So LDRS 40 is where...

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I knew a while ago that OROC was putting in a bid, and a LDRS vendor aka a "little bird" told me that they had gotten LDRS 40 after the banquet last night. The impetus for this thread was that over the years I have been a member of TRF there has been it seems a Saturday post of....wheres the next LDRS?
 
Oh my goodness....I've been wanting to do a Brothers launch at some point.....

And to think that I was, just earlier today, thinking about the next NARAM, which is going to be in Springfield, Missouri.

I wonder if they're going to overlap, dates-wise, like they did this year.
 
Oh my goodness....I've been wanting to do a Brothers launch at some point.....

And to think that I was, just earlier today, thinking about the next NARAM, which is going to be in Springfield, Missouri.

I wonder if they're going to overlap, dates-wise, like they did this year.
LDRS 40 will be in early June and NARAM will be in mid July.
 
And before it starts, if you want an LDRS in the east, ask your Prefect to bid and offer to help with the organization and work. The Tripoli board actively solicits bid from the eastern Prefectures. We know that people want an LDRS in the east, but if eastern Prefectures don’t bid, there will not be one there.
 
That’s not exactly close, but it’s also not exactly far. I could probably do this one! We visited Bend a few years ago, and it was GREAT!
 
Some info on the site for everyone: Google Maps Link
I'm just a club member familiar with the site, not on the LDRS committee but thought maybe I could help here.

It's high desert, 4530ft. Early June weather could be anywhere from near freezing to 90+, I would expect an average of 65 to 80. Likely windy, they seem to peak in the late afternoon. Sparky motors are usually not allowed, depends on how dry things are. Ceiling is typically 20,500 AGL (25,000ft ASL) with a call-in option to open up 50k ASL if needed. Night flights OK.

I believe the club will try to improve the access roads, but right now they are rough. Go slow, it will take you 15 minutes to get from the highway to launch site. Don't bring your sports car but neither do you need a lifted 4WD. Close the gate to the highway behind you, it's open grazing land (I've never seen any cattle, just occasional pies).

Terrain is sagebrush, knee-high at most. Easy to walk a path through but hard to keep a straight line as you're dodging bushes. Long pants recommended for walking through sage, although I do shorts with care. It's surprisingly good at hiding rockets. Terrain is flat with some small hills to the south and east which you might get to for a high flight. IIRC there is ONE tree on one of the hills. If you can hit it you deserve some sort of prize. I do not believe motorized vehicles are generally allowed on the sage (for retrieval), but there are access roads that may allow you to get close-ish with a truck, ATV, mountain bike...

Bring an FRS radio and keep it on when out retrieving. For rocket and fire safety. Fire safety is taken seriously there as everyone's business. They may even have mandatory meetings or optional training on what to do. Shovels and water backpacks are around for anyone to grab and use as needed.

Ground is a coarse pumice sand, known locally as "kitty litter". Bring LONG stakes to anchor your awnings against the wind. It totally ate one rocket that came in ballistic this year, not even a crater. Expect clothes and camp to get dusty, but I imagine this isn't as big of an issue as salt is. The upside is that between the kitty litter and sage it's pretty mild on rocket landings. I bet you can get away with a smaller chute than the salt flats.

There is potable water in the horse corral at the rest stop in Brothers. I've used it several years, good water and flows great--I hope it can keep up with our demand but bring enough for drinking at least just in case. Also expect some trucker to be blocking it so you can't back your trailer up to the spigot, especially nights or mornings. On-site camping is allowed, but porta poties are the only amenity. Tents may have challenges with the sage (finding a clear spot) and cold nights. There is a central campfire area for night gatherings, if fire threat permits.

Cell service is good on Verizon and US Cellular. Barely adequate on T-mobile. Poor to none on Sprint. I don't have AT&T, but a friend says it works.
Don't count on any services in Brothers. There's one run-down gas station (and c-store?) that I've never been in.
Nearest town is Bend, about an hour drive counting the slow dirt roads into the launch site.
 
Last edited:
Some info on the site for everyone: Google Maps Link
It's high desert, 4530ft. Early June weather could be anywhere from near freezing to 90+, I would expect an average of 65 to 80. Likely windy, they seem to peak in the late afternoon. Sparky motors are usually not allowed, depends on how dry things are. Ceiling is typically 25,000ft AGL with a call-in option to open up 50k if needed. Night flights OK.
I believe the club will try to improve the access roads, but right now they are rough. Go slow, it will take you 15 minutes to get from the highway to launch site. Don't bring your sports car but neither do you need a lifted 4WD. Close the gate to the highway behind you, it's open grazing land (but I've never seen any cattle there).
Terrain is sagebrush, knee-high at most. Easy to walk a path through but hard to keep a straight line as you're dodging bushes. Long pants recommended for walking through sage, although I do shorts with care. It's surprisingly good at hiding rockets. Terrain is flat with some small hills to the south and east which you might get to for a high flight. IIRC there is ONE tree on one of the hills. If you can hit it you deserve some sort of prize. I do not believe motorized vehicles are generally allowed on the sage (for retrieval), but there are plenty of access roads (some very rough, like ATV or mountain bike only) where you should be able to get close to your rocket (1/8 to 1/4 mile, maybe 1/2 mile if really unlucky) for a shorter walk.
Ground is a coarse pumice sand, known locally as "kitty litter". Bring LONG stakes to anchor your awnings against the wind. It totally ate one rocket that came in ballistic this year, not even a crater. Expect clothes and camp to get dusty, but I imagine this isn't as big of an issue as salt is. The upside is that between the kitty litter and sage it's pretty mild on rocket landings. I bet you can get away with a smaller chute than the salt flats.
There is potable water in the horse corral at the rest stop in Brothers. I've used it several years, good water and flows great--I hope it can keep up with our demand but bring enough for drinking at least just in case. Also expect some trucker to be parked and sleeping in the no parking zone in front of it so you can't back your trailer up to the spigot, especially nights or mornings.
Cell service is great on Verizon and US Cellular. OK on T-mobile. Poor to none on Sprint. I don't have AT&T, but a friend says it works.
Don't count on any services in Brothers. There's one run-down gas station (and c-store?) that I've never been in.
Nearest town is Bend, about an hour drive counting the slow dirt roads into the launch site.

