CMASS 12 August 2017 Launch Relocated to NARA Park in Acton

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KennB

I-95 Envoy
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Location
Amesbury, MA
Due to a later and later haying (more like strawing) schedule imposed on the farmer who tends to the Woodsom Park fields in Amesbury, we won't be able to launch there this month. Jim Salem has worked with the Acton Park/Rec department and we've secured the soccer/ball fields at NARA Park in Acton for our 12 August launch. Like our usual location in Acton, this is a low- and mid-power field, at best. Not only do we have trees on three sides of the field but the fourth side leads to a water hazard, a very large pond/swimming area for the park. All of that is outside the area we're renting so, please, pair your rockets and motors carefully to keep your recoveries in the Upper Fields. We'll try to optimize the launch set up for the weather conditions but be aware those can change as the day goes on.

Jim Flis will have his Fliskits items with him. If you need something specific from him such as motor mount kits, spare body tubes, nose cones, etc., please contact him ahead of time to be sure he brings it.

We're not sure what coverage we'll have from AMWProX. Jason will be at the RIMRA launch and, if Gloria can travel, there may not be room to maneuver even their smaller truck and trailer. If they decide they can attend, I'll update the post. Again, if you're looking for something specific, call ahead and see what arrangements can be made.

Sign up for volunteer opportunities, LCO, Safety Check or lunch service. Please help out our guests where you can; as the rest of the park will be active with their usual summertime activities, we'll likely get a lot of walk-ups checking us out.

Let us know what you may be flying. Keep an eye on the weather and the website for any updates. Don't forget about our GO/NO GO hotline you can call on the morning of the launch, 857-24-CMASS (857-242-6277).
 
Guys, I have access to a field that can handle an O impulse motor, as well as the owners permission. I go there to play once in a while and there was a club launching there years ago.Screenshot_20170805-222452.jpg
 
I remember that field. It was pretty awesome. Out near Bridgewater or Halifax, down there somewhere. The last time we flew there was like '01 or '02 (back when we had the old pop-up trailer),and then it changed hands and Frontier got kicked out by the new owners. Access to the launch area was pretty rugged but you could fly some serious stuff. I wonder what the crop situation, etc is there now. Certainly worth a trip to reconnoiter.
 
We may not be able to set up on time but we should be able to get some flying in once the rain stops.
The plan is still to meet at the upper parking lot about 9 - 9:30 and play it by ear.
 
I remember that field. It was pretty awesome. Out near Bridgewater or Halifax, down there somewhere. The last time we flew there was like '01 or '02 (back when we had the old pop-up trailer),and then it changed hands and Frontier got kicked out by the new owners. Access to the launch area was pretty rugged but you could fly some serious stuff. I wonder what the crop situation, etc is there now. Certainly worth a trip to reconnoiter.

I live 20 minutes away, My sonata can make it to the spoils area with out a problem, Getting all the way to the bunker is another story. The crops are nil as the local farmer who uses the fields only uses the side closest to his house.

I know the owner of the land personally, and have complete access. (the owner of Cumberland farms is a close friend)

There is also an RC club that has an air strip and flys almost every weekend.

There is a "marker" for the approach to Logan in the field, when the waiver is in effect they send all the air traffic to the marker in providence town and bring em in over the water, Hence the call in's.

Big open space like this is hard to come by. Im willing to help bring a launch there, and can get some video of the field and road if needed.
 
CPUTommy sez....

"Big open space like this is hard to come by. Im willing to help bring a launch there, and can get some video of the field and road if needed. "

You got that right!!! If we can get reliable access to this field, then we should really pursue it. The field at Berwick is great but if we can "cultivate" another field, I think it's the way to go. Who knows how much longer we are going to be able to fly at Amesbury.

I know it's far for you North shore guys, but it's a lot closer than Penn Yan.
 
CPUTommy sez....

If we can get reliable access to this field

Do you mean video of the field and access like this ?

