Are model rockets in N.Y illegal?

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Originally posted by master605
Hi,Are model rockets in n.y illegal?? please tell me a.s.a.p

No.

They are sold, built and flown there.

It may be illegal to fly them in certain places but there is no law banning them.

What made you wonder?
 
I live in N.Y. State (upstate) and rockets are legal to fly. They sell kits and engines everywhere from hobby shops to Walmart. There are places we can't fly though. I live in Monroe county and they can't be flown in any Monroe county park. I hope this helps.
 
Checking in from Dutchess County, NY here where MRs are available at Michaels arts and crafts (estes only)and several Mom and Pop hobby stores which stock fliskits, custom and a couple others . Plenty to choose from. As I spend most weekdays in NYC I've wondered if they are legal in NYC. I sometimes long for a lunch hour Mosquito build or something. Hey! "Launch Hour!"... (sorry bout that guys) On the internet I've found American Hobby on 30th street which lists some MR stuff but I've never been to the store so I don't know if they actually stock them in Manhattan. These days where sadly we must qualify much of what we say by the phrase "post 911" I don't know how a launch in NYC would go over with the authorities or for that matter walking up 10th avenue with your launching stuff and sack of vehicles and engines. There's certainly enough space in Central Park, Van Cortland Park etc. As others have stated yes MR is legal in NY state. Has anybody out there ever launched in Manhattan?

(planet) Andy
 
i fly close to the city '(flushing if you know) right near an airport and ive never had any problems
 
yeah rabid,

close enough to answer my question. Queens would probably be the same legalities as Manhattan. auntie and uncle live at 71st and continental...Wow you fly in the shadows of the airliners out of LGA and JFK? cool.

thanks,
Andy
 
no, just keep an eye out and dont launch anything if you think you hear a plane
 
Originally posted by carldoc
I live in N.Y. State (upstate) and rockets are legal to fly. They sell kits and engines everywhere from hobby shops to Walmart. There are places we can't fly though. I live in Monroe county and they can't be flown in any Monroe county park. I hope this helps.

Interestingly enough, the rocket reference in the Monroe County parks law is found under "weapons".

§ 323-28. Weapons.
A. No person except a law enforcement officer shall carry any firearm, switchblade, gravity knife, slingshot or other dangerous weapon concealed on or about his or her person while in a park.
B. No person except a law enforcement officer shall carry, fire or discharge any rifle, shotgun, machinegun, rocket or fireworks of any description, bow or arrow in a park.
C. These prohibitions do not apply to instrumentalities reasonably necessary for trapping utilized by persons authorized to trap in a park pursuant to § 323-18B above.
D. Nonobservance of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor.
 
Yup....I was told by a parks person that they were illegal. I can only think of the ban on MR being one for preventing any kind of fire. I noticed that they fly a lot of RC planes in the parks though.
 
After reading the Monroe county law, it looks like it refers to hunting and trapping. Parks officials can rest asured that I wont attempt to drop a 10 point buck with my cloned Goblin.
 
Originally posted by rabidsheeep
no, just keep an eye out and dont launch anything if you think you hear a plane

rabid... no offense intended I meant figuratively in the shadows of 747s. of course we all keep an eye out for other aircraft as we prepare to launch.

Andy
 
i live in MA, where its completely legal to fly. some old guy came up to me after i blasted a couple small B models off, telling me "what about the little kids, if one of those comes down and hits one of them....blah blah blah" so i told him it was completely legal, then as he was walking away i loaded up an f-21....he thought he was back in nam...lol. now he was REALLY mad. whatever though.
 
I also had a person come up to me and state that he was "going to call the police for blowing off fireworks". I told him that MR were legal. He called, the police came to investigate and left as soon as I showed them what we had. They even stuck around to look at a few launches. By the way.....they loved it!
 
Wow,
Is the guy who started this thread ever going to respond???? I have heard that rockets cannot be flown in the NYC limits from several folks. I used to live about 20 miles out of the city and worked at a couple of hobby shops around my home. Several customers from the city said they had to leave the city to launch. Its not like central park is the optimum flying field anyway!
 
my mom lives in monroe county and if I were to fly a rocket out there I would go to a open hay field not a park as the parks near her house have lots of trees and it is only ashort drive to some open private land that probably wouldn't be hard to get permision to fly from:cool:
 
Thirty years ago, when I was a young'un, I flew rockets in Monroe County, but at a suburban schoolyard (Martha Brown, if you've ever heard of it). Today, I still seek out suburban schools (near Boston), as on Sundays you can usually find a huge, unoccupied field, and no one really cares what you do there.
 
Sorry for the 16 year wait for replying but i did launch in central park on the great lawn numerous times. A couple times i was aggressively questioned by the cops but in my experience its not illegal.
 
Interestingly enough, the rocket reference in the Monroe County parks law is found under "weapons".

§ 323-28. Weapons.
A. No person except a law enforcement officer shall carry any firearm, switchblade, gravity knife, slingshot or other dangerous weapon concealed on or about his or her person while in a park.
B. No person except a law enforcement officer shall carry, fire or discharge any rifle, shotgun, machinegun, rocket or fireworks of any description, bow or arrow in a park.
C. These prohibitions do not apply to instrumentalities reasonably necessary for trapping utilized by persons authorized to trap in a park pursuant to § 323-18B above.
D. Nonobservance of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor.
Don’t launch at a park, launch in your backyard. Don’t plan on getting the rocket back though.
Just a suggestion if you’re not wanting to break the law.
 
I also had a person come up to me and state that he was "going to call the police for blowing off fireworks". I told him that MR were legal. He called, the police came to investigate and left as soon as I showed them what we had. They even stuck around to look at a few launches. By the way.....they loved it!
 

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Sorry for the 16 year wait for replying but i did launch in central park on the great lawn numerous times. A couple times i was aggressively questioned by the cops but in my experience its not illegal.
Well, these days it might be illegal or at least outside of accepted policy for cops to "aggressively" question citizens for no good reason. :(
 
Sorry for the 16 year wait for replying but i did launch in central park on the great lawn numerous times. A couple times i was aggressively questioned by the cops but in my experience its not illegal.
I am amazed at the idea of flying in Central Park. Were there a lot of other people around?
 
I also had a person come up to me and state that he was "going to call the police for blowing off fireworks". I told him that MR were legal. He called, the police came to investigate and left as soon as I showed them what we had. They even stuck around to look at a few launches. By the way.....they loved it!

Crossing in the US with rockets & such: Motors are a concern, as they should be (and some may find it strange: only 6 BP motors up to E allowed per adult, but as much APCL as you are legally allowed to fly in the time you intend to spend flying. Returning to Canada, only 6 BP 'E' motors. NO APCL may be brought without proper import permits)

Rockets, no issues. When they ask to see them / pop the trunk, I usually get a "Wow, those are big / those are pretty cool / those are neat!"

And I would love to know what the car behind me thinks when the CBP agent pulls the 2" AMRAAM from the trunk to really admire it!! "OMG!!!! he just let a guy thru with a missile!!!!!!" :D
 
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