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tjkopena

tjkopena

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Thinking about branching out a bit and making the drive down to an MDRA launch for the first time in the foreseeable future. Figured I'd ask a couple basic questions here rather than bug the organizers or BoD.

Unfortunately I'm otherwise committed Oct 16 and can't make that Saturday of ESL 273 but going down for Sunday Oct 17 is possible. What do Sundays look like at those launches in terms of the number of people and activity level? Does it often run all day as scheduled, or peter out in the afternoon? It's not a huge drive for me, about 2 hrs from Philly, but enough to want to evaluate if it'll be a ghost town overall, gets real quiet after lunch, etc., and I just have no context to guess.

I see the fall Red Glare is listed on this forum's calendar for November but I've found no other mentions. Are there known or expected dates for that?

Thanks
 
tjkopena said:
Thinking about branching out a bit and making the drive down to an MDRA launch for the first time in the foreseeable future. Figured I'd ask a couple basic questions here rather than bug the organizers or BoD.

Unfortunately I'm otherwise committed Oct 16 and can't make that Saturday of ESL 273 but going down for Sunday Oct 17 is possible. What do Sundays look like at those launches in terms of the number of people and activity level? Does it often run all day as scheduled, or peter out in the afternoon? It's not a huge drive for me, about 2 hrs from Philly, but enough to want to evaluate if it'll be a ghost town overall, gets real quiet after lunch, etc., and I just have no context to guess.

I see the fall Red Glare is listed on this forum's calendar for November but I've found no other mentions. Are there known or expected dates for that?

Thanks
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There is usually plenty of activity on Sunday with launches going right up until closing time, as long as it's not rained out or something.

Red Glare is in spring these days. If it was happening in the fall, it would definitely be up on the website by now.
 
Antares JS said:
Red Glare is in spring these days. If it was happening in the fall, it would definitely be up on the website by now.
Click to expand...

That's what I figured, but couldn't tell if it was maybe a twice-a-year event or something and the fall edition just much more low key.
 
Any idea when they are going to switch over to the Higgs farm?
 
Okay. I joined MDRA back at Red Glare, so I'm kind of new. :) December is probably too cold and windy for us to fly, but we'll see how it goes.
 
...as announced at yesterday's MDRA launch at the Sod Farm....

MDRA's December launch will be at Higgs Farm, Dec 18th and 19th.

Launches at Higgs tend to run from about 9AM to about 4PM(weather permitting) but
additional details will be coming to the club website soon for specific times, additional Winter dates, etc.
Stay tuned and Thanks.
 
Thanks for the notice, @G-Dog. I've been periodically checking the website for updates about upcoming events. We did make it down for the October launch, and will definitely head down to check out Higgs Farm this winter, likely in December.
 
Having only been to one MDRA launch, I went on a Saturday and after all the time spent setting-up and working out any minor technical difficulties, there wasn't as much time left to fly as I had hoped for. I actually wish I had gone on Sunday instead to get more launches in!
 
The only issue I had with flying at Red Glare was that they waited until all the pads were loaded up, and we low powered fliers were stuck waiting around for long periods of time. Like one launch an hour, which kind of stunk. Pity they can't move the low power pads further away and launch while the larger rockets are loaded/prepped.
 
G-Dog said:
...as announced at yesterday's MDRA launch at the Sod Farm....

MDRA's December launch will be at Higgs Farm, Dec 18th and 19th.

Launches at Higgs tend to run from about 9AM to about 4PM(weather permitting) but
additional details will be coming to the club website soon for specific times, additional Winter dates, etc.
Stay tuned and Thanks.
Click to expand...

Excellent! Hope to get my L3 flight in sometime this winter before Red Glare if I can coordinate with my L3CC... and if the weather gods show us mercy!
 
Bill S said:
The only issue I had with flying at Red Glare was that they waited until all the pads were loaded up, and we low powered fliers were stuck waiting around for long periods of time. Like one launch an hour, which kind of stunk. Pity they can't move the low power pads further away and launch while the larger rockets are loaded/prepped.
Click to expand...

Red Glare is always crowded - especially when we have good weather.

Normal (non-Red Glare) weekends aren't nearly as bad and we get a lot of good days in, especially at Higgs. If you plan to go to one of the winter launches, I highly recommend you make yourself available for both days. We usually only get one out of the two days to be good weather.

These are winter and spring launches, so be ready for some adverse field conditions. Ankle deep mud or solid ice are common! I have seen a fair number of people get stuck in the parking area, so consider that when you setup.

The January launch is usually the Christmas Tree launch, which is a lot of fun! 🚀 🎄
 
mtnmanak said:
Red Glare is always crowded - especially when we have good weather.

Normal (non-Red Glare) weekends aren't nearly as bad and we get a lot of good days in, especially at Higgs. If you plan to go to one of the winter launches, I highly recommend you make yourself available for both days. We usually only get one out of the two days to be good weather.

These are winter and spring launches, so be ready for some adverse field conditions. Ankle deep mud or solid ice are common! I have seen a fair number of people get stuck in the parking area, so consider that when you setup.

The January launch is usually the Christmas Tree launch, which is a lot of fun! 🚀 🎄
Click to expand...

