MDRA ESL 234 Annual Christmas Tree Launch, Jan. 13 - 14 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

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That sure looked safe? Would not pass any RSO where I fly.
Please don't call spinning a tree around rocketry. At least try to fly a porta potty, or snowmobile.
This is done once a year under special conditions. There aren't many people there and everyone but camera crew are behind the safety line. It's been done for 10 years now with no one being even remotely hurt so I think we are fine.
 
Say what you will. We never made the "C" rack. We were able to recover the tree and even a undamaged motor tube. The only thing that broke was some of the ornaments.
 
I've flown with MDRA, I know that proper safety precautions were taken for these launches. That said, while fun and tradition, this is up there with drag races when it comes to "unnecessary risks."
 
I HIGHLY recommend that anyone who has serious concerns about this tradition send a letter to the MDRA board. Maybe if enough people complain, they will end the practice. I doubt it, but you never know. No skin off my teeth, because I have never launched a tree and have no plans to. I just think it's fun to watch, and I support those who do it.
 
You know, at LDRS 31 there was all kinds of tom-foolery in the name of a certain tv show. they flew from pads that were so far away that there was no chance that they could come back to the crowds. That was exactly what happened, strange things flew and everyone was ok.
Truth be told, I signed off on all the odd-rocs except for the snowmobile.

I believe that every rocket has a pad, the only question is "are you willing to walk that far"

Sunday we were willing to schlep a tree to the away cells. That's where the tree landed. The motor was still attached and recovered without a scratch.
I would have been happy to walk to the "far, far away" pad with the tree, but I wasn't asked to.

You don't have to fly a tree, or anything else you don't want to.
If it bothers you that much, you don't have to go to that launch. It only happens once a year at one location

Don't harsh someone else's mellow just because you don't fly whatever.
I'm not a huge fan of the super high min diameter flight, you can't see it. In fact, you can't see if it's coming in ballistic. Unsafe? Maybe. Records don't support this
Large rocket, 100 plus pounds could hurt someone if it hits them, even under chute. Unsafe? Maybe. Records don't support this, either
I'm sure we can figure out how all of our stuff is "unsafe" but we're still at it.
Please don't confuse the issue with "safety concerns" unless you can prove something is unsafe

Video shows that nothing left the away pads...so you'd have to work hard to show this was unsafe.
 
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