Black Rock launches 2018

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ColumbiaNX01

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Here is a list of launches that I have seen for 2018 at Blackrock.

Mudroc June 15-17, 2018
Aeronaut August 3-5, 2018

both hosted by Aero-pac.

Please, add others in june july and august if you know.
 
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BALLS will likely be September 28-30.
But I have nothing to do with it anymore.
And the tide has to go out
 
Based on the recent pictures of the playa I've seen, Mudrock is going to live up to its namesake.
Hoping that things will dry out enough for Aeronaut, XPRS, and BALLS.

John
 
Weather shows rain at Gerlach and 48 degrees.
Where is global warming when we need it.

M

Snowed in the higher elevations today as well as my house just south of BRD. The playa received about 3/4" of rain and the Juplaya launch is in question. I know there is also a waiver for August that is filed.
 
Whoa, thats a lot of water.... but how deep is it?

Gives people a chance to do a realistic Polaris launch...
 
The lake is at least 5 miles wide as of the 10th, no idea of the depth. Weather does improve after today...
ImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1497310923.503434.jpgImageUploadedByRocketry Forum1497310954.892664.jpg
 
My approval from Ken O says to fly from within the B+ cylinder but no specifics like BR15 or BR7.

BR15 looks to be beachfront while BR7 is still underwater?
 
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I would think the FAA would have been specific (because or predicted altitude for your flight0 for an actual launch location, such as within 1/2 mile of the actual waiver center point. B and B+ are the same locations. BR15 or BR7 refer to nautical mile radius from the center points.

Below photo B B+ waiver center points
Blue circle 7 N/m radius
Fuchsia circle 15 N/m radius

Tony

BR15 & 7.jpg
 
I would think the FAA would have been specific (because or predicted altitude for your flight0 for an actual launch location, such as within 1/2 mile of the actual waiver center point. B and B+ are the same locations. BR15 or BR7 refer to nautical mile radius from the center points.

Below photo B B+ waiver center points
Blue circle 7 N/m radius
Fuchsia circle 15 N/m radius

Tony

James D has the specifics on the waiver center so I'm not entirely sure where they want him. I'll need every inch of that column so I was planning on flying from wherever the center ends up.

He also re-applied for an extension to 200k. Right now the waiver is 150k MSL.

However, I'm pretty sure it'll get cancelled or postponed.
 
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Copy....

Just as a side note: We had one vehicle sink up to it's floor boards at Aeronaut last year. It was about 2 miles south of the Quinn River and on the East side of the playa.

Tony
 
My approval from Ken O says to fly from within the B+ cylinder but no specifics like BR15 or BR7.

BR15 looks to be beachfront while BR7 is still underwater?

Back in December 2015, I went out to BlackRock to try and find a wayward rocket. I actually went because a couple of us had figured out how to do a drone search, covering something like 18 square miles of area, and we were determined to try it. It was a thrill of the hunt thing.

At the time, I tried calling everyone I knew out there, including local law enforcement, to try to find out about the conditions on the playa. No one knew, and I didn't know about the availability of daily satellite photos (that would have been helpful:mad:). Anyway, the first pic shows how far I got before I saw what seemed like an endless lake in the distance - wtf? As I turned around, I realized there was already mud under my tires. At that moment, BlackRock was a very scary place, and another 50 feet might have been curtains.

The third pic is the lake as of June 9. It's much bigger then it was when I was out there. Sorry, but I can't really imagine it will be possible to get to the center of operations any time soon.

Jim

PS - I did the drone search this last year - half of it anyway - just to prove it could be done. No joy.

December lake.jpg

IMG_0465.jpg

Lake June 9.jpg
 
Right now it's looking like Balls and that's it this year. I'm not going to risk driving it and my rockets don't float (destroyed avionics anyone?). September can bring its own unique weather surprises so I'm just going to go with the flow.

However, the evaporation rates on the playa this time of year can be pretty ridiculous so keep an open mind or should I say eye.
 
BLM Winemucca office s now considering playa closure for the month of July to let it dry out. Juplaya is definitely in jeopardy and maybe Aeronaut.
 
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