Launch Sites in California/West?

[Smolsat Space Services]

Hi y'all! I'm new here and came to ask about launch sites in California (or anywhere else in the west) for a low power homemade rocket (D motors only). Right now I have Lynch Canyon Open Space selected as a site around the North Bay. I haven't taken any steps to confirming a launch site yet, so I came here to see if that's a good idea, or if there's a better site I can choose. That being said, is there a better site I can launch from? Thanks!

 

[smstachwick]

The Diego Area Rocketry Team (DART) welcomes rocketeers and the general public to their launch site at Fiesta Island Park in San Diego. G motors and smaller, ceiling is 1000. We get first-timers, families, hobbyists, competitors, Scout units, and random passers-by. I also tested my planned Level 1 rocket out there on an F67W.

DART also collaborates with Tripoli San Diego, with members often trekking out to the decommissioned Holtville airport in Imperial County to take part in high-power events. The site is also great for putting the little ones way up there.

EDIT: Are you asking about research rocketry? Homemade motors? If so, try FAR, Friends of Amateur Rocketry. Tripoli Prefectures in neighboring states also typically support research activities, California’s regulatory burden is just too high.

 

[Hobie1dog]

To the forum

 

[tfish]

Hi y'all! I'm new here and came to ask about launch sites in California (or anywhere else in the west) for a low power homemade rocket (D motors only). Right now I have Lynch Canyon Open Space selected as a site around the North Bay. I haven't taken any steps to confirming a launch site yet, so I came here to see if that's a good idea, or if there's a better site I can choose. That being said, is there a better site I can launch from? Thanks!

http://lunar.org/
Tony

 

[cls]

Right now I have Lynch Canyon Open Space selected as a site around the North Bay

do not launch there! in fact, do not go rogue and launch without the proper permissions, anywhere. it reflects badly on all of us and we do not want that kind of help in the Tinderbox State!

edit: what color is the grass out there? BROWN. duh. put on your thinking cap.

 

[smstachwick]

edit: what color is the grass out there? BROWN. duh. put on your thinking cap.

This is also a direct NAR Safety Code violation.

Looks like LUNAR is a lot closer, why not take a trip out to visit them and see how it’s done?

 

[thequick]

TCC has monthly launches in the Central Valley. It’s great fun. Hope to see you there.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Most of the good options in California are flying with a club that has already obtained the proper permissions.

The LUNAR club already mentioned has high-power launches coming as soon as the winter rains green up the grass at Snow Ranch, near Farmington, CA, and D motor flights are definitely welcome there. LUNAR also has non-high-power launches near Hollister, so that might be a good option.

TCC holds launches near Fresno. The club is focused on high power, but they also have low power pads where you can launch rockets on D motors. But that is really not the club’s primary focus.

The Sierra club holds launches in Nevada, not far from the California border. A lot of Californians attend those launches.

SARG was a good club for the low-power launches that you are looking for. But that club has lost its field, and even though there have been no official announcements from the club officers, they aren’t holding launches, and I’d consider them dormant or maybe defunct.

Good luck with your search!

 

[Smolsat Space Services]

The Diego Area Rocketry Team (DART) welcomes rocketeers and the general public to their launch site at Fiesta Island Park in San Diego. G motors and smaller, ceiling is 1000. We get first-timers, families, hobbyists, competitors, Scout units, and random passers-by. I also tested my planned Level 1 rocket out there on an F67W.

DART also collaborates with Tripoli San Diego, with members often trekking out to the decommissioned Holtville airport in Imperial County to take part in high-power events. The site is also great for putting the little ones way up there.

EDIT: Are you asking about research rocketry? Homemade motors? If so, try FAR, Friends of Amateur Rocketry. Tripoli Prefectures in neighboring states also typically support research activities, California’s regulatory burden is just too high.

A few things,
1. Thank you so much for replying!
2. when you say the ceiling is 1000, is that 1000 meters or feet? I'm assuming meters, as that's my goal for the rocket, be it unrealistic for D motors.
3. Could you elaborate on what you mean by research rocketry? The motors are likely just gonna be bought from Estes, but what you said is still intriguing!

 

[smstachwick]

A few things,
1. Thank you so much for replying!
2. when you say the ceiling is 1000, is that 1000 meters or feet? I'm assuming meters, as that's my goal for the rocket, be it unrealistic for D motors.

1000ft, the standard unit of measurement when dealing with altitudes and the FAA in the US. Any rocket that can get to 1000m (about 3000ft) on D motors can certainly be test-flown on B motors to stay under the ceiling.

However, this site is really far south of the other places that have been recommended, about a 9 hr drive or so. Unless you’re planning on relocating soon or doing a lot of traveling, LUNAR would be a better option.

3. Could you elaborate on what you mean by research rocketry? The motors are likely just gonna be bought from Estes, but what you said is still intriguing!

For now you’re probably better off flying commercial motors (Estes, AeroTech, CTI) for the simple reasons of cost and safety. The requested information though, to satisfy your curiosity:

The Tripoli Rocketry Association supports rocketeers in making and flying their own motors using ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) or sugar-based propellant. In California, state law requires much more sophisticated facilities for this activity, including bunkers, than are available to Tripoli clubs, so within the state, the FAR site near California City (way down south, probably about 6 or 7 hours) is the only site where such activities are permitted.

Tripoli prefectures in neighboring states do not carry such burdens and research activities are a significant minority of flights.

Be aware that research rocketry is only open to Tripoli members certified for high-power rocketry at Level 2 or higher (although FAR might have different requirements, being unaffiliated with Tripoli). There is no cost advantage to making your own motors and there are serious safety considerations to be made. Most who get into it pursue it as a learning activity, a hobby unto itself if you will. It is also necessary for the P, Q, R, and S motor monsters that occasionally make attempts to reach six-figure altitudes at Black Rock.

No research propellant formulae may be shared on the main portion of this forum; that is to be done in the dedicated Research section, which requires verification of Level 2 status for entry.

For now, learn as much as you can about commercial rockets and motors, and be fully qualified as a high-power flyer before diving into research stuff. It can bite.