Explanation of Launch terms, please

What is a "NOTAM".... and why do you need one for a launch site event?

Second, what is a waiver, and how does it affect a "K-limit" ?

Nope, Jim, I'm just learning.
But since this is a forum for rocketry, and I was pretty darn sure these were rocketry terms, I figured that I'd come ask the pros.

As for me, I'm strictly a newbie... low power and operating under C-motors or smaller.
That's why I asked.

(I'm listening in on someone else's discussion, and rather than butt in on their thread, I figured I'd go ask what a few of these terms meant.)

Kirk G said:

Nope, Jim, I'm just learning.
But since this is a forum for rocketry, and I was pretty darn sure these were rocketry terms, I figured that I'd come ask the pros.

As for me, I'm strictly a newbie... low power and operating under C-motors or smaller.
That's why I asked.






























(I'm listening in on someone else's discussion, and rather than butt in on their thread, I figured I'd go ask what a few of these terms meant.)

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WTF was I thinking. I was a newbie once, so I humbly apologize, and I have removed the post. Good luck.

A "NOTAM" is a Notice to Airmen - a piece of information relevant to aviators in a particular area, and is obtained as part of a standard preflight weather briefing. NOTAMs contain information regarding airport and navigation facilities that might have changed or are out of service, obstructions that might have changed since the most recent charts were published, operations such as skydiving, unmanned rockets, balloon launches, and other tidbits that pilots need to know. A NOTAM is issued when a waiver is activated, generally 24 hours before a scheduled launch.

Here's our NOTAM for tomorrow's launch:

!CMI 06/015 CMI AIRSPACE UNMANNED ROCKET WITHIN AREA DEFINED AS .5NM RADIUS OF CMI355005.5 SFC-4000 1406141800-1406150100

And it means that there's a rocket launch being held in an area within a .5 nautical mile radius of a point 5.5 miles out along the 355 degree radial from the Champaign VOR, from the surface to 4000 feet above sea level, from 1800Z (UTC) on 6/14 to 0100Z on 6/15 (1:00PM CDT to 8:00PM CDT).

A waiver is an authorization or waiver of specific sub-parts of Federal Aviation Administration rules (in our case, Part 101), which precisely describes our launch operations in terms of geographic location and maximum altitude, adherence to various regulations, among other things. The FAA scrutinizes waiver applications carefully to determine whether routine aviation operations can continue with a minimum of interference, given the requested area and altitude. Waivers are required for launches where rockets contain more than 125 grams of propellant, or weigh more than 1500 grams on the pad (Class 2 rockets). Other limits apply, but this should provide the general idea.

https://www.nar.org/cabinet/waiverinst.html

There's more to this, of course, and I'm sure others will share. Hope that helps.

Mark

Thank you for the very complete answer. That makes sense. Don't know why there was any question of one for our club's launch, but it's resolved now.

As I understand it, waivers are written to an altitude. A K motor limit would be self-imposed.

Kirk G said:

Thank you for the very complete answer. That makes sense. Don't know why there was any question of one for our club's launch, but it's resolved now.

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Sometimes clubs forget to call in for the NOTAM at all, or they don't do it far enough in advance to meet FAA requirements. One time we had a non-prefect run our club launch and he almost had to cancel the launch because he forgot to notify the FAA. He was able to start the launch a few hours late. The prefect and myself had gone to LDRS on a club launch weekend so the prefect could not do the FAA stuff.

A "K limit" may be due to field size.

M

A NOTAM is a notice of an unusual situation. A waiver is permission from the FAA to perform flight activities that are normally forbidden. A TFR is a Temporary Flight Restriction.
Examples:
When I close one of my runways, I issue a NOTAM so that pilots will be notified that it is closed before they are at the airport.
When I have an airshow, I get a waiver to allow performers to conduct aerobatic flight at low altitude over the airport.
When Air Force 1 is flying in to Reno, we are issued a TFR from the FAA to prevent aircraft from departing the airport and flying north.
NOTAM can be issued almost instantly via Flight Services if authorized.
A Waiver can take 90 days to process.
A TFR is issued by the FAA.
All three are important parts of a flight briefing.

All three involving an "airspace" will be issued for a diameter, location (now GPS based) and altitude to Mean Sea Level. That is important to specify! If your elevation is 5,000', and you issue a NOTAM to 10,000', you only have 5,000' to work with. It is a good practice to identify to the controller that you want 10,000' AGL (above ground level) to be sure that you are getting the 10,000' limit.

Also, all three are issued with GMT (Zulu) begin and end times so that there is no confusion with time zone changes. So when calling in a NOTAM, it is very helpful to give them the Zulu time.

The K in K limit is probably not a motor limit. It is probably an altitude limit set by the FAA waiver. K means 1000.
10K feet means 10,000 feet.

%@*^! Descriptor of rocket CATOing on launch pad.

$(*@&!!*!! Descriptor of rocket CATOing shortly after clearing the pad.

*@&^!^#!! Descriptor of rocket shredding at low altitude.

$^&$$(&!*%!!! Descriptor of rocket shredding moments before motor burnout.

^#%$!*))^$&#&^!!! #(%*@@&%(!! Descriptor of rocket failing to deploy recovery system, plunging to Earth and spiking your car, truck or SUV.

boomtube said:

%@*^! Descriptor of rocket CATOing on launch pad.

$(*@&!!*!! Descriptor of rocket CATOing shortly after clearing the pad.

*@&^!^#!! Descriptor of rocket shredding at low altitude.

$^&$$(&!*%!!! Descriptor of rocket shredding moments before motor burnout.

^#%$!*))^$&#&^!!! #(%*@@&%(!! Descriptor of rocket failing to deploy recovery system, plunging to Earth and spiking your car, truck or SUV.

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I think we saw one of each (except for the last one) today at our launch...