EVENT Casual park launch in Escondido, CA.

[smstachwick]

Not a huge event, just a little something I applied for. I know flying sites can be a little more tricky to secure in California, so I figured it’d be nice to share my permit.

I just paid a visit to the Escondido City Hall and applied for a model rocket permit at Jesmond Dene Park. The application is pending and I’m hoping to hear back from them soon.

Here are the rules for a launch there, as copied from the Escondido Fire Department’s website.

• Model rockets are not allowed to be launched anywhere within the City of Escondido except for designated areas at Jesmond Dene Park.
• Rockets may be launched only between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., Monday through Friday or Sundays. No launching is allowed on Saturdays.
• A permit must be obtained before any rocket can be launched. There is no charge for a model rocket permit.
• Launching permits are not granted between June 1 and October 31 due to the high fire hazard.
• Final approval must be obtained by telephone on the day of the launch.
• Only “A” and “B” model rocket engines are allowed.
• Launching must be supervised by an adult.

The “designated areas” are the baseball diamonds.

I requested a launch date of Tuesday, November 16th. I will post further updates when I get word of the permit being granted or denied. I did list myself on the permit as the only expected attendee, but if anyone else wishes to join me, I’ll give the department a call and see if I could get additional people on the application. I also have a blank one, if they do not allow this or if anyone just prefers to have their own permit.

At the recommendation of City Hall, I did pay a visit to the Escondido Fire Department and inquired about rules regarding staging, clustering, and airstarts. The official I spoke with there stated that she could not find any rules regarding this. For now, it appears that complex configurations are allowed, so long as they run on A or B power. Interestingly enough, there does not appear to be an installed total impulse limit aside from what’s attainable while still being in compliance with the NAR Code. Google Maps indicates that the field measures more than 400ft by 400 ft, which allows complex configurations up to 10 Newton-seconds of total impulse.

I can’t imagine that anybody would want to fly a complex configuration at such a small site, but I figured this was a fair question. Still, I couldn’t help but get the sense that I was the first to ask it.

I did not inquire about flying on fractional A motors. I can’t imagine they’d be a problem, and I think most would find it reasonable to consider them A motors for this purpose, anyway.

Happy flying, everyone!

 

[smstachwick]

My permit has been granted.

As I stated before though, I listed myself as the only expected attendee. I do not know if they will be strictly enforcing the number for which the permit was granted or if they’re just using the expected attendance question to filter out applicants planning on inviting an unmanageable crowd, but to be safe I’m assuming the former for now.

Therefore, I’d like to have something resembling a definitive headcount of interested flyers before I write back to the department and request that others be added to my permit. I am therefore asking that anybody who is interested in attending please send me a count of themselves plus whoever else they would like to bring. Either a public posting in this thread or a DM will do.

Once the count looks pretty stable, I’ll tally everyone up and submit the request to revise the permit to reflect the new anticipated attendance. I’ll also use this number to get an approximate count for future launches so hopefully we won’t have to do this again for a while. I’ll just file for the permits with that number and post a date if it’s been approved. Please bear with me for just this once.

If my request to add other attendees is denied, I’ll send a copy of the blank permit application to any interested flyers, so they can apply themselves without having to visit Escondido City Hall. Hopefully they’d be able to grant more than just mine on that day, I’d hate for others to be shut out just because I didn’t ask to be allotted a few plus-ones.

 

[smstachwick]

I have received permission from the City to allow a small number of other flyers to attend and fly under my permit. I won’t be doing anything super formal regarding safety, probably just a brief flyers’ meeting to review the Safety Code and the Fire Department’s rules. Nothing complicated.

As far as I’m concerned, all systems are go for now. Final approval will have to be granted on launch day, but everything that can be done right now has been done.

 

[smstachwick]

The launch has concluded! Thanks to all who showed up, which is to say, me!

The site is hemmed in by lot of trees, and there are a few that pop out of nowhere in the downrange recovery area. My recommendations for this site are as follows:

• If you’re the permit holder, arrive at 8, get your pad set up on the mound of the south baseball diamond, and be ready to go at 8:30. You’ll be on hold with the Fire/Police line for a few minutes to get final approval.
• I ended up tilting my rod south. 5 or 10 degrees should do it. There is a gigantic tree just north of the field that will eat anything flown straight up, and I lost the sustainer of my Super Gnome to it.
• Don’t fly B motors or an equivalent complex configuration unless you’re flying something heavy and draggy. Keep it low for recovery on the baseball diamond if possible.
• Bring a long ladder and a long, lightweight pole. You or somebody else might need them to get a rocket out of a tree.
• Keep things casual, simple, and easy, and be friendly with other park users. Give them a heads-up before beginning your range/sky checks and proceeding with the countdown.