On Feb 5, 8:00 am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
And we saw a humongous rocket, once. (It was NOTAM'd, and ATC warned
us about them...)
--
Jay Honeck
I've not seen a high-power model rocket from the air, but I do belong
to a club that actively flies them. We generally get an FAA waiver
for rocket flight to 12,000 feet one weekend a month (and the NOTAMS
do issue, I've had to fly around the launches several times myself).
The NOTAMS seem to have the unfortunate effect of bringing in curious
pilots. We spend a lot of time waiting for over-curious light planes
circling the launch to leave, so we can fly. It is sometimes a sore
spot, as the larger rocket projects generally have electronics with
finite battery life on board (altimeters, minimally, but often GPS,
still or video cameras, etc), the launch window is of limited
duration, and we have other fliers waiting for their turn at the
pads.
I add this here as a plea for pilots to not circle the NOTAM'd launch
area waiting to see something go up. If a plane is nearby, the
rockets don't fly. A 'typical' high-power model rocket might be 3 to
8 feet long, weigh 3 to 20 lbs, and hit a top speed of 300-400 mph on
it's way to apogee at 2000-3000' agl... Serious enough, but the
heaviest projects can weigh several hundred pounds, the fastest
rockets can top mach 2 (getting past mach 1 is a rite of passage for
many rocketeers, so someone is sure to have a supersonic project at
any launch), and the high fliers will hit at least a mile AGL, and
often two or three miles. The high-power model rocket altitude
record is about 37,000 feet, and a couple of years ago an experimental
amateur rocket (they operate under different regulations than the
model rocket crowd) finally crossed the 50 NM threshold which
typically defines 'space'. To minimize drift, the rockets usually
recover with only a very small drogue chute deployed (hard to see)
until they are perhaps 500-1000'AGL, when the main chute deploys.
These launches are a lot of fun to watch from the ground. Check out:
http://www.nar.org/ or
http://www.tripoli.org/ for more information.
If you're in the Northeast, my club is: http://
www.metrarocketclub.org/
Gary