been in rebuild for a while. My plan was to finish it and fly it at Southern Thunder 2016, but NSL cancelled that this year. So NSL it shall be.

Lastly, I just acquired a PML AMRAAM 4 as a rebuild project. Three in the queue before it. May not have time to get it ready. I refuse to rush such important builds.

I was going to take a trip in March, but that got cancelled. The vacation has already been approved. My wife suggested I keep the week and we use 9 days straight to get these projects ready. Sounds good to me.

Heard through the SoAR grapevine that the Ambassador Inn was holding a section for all of us at a modest discount. I knew to get my reservation in early if I wanted a downstairs room. Stairs kill me anymore.

Reading https://www.nar.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/NSL-Restrictions-Limitations.pdf
How can there be "the occasional home within the 1 mile radius" and still consider that to be the recovery radius?

Knowing the site, some of it seems a bit extreme.

The recovery area does include the few random houses. The odds of you landing on one will be almost impossible. For one, the wind on that field tends to blow away from them. Second, there really are so few that even if you drift that way, it'd be surprising.

It's a safety code violation, or are they going to evacuate those houses during NSL?

Gary Byrum said:

You just did. I've already booked my room.

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AT the Holiday Inn Express? I tried to book a room but the website wouldn't take NSL as a code.

Pem Tech said:

AT the Holiday Inn Express? I tried to book a room but the website wouldn't take NSL as a code.

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If you'll scroll back just a little, you'll notice my comment regarding the Ambassador Inn?

We booked at the Roadway Inn. For 4 nights it was $63.00 less than the NSL price at the Ambassador.

jsdemar said:

It's a safety code violation, or are they going to evacuate those houses during NSL?

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I do not have that information. Not sure how the FAA qualified the recovery area. It's all done according to their paperwork.

Someone could contact HARA via their website and ask though.

Gary Byrum said:

If you'll scroll back just a little, you'll notice my comment regarding the Ambassador Inn?

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Yes, knew of the Ambassador but but preferred the Holiday Inn Express. We are now booked at the Ambassador.

Kruegon said:

We booked at the Roadway Inn. For 4 nights it was $63.00 less than the NSL price at the Ambassador.

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Wow, that is really inexpensive.....
Is it a nice place?

Pem Tech said:

Wow, that is really inexpensive.....
Is it a nice place?

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My one experience at the Ambassador was from 4-5 years ago and I was pleasantly surprised.

When I saw the pictures and the prices, I lowered my expectations accordingly, but I shouldn't have. Yes, the motel structure is quite old and a lot of the decor was what you might generously call "period correct" when I was there, but I was surprised at how clean everything was. Everything in the room worked and there were no signs of half-ass repairs or any such nonsense. The bed had decent quality new sheets and pillows and the staff there were very nice to deal with. They seemed to be doing a great job with what they had to work with.

I'm not so worried about my room not being the cheapest available personally. There are times when the "after-launch" camaraderie is worth it. At least you get to hang and chat, share vids, check out some of the folk's gear/rockets and whatnot. Maybe even plan a dinner out. Being a single guy that I am, I'd really hate getting stuck by myself at a different hotel. If the Ambassador is the go-to hotel this year, that's fine by me.

Pem Tech said:

Wow, that is really inexpensive.....
Is it a nice place?

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To be honest, I don't know. At events like this, clean beds and showers are all we care about. We come in, crash, wake, shower, and back to the launch.

I'll know more after the event.

Gary Byrum said:

I'm not so worried about my room not being the cheapest available personally. There are times when the "after-launch" camaraderie is worth it. At least you get to hang and chat, share vids, check out some of the folk's gear/rockets and whatnot. Maybe even plan a dinner out. Being a single guy that I am, I'd really hate getting stuck by myself at a different hotel. If the Ambassador is the go-to hotel this year, that's fine by me.

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I agree and would love to have all of that. But $63.00 is two decent motors. That's a lot to us right now. Not to mention the wife and 2 kids. Not like we can party down with kids.

jsdemar said:

It's a safety code violation, or are they going to evacuate those houses during NSL?

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The houses are more than 1500 feet from the launch pads, which is all the safety code requires:

Launcher Location. My launcher will be 1500 feet from any occupied building or from any public highway on which traffic flow exceeds 10 vehicles per hour, not including traffic flow related to the launch. It will also be no closer than the appropriate Minimum Personnel Distance from the accompanying table from any boundary of the launch site.

tbonerocketeer said:

The houses are more than 1500 feet from the launch pads, which is all the safety code requires:

Launcher Location. My launcher will be 1500 feet from any occupied building or from any public highway on which traffic flow exceeds 10 vehicles per hour, not including traffic flow related to the launch. It will also be no closer than the appropriate Minimum Personnel Distance from the accompanying table from any boundary of the launch site.

