50,000' + waivers across the country?

[ColumbiaNX01]

I know of Argoina has a 50000' AGL waiver. Blackrock has a 100,000' waiver. Are there any other places in the USA that have waivers that high? If I am wrong please correct me, did Argonia have a waiver up to 100,000' AGL at LDRS in 2011?

 

[JDcluster]

Black Rock is 125k+ just ask Mark Clark.
I believe there is a group(s) in Idaho and or Oregon that has a respectable waiver.


JD

 

[CarVac]

There is also New Mexico.

 

[CCotner]

As I stated in your previous thread... the only places other than Black Rock that I know of with waivers above 55kft or so are FLARE in Las Cruces and The Brothers site in oregon.

 

[edwinshap1]

AHPRA has a 400000 ft waiver AFAIK, and the FAR site in SoCal has a 50000 ft waiver as well.

 

[Handeman]

Ok, you can stop it now. I'm in Virginia and anything over 15,000 is exceptional.

 

[MClark]

We have 491k for BALLS
At LDRS we had 150k all day, no call in windows

M

 

[TheSamurai]

Brothers is above 55,000 but here in Idaho our waivers are at 44,000.

 

[jimzcatz]

I know, I am the exception but I just dont get you altitude junkies. For me anything above 6000' is invisible anyway so whats the point. I like to watch my rockets, not wait for them to reappear some day later.And I know some of youse guyz can visually track a rocket to 20K plus. I cant, so I dont even try. But to all of you altitude junkies out there, happy flying and good recoveries!!!

 

[TheSamurai]

I know, I am the exception but I just dont get you altitude junkies. For me anything above 6000' is invisible anyway so whats the point. I like to watch my rockets, not wait for them to reappear some day later.And I know some of youse guyz can visually track a rocket to 20K plus. I cant, so I dont even try. But to all of you altitude junkies out there, happy flying and good recoveries!!!

I love watching them go up. I am just getting into HPR and for me I think there will be just a great satisfaction from knowing you built a rocket that went miles up into the air and safely returned. Onboard cameras will allow you to see what you can't on the ground. :wink:

 

[CarVac]

I know, I am the exception but I just dont get you altitude junkies. For me anything above 6000' is invisible anyway so whats the point. I like to watch my rockets, not wait for them to reappear some day later.And I know some of youse guyz can visually track a rocket to 20K plus. I cant, so I dont even try. But to all of you altitude junkies out there, happy flying and good recoveries!!!

Invisible? At LDRS I watched 30,000ish foot flights all of the way to apogee. Indeed I couldn't see the rocket, but the smoke trail sure was visible...

 

[csoechtig]

I know, I am the exception but I just dont get you altitude junkies. For me anything above 6000' is invisible anyway so whats the point. I like to watch my rockets, not wait for them to reappear some day later.And I know some of youse guyz can visually track a rocket to 20K plus. I cant, so I dont even try. But to all of you altitude junkies out there, happy flying and good recoveries!!!

I am starting to lean this way as well... Now that I've achieved some personal altitude milestones (1 mile, 7.5k, 10k, etc.), I really like to push my rockets to the brink of losing sight. IMO - anything above that, is not as enjoyable. For example, last month I put up 4 rockets - - 4" DX3 to 3,750, 7.5" Bull Pup to 3,874 ft, 3" Cherokee J to 4,890 ft, and a 5.5" Big Nuke to 5,751ft.

The two flights I enjoyed the most were the DX3 and Bull Pup. I could follow them all the way up and watch the deployments. The other two were awesome off the pad. However, you end up 'listening' for the apogee deployment. After that, I didn't see either of them until the mains deployed at 700ft.

All that being said - - weather conditions play a major role in this as well. You can keep an eye on rockets much easier on blue-bird days (we had patchy clouds last month). Also, when you launch the really big guns (L+ motors with large, 8'+ tall rockets), the smoke trail allows you to keep an eye on them to the brink of disappearing. Then, it is fairly easy to reconnect with them on the way down.

 

[ColumbiaNX01]

I flew my Proline Rocketry Dominator 4R2 last fall to 11,000' on a M1297. Baby M, but a M none the less. I saw it go all the way up. Saw the smoke trail, lost for a bit, then recaptured it on the way down. I used a GPS tracker but did not even have to use it because I saw it land.

 

[Derek]

Invisible? At LDRS I watched 30,000ish foot flights all of the way to apogee. Indeed I couldn't see the rocket, but the smoke trail sure was visible...

with binoculars?

 

[babp1011]

Brothers is above 55,000 but here in Idaho our waivers are at 44,000.

What site in Idaho is this?

 

[troj]

with binoculars?