[video=youtube;lAuvnkY56yM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAuvnkY56yM[/video]

The "gate" has no "gate" and not a single lock in sight. Its used every weekend for the RC guys to fly there planes/drones.

I went there a few years ago in the early EARLY spring to play with my truck.

It doesn't come close to the berwick field in ANY way, however. it is a HUGE field.

Berwick = Sneakers/bare feet
Halifax = Old sneakers / Boots
 
I happened upon this same field and mentioned it to Ken last month. It looks great on Google Maps, but CPUTommy's video looks rough. The road is way worse than the RIMRA field!

That said, I live relatively close, in northern RI. If anyone wants to organize a small 4x4/HPR launch there, I'd be happy to bring a my jawstand, 8' rail, and a couple 4" rockets!
 
I happened upon this same field and mentioned it to Ken last month. It looks great on Google Maps, but CPUTommy's video looks rough. The road is way worse than the RIMRA field!

That said, I live relatively close, in northern RI. If anyone wants to organize a small 4x4/HPR launch there, I'd be happy to bring a my jawstand, 8' rail, and a couple 4" rockets!

You may want to bring it up to RIMRA. Flying HPR requires waivers and it would be a good place for their wireless launch system.
 
I'm 10 minutes away, I'll take current pics, the video was filmed 3 years ago, I have over 100 motors to burn so a small get together sounds like a plan.. count me in.
 
I'm definitely interested.

BTW...for anyone who wants to fly two days this weekend, the RIMRA launch has been rescheduled to Sunday: www.rimra.org.
 
I've gotta say this location would be wonderful for me in terms of where it is and satisfying my itch to go bigger and bigger :) the idea of being able to call in flights higher than 10k and less than an hour drive from my house, my dad's house and my in laws house, woot! As it is I currently am planning a trip to mdra to stretch my frenzy's legs this fall or winter on an M
 
Does anyone here have any more info about the possible launch site in Halifax? Now that RIMRA is having issues with our launch site at URI, this possibility is looking more enticing.


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Has anyone looked into trying to use the Halifax site more regularly? It sounds like we are at some non-zero risk of losing access at mmmsc with the new landowner, or at least having things be much more difficult.
 
I went out to the Halifax field last year to scout. It is a huge piece of land that would be perfect for rocketry except for the fact that it is covered in THICK underbrush. Safely launching large HPR wouldn't be a problem, but slogging through the weeds for recovery would be horrible. Tommy said that he knew the landowner, but I'm not sure that he could get the guy to mow it. It would be a pretty large undertaking.

I'm nervous about MMMSC too. That is the best field in the northeast.
 
I went out to the Halifax field last year to scout. It is a huge piece of land that would be perfect for rocketry except for the fact that it is covered in THICK underbrush. Safely launching large HPR wouldn't be a problem, but slogging through the weeds for recovery would be horrible. Tommy said that he knew the landowner, but I'm not sure that he could get the guy to mow it. It would be a pretty large undertaking.
I wonder how much it costs to do a rough clearing of that much land? I assume way way way outside of the budget we could think about for a rocketry club?

IIUC, the field is actually bigger than the MMMSC one, right? And holy cow the location would be phenomenal for me :)

I'm nervous about MMMSC too. That is the best field in the northeast.
Yeah.... I'm worried about losing it, and I'm also bummed about what the logistics sound like they'll be. Launching from the side of the field isn't nearly as safe as from the middle (since the way it often gets set up on the upwind side means that rockets weathercock over the crowd), and having to carry all the gear and/or use a shuttle to get to the middle sounds much more annoying. For example, would it mean that Robert/Gloria/Jason have to stay on the side of the field? We obviously have to do what we need to do to make the landowner happy, but it's a bummer for sure.
 
Yeah... its open.. Wide OPEN...

There are a few things though..

