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mule.
mule.-
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mule
In lieu of the recent issues with the FS, I contacted a friend of mine that is in the know on land. He is going to talk to a landowner friend on the eastern plains and see if he would talk to us. The landowner has a Section that might be available to us. Would this be enough space?
What would be our actual minimum needed for the big stuff we fly?
Warren B. Musselman
A section is a square mile – 640 acres. Currently we have a waiver to a certain altitude, but it also presupposes a certain diameter circle with no house or buildings and no road above a certain traffic level. Our Atlas site is altitude limited due to the proximity of Highway 14 for instance. The big question would be what about the land surrounding this Section. To have an equivalent waiver might require 2 1/2 miles in diameter from a central point. We would need permission from 100% of the landowners in that circle. With our goal of increasing the waiver even higher, we might need as much as 5 or 6 miles diameter. That’s relatively easy with BLM and grasslands or other federally managed lands but in land dominated by private ownership it can be difficult. Of course with TRA and NAR insurance, it’s a lot easier sell to landowners, but still… there is a helluva lot of contact and politicking that would have to go on.
This is a great thing to pursue. Not to say anyone needs to worry about our current site, but it is always good to have alternatives.
Warren
mule
Thanks, that gives me something to work with.
Warren B. Musselman
In thinking about it, we would need permission for 9 contiguous sections with the launch site in the middle in order to have our 25K waiver. Of course an ideal 50K waiver would probably require 16 sections and possibly more.
W
mule
I could probably take care of the 50k waiver needs, but we would have to call ourselves the SE Colorado Rocketry club. My accountant has a several K acre family ranch in SE CO. I’m not so interested in a name change or moving, so I think our current location is quite nice….
Although, an annual big boys toys launch would be fun.
Adrian
I could probably take care of the 50k waiver needs, but we would have to call ourselves the SE Colorado Rocketry club. My accountant has a several K acre family ranch in SE CO. I’m not so interested in a name change or moving, so I think our current location is quite nice….
Although, an annual big boys toys launch would be fun.
That would be sweet. Do you know what the recovery terrain looks like?
Jeffrey Joe Hinton
Well, I haven’t given up on our current sites quite yet. NCR’s track record with the USFS has been outstanding and very pro-active. I have a hard time thinking we’ve come to a deadend. However, new launch sites are always of interest and with the advances in recovery locational devices, sometimes the terrain isn’t an issue, as long as the habitation requirements can be met on the waiver criteria. And just because it is wide open space on the ground doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wide open up above. Air routes and traffic patterns keep changing – that’s part of the equation that keeps this hobby from becoming boring.
Adrian
Well, I haven’t given up on our current sites quite yet.
Nor have I. The hours that I have spent camping there and looking for rockets have made me appreciate that land in ways that I never expected. I’d love to keep flying rockets there for years. I’m also very grateful for the work that you have done in keeping up the relationships with the authorities so that we can keep flying there. But I can’t help but have my ears perk up when I hear about the possibility of a sympathetic land owner with enough contiguous area for a 50 kft waiver.
Warren B. Musselman
Think SE or NW Colorado on Grasslands or BLM land. Somewhere on the web I saw a map with all the major air traffic corridors in the Continental US – that’s the map you want to read between the lines of so to speak. Right now we’re actually on an approach path to DIA so it is pretty damn nice that we have the waiver and windows that we do. Thanks to Joe…
I’d also think that looking in SE Wyoming and Western Nebraska might be productive. I believe Frontier Aerospace had a 100K waiver – at least in process – up at Chugwater. Of course they have apparently gone dormant, but the waiver might still be good. and their location is only another 45-60 minutes further than the north site for folks coming from Denver.
Might be nice to have a place to fly big toys once or twice a year.
Warren
Sparky2
Warren,
Those folks up at Chugwater wanted a standing waiver to 100,00 feet.
Unfortunately Chugwater is under a major East to West transcontenental corridor. The Air Traffic manager that deals with waivers said he would be willing to allow a pre-scheduled one shot deal if we wanted. He said he would assign a air traffic controller strictly to that event. I passed that on the folks in Ghugwater but I have never heard from them since. If the club wants to research other possible launch areas, all I need is coordinates and I can find out how “messy” waivers might be.
mule
Warren B. Musselman
Adrian
Jeffrey Joe Hinton
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