Sounds like an interesting site. Is there camping on the field?
 
Yes - camping on site but zero amenities beyond porta-potties.

Muffin-Man was optimistic or doesn't fly high .... prepare to easily walk a mile or more to your rocket and have to cross barb-wire fences.
Don't fly anything you can't hump out of the sage on foot.....you WILL NOT be able to drive to the pads or to recover.

Dual-Deploy is needed for anything high. The highway is 2 miles away downwind -> DO NOT LAND ON THE HIGHWAY.

You will REALLY walk if you don't have an RF tracker - we used to spend hours walking in search-pattern circles.
That's why Beelines were invented here.

Bring plenty of water, sun-screen and an FRS / HAM radio.
This is the high desert -- prepare accordingly.
Bonus is the altitude is about the same as Balls -- setup your motors the same.
 
Last edited:
Muffin-Man was optimistic or doesn't fly high .... prepare to easily walk a mile or more to your rocket and have to cross barb-wire fences.
Don't fly anything you can't hump out of the sage on foot.....you WILL NOT be able to drive to the pads or to recover.

Dual-Deploy is needed for anything high. The highway is 2 miles away downwind -> DO NOT LAND ON THE HIGHWAY.

You're right, I've only flown to 4-digit altitudes and probably had favorable winds both times (even with an accidental main at 6k once). Will edit my original post for that and FRS.

The FRS is a good tip. Have it on when downrange retrieving rockets.

Are small ATV's (like quadrunners) going to be allowed for recovery?

I'm unsure. I thought it wasn't allowed but I have seen them out there. They're worried about damage to the sage and possible fire issues. Perhaps with spark arrestors they might? Can definitely (and many do) use them to get as close as possible on access roads and trails.
 
Please keep in mind that some of what is being shared here is reflective of the current state and not necessarily of what will be for LDRS next year. Expect some improvements and changes to accommodate attendees for next years' event.

Regarding ATVs, motorized vehicles of any kind are only allowed on the dirt access roads, never in the sage. There will always be some walking through the sage with your rocket for recovery. Sometimes you're not too far off an access road, but other time you may be a mile out and have to cross a fence, as Fred mentioned above. Bring a friend.

Adding to the cell service comment, I have AT&T and the service is typically very poor during a large launch. Although I've had much better connectivity out there this year, so maybe AT&T has made some improvements too.
 
There are a few scattered back roads.
You NEED sturdy tires and good clearance for ALL roads in the area - I run 10-ply, kevar-sidewalled KO2's - and bring a spare.

The roads might get you close to your rocket if you are lucky and you can pull off the road and park with a short walk.

Beyond these roads, dirt bikes are the only practical transport and you better be good! The sage hides lots of boulders and badger holes you need to dodge.
Quads won't make it.

All of this is subject to being restricted due to fire danger at any time.

There is a shallow depression down-wind that tends to attract big rockets. It's not an easy place to get in and out of with big stuff.

There are expectations to improve the access road from Hwy-20. The "recovery" roads will not be touched.
 
Clarifications on cellular data:
T-Mobile has coverage of some sort, maybe it's roaming on ATT. I have Mint Mobile (Tmo MVNO) on one phone, and it won't pass any data, and it's a 600MHz 5G capable phone. So probably only good for making 911 calls.
Another phone is on Verizon, and works well 4G LTE.
I also have an ATT hotspot and it works well with 4G LTE on site.

I historically have recommended cellular boosters here, but these aren't usually needed anymore, but might with a large crowd.

I believe there are also HAM repeaters that work here, but I haven't tried them.
 
I believe there are also HAM repeaters that work here, but I haven't tried them.
I've tried likely 2m and 70cm repeaters in the area, and never been able to get a hit. Maybe someone could set up something temporary, up on the hill, for this event.
 
And before it starts, if you want an LDRS in the east, ask your Prefect to bid and offer to help with the organization and work. The Tripoli board actively solicits bid from the eastern Prefectures. We know that people want an LDRS in the east, but if eastern Prefectures don’t bid, there will not be one there.

come on guys, let's do this
 
And before it starts, if you want an LDRS in the east, ask your Prefect to bid and offer to help with the organization and work. The Tripoli board actively solicits bid from the eastern Prefectures. We know that people want an LDRS in the east, but if eastern Prefectures don’t bid, there will not be one there.


The guys from Oregon come to BALLS every year, have great projects. I haven’t been to Brothers but have heard it’s a good site.
On what Steve was saying. I have been to every LDRS except one since LDRS 8. I drove to Orangeburg and Potter.
The eastern sites may be smaller with lower waivers but I bring something suitable and have always enjoyed the launch. I was kinda hoping for one next year.
 
Back
Top