1-To get to the setup area can be scary at times
2-The field is not mowed grass, its wild as in rough...
3-Ticks are a concern in summer
4-Logan uses the marker beacon for the final approach to logan so a waiver is a MUST
(in the past they would re route all traffic to the providence town marker and bring them in over the ocean)
5-I believe they had a 10k waiver with 15k call ins when the field was used in the past.
6-There is a farmer with a tractor that uses the field for crips and what not, im sure for a few dollars
he can make the field a bit more presentable and user friendly for us.(He actually drove his rig to where my rocket
landed and delivered it to me.. He not only FOUND it.. but returned it!!)

Im personal friends with the owner and as long as no body does anything overly stupid he has no problem with us rocketeers using the heck out it.
There is also a model plane club who uses a back area for flying and they seem to be there daily in the summer.

So... If you dont mind wearing boots, applying bug spray for the ticks.. then Halifax is the place.

I cant stress the waiver enough only because ive been there a few times and you can not only see the planes on there approach but you can hear them descending on there final approach.

I have a video of the field when it was "wet"
https://youtu.be/lAuvnkY56yM

I also have other posts about the field.

Im all in with regards to helping secure another High power launch site. I just love the MMMSC field in Maine, the 2.5 hour drive is well worth it.. Halifax is 30 minutes from my house and that includes a trip through dunks drive through.

Screenshot_20170805-222452.jpg

105.jpg
 
Very interesting!

We shouldn't give up on the MMMSC field by any stretch of the imagination, but under what circumstances do folks think it would make sense for RIMRA or CMASS to take a hard look at taking on this field? I'm well aware that is a lot of work and everyone is volunteers, and it's cheap for me to throw out ideas on the internet :), but I'd be game to try and contribute as part of a group effort as well as financially.

It seems worth thinking about. Particularly if we were able to get it knocked down a bit by the farmer, I think being so close to Boston with such a great field (size-wise) would potentially be a high turnout opportunity over the years and potentially great for the hobby in this area in the long run.
 
I live about an hour away too. I'm the launch director for RIMRA, and I have the club's launch equipment at my place. I'd have to ask, but I suspect RIMRA would be happy to let us use their stuff. If we do this, I think we should run it as a MPR/HPR only launch. I don't want to worry about my kids getting caught in the brush while trying to run the launch.

RIMRA is having some of the same issues with our field as MMMSC, but our field is not as much of a prize worth fighting for. Let's see what happens with MMMSC, but if they get shut down or severely hampered, let's do it. I'm not available for a launch for the rest of April or May (work and moving to a new house), but maybe someone else from RIMRA could bring the equipment. June is definitely a possibility.
 
again.. Count me in.. I drive by the field at least 4 times a week headed to my computer shop.. Work in fall river and own a computer store in Hanson.. SO I drive down 105 ALOT !!

If I see the farmer out.. I will stop by and chat with him as I have in the past and see what it will take to give the road in and the field a little bit of love that it needs.

If he agrees to "clean up" the field.. even 2 times a year.. It will be staggering... To the left of the spoils area is a relativity smooth, brush free area that would be superb for low power stuff.

Ive been there a few times where the walking wasent to bad actually..

https://youtu.be/SyLGhNN6g4o
 
RIMRA got in more hot water with our farmer this weekend. I think we will still be able to use the URI field, but it's tenuous. That, combined with no new news on the MMMSC page, is making me super-nervous. I have several HPR projects that I want to fly this year.

Tommy, please see if you can work some magic with the Halifax site. If it helps, I can drive a tractor and with a mower. I grew up on a farm in the midwest, and I'd love to get out and mow sometime.
 
Hey guys,

I appreciate you trying to generate interest in another potential launch site.
I'd further appreciate it if you'd start a new thread and let this one live in the past.
Properly titled, a new thread could generate views from people outside the area who may have some ideas about moving the project forward.
BTW, the waiver for Berwick was submitted this weekend; things should gel soon.
 
Good point, Kenn.

That's great news about Rocket Heaven (aka Berwick)!
 
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