I was thinking about the parking area. Being that I was going to get up extremely early and drive down from CT the morning of a launch (whichever day looked better for weather), I was going to pack my L3 rocket in my commuter car to make the trip... that said, I was concerned about front wheel drive getting potentially stuck in the mud. How do folks usually get pulled out? Tow truck? Farm tractor?
 
If someone from the Higgs family is around, I have seen them help out by getting one of the farm tractors (they also sometimes help out with a tractor when someone has a particularly large/heavy rocket to get on the pad at the away cell), but mostly it is other people with 4-wheel drives helping each other out.

If it is muddy and you try to stay on something that looks like grass, you should be okay, but when the Higgs farm turns into a skating rink (last February's launch - Brrrr!!), there isn't much you can do.

On the other hand, the winter launches really are my favorite at MDRA. There is something very cool about launching high power rockets in a vast field of snow. They can be brutal, but I think they are a lot of fun!
 
Oh, and a word of warning, there is a footbridge over the large "ditch" (more like a small river) that exists in the recovery area. I was walking over it in February carrying a large HPR and it was very icy. I did my best to walk carefully, but ended up slipping and having a brief moment to see my feet above my head before my noggin made first contact with the ice covered wood bridge followed quickly by a 20 pound rocket smashing into my forehead. Luckily, MDRA doesn't have a TBI protocol, or I probably would have been benched for the rest of the weekend! I think I am going to bring a helmet this year...
 
mtnmanak said:
Oh, and a word of warning, there is a footbridge over the large "ditch" (more like a small river) that exists in the recovery area. I was walking over it in February carrying a large HPR and it was very icy. I did my best to walk carefully, but ended up slipping and having a brief moment to see my feet above my head before my noggin made first contact with the ice covered wood bridge followed quickly by a 20 pound rocket smashing into my forehead. Luckily, MDRA doesn't have a TBI protocol, or I probably would have been benched for the rest of the weekend! I think I am going to bring a helmet this year...
Click to expand...

I remember that bridge. Ive only been down once - for Red Glare Last year. Hopefully Ill get down there before it gets icy for my L3 flight. It would suck to recover a 50 pound rocket in snow or ice. That said, I’ve flown in the middle of Lake Winnipesaukee… so I’ll bring my ice cleats!
 
Good call! I am actually going to throw crampons and snowshoes in the back of the truck this year for the winter launches. Better safe than sorry.
 
TheTank said:
I was thinking about the parking area. Being that I was going to get up extremely early and drive down from CT the morning of a launch (whichever day looked better for weather), I was going to pack my L3 rocket in my commuter car to make the trip... that said, I was concerned about front wheel drive getting potentially stuck in the mud. How do folks usually get pulled out? Tow truck? Farm tractor?
Click to expand...
There are usually plenty of people with 4WD pickup trucks to help pull you out if you get stuck in the parking area. I have a F350 dually and I always have a recovery strap with me. But you should make sure that you have a recovery hook for your car because that is the only safe way to attach a strap to a car that doesn't have a trailer hitch. Most cars have a recovery hook that is stored with the spare tire stuff.
 
Late to the game, here, but I don't think I have ever seen anyone get stuck in the parking area. I have seen people get stuck in the field. Normally, the BoD limits who can drive on the field. Often, Tom C. will be the designated driver, and haul people out to the away cells on a flatbed trailer. In any case, consult with the BoD before driving on the field in any conditions. They will have a "plan of extraction," so to speak. :)
 
I remember once being told to park along the road because it was too muddy. Also remember seeing the tractor being used to pull someone out.
 
I'll be there saturday for christmas tree launch. I've already got the motor made.
Also have my room for red glare. Be there thursday to set up and gonna stay until monday.
 
Question for MDRA vets: how high are you comfortable going at Higgs with single motor deploy only? I'm planning on coming to the February launch as long as it's above freezing and I'm trying to plan. I'm an experience-light level 1, never been to an MDRA launch before.
 
jmasterj said:
Question for MDRA vets: how high are you comfortable going at Higgs with single motor deploy only? I'm planning on coming to the February launch as long as it's above freezing and I'm trying to plan. I'm an experience-light level 1, never been to an MDRA launch before.
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Higgs is large enough to accomodate some pretty high altitude deployments... I think the question is more, how confident are you in being able to watch your little dot of a rocket under its main parachute drift until you see where it lands?
 
Antares JS said:
Higgs is large enough to accomodate some pretty high altitude deployments... I think the question is more, how confident are you in being able to watch your little dot of a rocket under its main parachute drift until you see where it lands?
Click to expand...

That's a good point. Hard to say! I guess I'll just have to work up slowly and watch other people's rockets. I need to try out the Marco Polo tracker I bought too.
 
jmasterj said:
That's a good point. Hard to say! I guess I'll just have to work up slowly and watch other people's rockets. I need to try out the Marco Polo tracker I bought too.
Click to expand...

For the record, I usually use dual deploy or a chute release on anything high power or any high performing mid-power, like a skinny rocket on a G, but that's much more to save myself a walk than because I'm really worried about losing it to trees or something. The shorter my walk to recover, the sooner my next rocket goes out on the pad.
 

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