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That's not the only requirement:
... at least as large on its smallest dimension as one-half of the maximum altitude to which rockets are allowed to be flown at that site or 1500 feet, whichever is greater.

One mile is greater than 1500 feet, of course. If there are houses, or property owners who are not insured parties, it can be included in the launch site dimensions. I don't know if any of this is the case for the NSL 2016 site, but it raises a red flag when they state there are houses in the recovery area.

That is not the launch site dimensions. It is the recovery area. Not sure how. Not sure why. But recovery area and launch area are not always calculated as the same factor. I've often wondered about how or why there is a difference, but never argued so long as it met code.

Kruegon said:

That is not the launch site dimensions. It is the recovery area. Not sure how. Not sure why. But recovery area and launch area are not always calculated as the same factor. I've often wondered about how or why there is a difference, but never argued so long as it met code.

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Launch site includes recovery area, as long as I've been launching rockets (since 1989). All properties within the site need to be insured and clear of occupied buildings and people not associated with the launch. If a 50# rocket under parachute swings into someone's house or car or kid playing in the yard, who's insurance covers that? Or, worse, anything ends up there with no recovery deployed?

I can understand if something drifts farther than intended, it could go onto uninsured property. Fly rockets long enough and it happens. But, to include that publicly in a description of the launch for NSL on the NAR website doesn't seem wise.

Well, I'm not part of the NSL planning crew. I know all aspects have to pass through NAR for approval since it's technically NAR's event. HARA is only hosting it. I would like to think that Ted is well aware of all aspects for the event.

Kruegon said:

Well, I'm not part of the NSL planning crew. I know all aspects have to pass through NAR for approval since it's technically NAR's event. HARA is only hosting it. I would like to think that Ted is well aware of all aspects for the event.

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Yes, Ted is aware of it and is ok with it. I think that is poor judgment, which is very rare for Ted.
I've had my say, and I'll go away now.

jsdemar said:

Yes, Ted is aware of it and is ok with it. I think that is poor judgment, which is very rare for Ted.
I've had my say, and I'll go away now.

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You should have your say. And if you feel strongly about it, you should carry your concerns to Ted. Safety is everyone's responsibility. You might be the only voice on a subject, but your voice may be correct.

I have flown this field often. I've had a chance to see the flight paths and average drift of even L3 birds. That is the reason I'm not overly concerned. But that is from my experience. If you haven't had any experience with this site, then your concerns are legitimate. Do not dismiss your own concerns until you are comfortable in the safety provided by the field. You may very well be the voice that saves us all.

Safety over design. Safety over speed. Safety over altitude. Safety over all. That should always be our approach.

Hey, all. I'm the president of HARA, who is hosting NSL this year. I heard about this thread via email and wanted to answer it directly. The 'recovery area' statement in the NSL Announcement was not written very well. I'll see if it can be changed. All dwellings are outside of the range area, as specified in the NAR HPR Safety Code. The 1-mile radius defines the cross-sectional area of the NOTAM cylinder, which is different than the rocket recovery area. We apologize for any confusion that this may have caused. HARA is absolutely following the HPR Safety Code for the NSL Range. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me directly.

Best regards,
Chuck Pierce
HARA President
NAR 78629
TRA 9308
Level 3

Hah, at this point we should edit to take the no and the question mark out of the title.

I agree lol.

OK...so enough of this technical chatter bout this and that. What you gonna fly? I have 4 builds going on right now and only one rendering to show. No build threads this year, but I did draw a colored version of my Skyjacker. It sports 3 - 24mm motors tucked nicely inside a BT 70 with a hand spun version of the 60AH nose cone. Seems like all my builds are getting custom NC's this year. This will be just over 43" tall and I'm sold on one of the two colors.

Builds. Builds. I have two in the works. Three if time gets on my side.

MadCow 4" PAC-3 w/ 54mm MMT mod and a/v bay. My L2 cert rocket.

Binder 4" Velociraptor rebuild w/ a/v bay. Got it last year at ST2015. I had planned to fly it at ST2016, but there won't be one.

PML 4" AMRAAM rebuild. Time permitting. I wouldn't count on this one. It's going to be a 100% rebuild. I have strip out the CRs, MMT, fins, and coupler on this one. It's going to be A LOT of work. I just don't think I'll have time to get it ready.

Then I have several PSII kits to fly. Partizon, Scion, Argent, Leviathan, and time willing, Nike Smoke.