On a clear day, the smoke trail at 30K is visible

We have a couple women in our club who have an incredible ability to track rockets, without binoculars

 

[Derek]

On a clear day, the smoke trail at 30K is visible

We have a couple women in our club who have an incredible ability to track rockets, without binoculars

wow. lucky them!

 

[cwbullet]

it is easier to track if you are further away from the center of the launch site. I can't see a thign abotu 7000 feet unless I am atleast 4000 feet from the pad and there are no clouds.

 

[1tree]

First, I like the initial thrill of a rocket going out of my sight. (Not so much that wondering "now how do I get it back?" feeling after.)

But I am working in L1 followed by dual deployment. And with a tracker, the "hope I didn't lose the rocket" thing should be resolved. Then it is a matter if "just how high can I get a rocket?" Well, also "will my wife be annoyed by this expense?" But if the rocket comes home she is more forgiving of the expense.

 

[Dipstick]

Rock Lake site in Alberta, Canada. We have windows to 52 000, could ask for higher if we wanted.

 

[edwinshap1]

Oh, and FAR has a weekend Class 3 waiver to 22000 ft, which actually does become verrrrrry useful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKfnhjdE2wY

 

[RedMaxFlyer]

AHPRA has a 400000 ft waiver AFAIK, and the FAR site in SoCal has a 50000 ft waiver as well.

Where is AHPRA's 40k' waiver? All I can find on their website is a waiver to 8,500' with windows to 11k'.

 

[edwinshap1]

Where is AHPRA's 40k' waiver? All I can find on their website is a waiver to 8,500' with windows to 11k'.

400,000, but Mark said it's a 491k waiver for BALLS, which is run by AHPRA.

 

[degreaser]

Black Rock is 125k+ just ask Mark Clark.
I believe there is a group(s) in Idaho and or Oregon that has a respectable waiver.


JD

The last I heard, AeroPac has a 200K waiver for Black Rock. Of course anything over 50K has to go through TRA first.

 

[CarVac]

400,000, but Mark said it's a 491k waiver for BALLS, which is run by AHPRA.

I thought Balls was run by Tripoli Gerlach. Is it not?

 

[jd2cylman]

I know, I am the exception but I just dont get you altitude junkies. For me anything above 6000' is invisible anyway so whats the point. I like to watch my rockets, not wait for them to reappear some day later.And I know some of youse guyz can visually track a rocket to 20K plus. I cant, so I dont even try. But to all of you altitude junkies out there, happy flying and good recoveries!!!

+1 You're not the only one. The closest I'll ever come to minimum diameter is the Wildman Wild Child and Mini Darkstar.


Adrian (Who wonders what's the record for the LOWEST [successful] L3 flight?)

 

[MarkII]

The size and shape of the rocket obviously also make a difference too. I have MPRs that become invisible above 1100 or 1200 feet and LPRs (not tiny ones either) that can't be seen above 800 feet. (I have built rockets that were capable of going to 120 ft. or so on a single MicroMaxx II but were out of sight above 80 or 90 feet, but of course these rockets were tiny. But still, if you want to talk about visibility during launches then the size and shape of the rocket are by far the biggest determinants of it.)

I launched my Javelin XL to around 2200 feet for my Level 1 certification. It was good that my certifying witness was able to spot it at apogee, because I sure couldn't. I didn't see it again until after the chute popped but I had to wait while it descended for nearly a minute before I could positively verify that the barely visible speck up there was indeed the 36" parachute.

That cert. flight is still my personal altitude record for a rocket that I was able to reacquire visual contact with during descent and subsequently recover. I also launched a 29mm minimum diameter MPR that probably went in excess of 3,000 feet on its F25, but we lost sight of it as it passed 1,000' and we were unable to find it afterward. My cert. flight took place in a field with a 5,000 foot waiver and fields with 5K waivers are the "largest" ones in which I have ever launched a rocket. Where I live in upstate NY access to fields that can accommodate flights above 2,500 feet is exceedingly hard to obtain and even those that can accommodate 1,500 foot flights are scarce.

 

[troj]

Adrian (Who wonders what's the record for the LOWEST [successful] L3 flight?)

Mine (M1400) went a whopping 3,000 feet.

-Kevin

 

[troj]

I thought Balls was run by Tripoli Gerlach. Is it not?

Eh, no.

BALLS has been around a lot longer than Tripoli Gerlach -- the latter was formed a few years ago, with a primary objective being to host an LDRS at Black Rock, which they did (but then, you knew the latter, as you were there).

-Kevin

 

[jd2cylman]

Mine (M1400) went a whopping 3,000 feet.

-Kevin

So... There's my goal... :wink:

Adrian