New and looking for a launch site

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teper
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New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

Hi everyone,

We have been building rockets for a while, mostly one and two bottle ones. Now we are trying to go a bit bigger and the small park we are using is not big enough. So we like to introduce our selves and ask where do people launch rockets. We are a son and father team with most of the design/building is done by the son. We live in Newton MA. We are looking for a large friendly field or park nearby where others had a good experience with launches.

Thank for the help.
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

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teper wrote:Hi everyone,

We have been building rockets for a while, mostly one and two bottle ones. Now we are trying to go a bit bigger and the small park we are using is not big enough. So we like to introduce our selves and ask where do people launch rockets. We are a son and father team with most of the design/building is done by the son. We live in Newton MA. We are looking for a large friendly field or park nearby where others had a good experience with launches.

Thank for the help.
Welcome to the forum! :W

Why not ask a local farmer for permission to use one of his fields. You can find a lot of fields that are empty this time of year after the crops are harvested. Corn and hay fields are most attractive since they are mowed flat for the winter.
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teper
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

Thanks for the idea. we don't know how to search for a farm though.
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

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teper wrote:Thanks for the idea. we don't know how to search for a farm though.
SC: Uh, you drive around the country near the city you live in until you find one that looks promising (lack of trees and power lines are always a good thing to look for), then walk up to the front door and ask permission usually works.

If you are trapped in the city due to transportation issues, :cry: I would suggest looking for a larger park or baseball/football/soccer field that you might also get permission to launch in when it is not in use for it's intended purpose. PH:
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teper
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

We'll try that. :D We found a park that has a 200 ft radius around a center point. We were wondering if that was too small to launch a rocket to 500 ft. in. we are afraid that we might hit someones house if the parachute doesn't deploy, and we have a 2 pound missile hurtling towards earth at speeds in excess of 30 mph. :bg:
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U.S. Water Rockets1
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

teper wrote:We'll try that. :D We found a park that has a 200 ft radius around a center point. We were wondering if that was too small to launch a rocket to 500 ft. in. we are afraid that we might hit someones house if the parachute doesn't deploy, and we have a 2 pound missile hurtling towards earth at speeds in excess of 30 mph. :bg:
Does your rocket really weigh 2 pounds?

It must be fairly big then, and in that case you will most likely want to find a larger launch area. A general rule of thumb is a field with twice the size of the altitude you intend to fly.
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teper
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

Yes. Our water rocket really does weigh 2 pounds. Below is a picture of it. Since that picture was taken, we have added another half pound to it with half a Nerf football on top for aerodynamics and to absorb impact if the parachute doesn't deploy. TH: for the general rule of thumb.
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air.command
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by air.command »

teper wrote:Hi everyone,

We have been building rockets for a while, mostly one and two bottle ones. Now we are trying to go a bit bigger and the small park we are using is not big enough. So we like to introduce our selves and ask where do people launch rockets. We are a son and father team with most of the design/building is done by the son. We live in Newton MA. We are looking for a large friendly field or park nearby where others had a good experience with launches.

Thank for the help.
Hi teper, the best way to search for a launch site is to use Google Earth. You can quickly see what potential sites are near you as you can see if there are trees or not. You can also use the measurement tool to see how big the areas are and what road access is like. You'll then need to actually visit the sites to see what it's like as sometimes the satellite photos can be a few years out of date. You'll then need to find out who owns the land and get permission.

If you only find a small park, and want to fly high, then only launch on calm days where the rocket will not drift too far. You'll also want to make sure that your launch rail is long enough to get stable vertical flights. Launching early in the morning is usually the best time when winds are calm and if it is a public park there tend to be less people also. If there is a wind, then launch the rocket from the up wind part of the field to let the rocket drift towards the other part of the field.

- George
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teper
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

Thanks for the advice to use Google earth. We'll try that. George, We sent the servo timer to you today. hopefully it will get their soon.
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U.S. Water Rockets1
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by U.S. Water Rockets1 »

teper wrote:Thanks for the advice to use Google earth. We'll try that. George, We sent the servo timer to you today. hopefully it will get their soon.
If you're in need of a replacement servo deploy system you might want to look into the one we developed specifically for water rockets. It only costs $4.30 for the controller, so it is great for experimental flights: http://www.wra2.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1580

There is also a variant that can deploy 2 parachutes: http://www.wra2.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1599 (Recommended for smaller launch areas where you can use the Drogue/Main technique to minimize drift)
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teper
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

Thanks. We want something with more control and is a little smaller. We are thinking of getting an Arduino Pro mini and designing it ourselves. We have an idea that we would like to share with the community. Using an electronic staging system. An accelerometer detects when the rocket launches. when the rocket starts to decelerate, the burn is over. the controller waits a certain amount of time, and then launches the second stage. The parachute would either be released when the sustainer starts to deaccelerate and then the controller waits X seconds, or we use an uMAD to detect apogee. How does this sound? I will be posting this to the electronics discussion page.
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by Team Seneca »

teper wrote:Thanks. We want something with more control and is a little smaller. We are thinking of getting an Arduino Pro mini and designing it ourselves. We have an idea that we would like to share with the community. Using an electronic staging system. An accelerometer detects when the rocket launches. when the rocket starts to decelerate, the burn is over. the controller waits a certain amount of time, and then launches the second stage. The parachute would either be released when the sustainer starts to deaccelerate and then the controller waits X seconds, or we use an uMAD to detect apogee. How does this sound? I will be posting this to the electronics discussion page.
That sounds like a good project to tackle! I don't get why you need a timer or MAD when you can detect apogee more accurately with the accelerometer.

Please keep everyone abreast of your progress!
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teper
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

We will be posting updates to the status of the project In the Electronics discussion page. How would we use the altimeter to detect apogee on a 2-stage rocket?
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

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teper wrote:We will be posting updates to the status of the project In the Electronics discussion page. How would we use the altimeter to detect apogee on a 2-stage rocket?
Look for an altimeter that has a deployment option. These were designed for pyro rockets and were intended to fire a pyro charge. Take the signal from the deployment from the altimeter and use it to trigger a water rocket deployment system such as a servo or some kind of "latch puller" it could be something as simple as a latch which connects to a servo motor. The motor could release a mechanical hold down. The altimeter is able to calculate when the rocket starts descending based on altitude measurement and trigger the deployment. The altimeter does not care how many stages the rocket is as long as it keeps going up it will not deploy until it starts coming down.
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teper
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Re: New and looking for a launch site

Post by teper »

oops I typed wrong. DOH: I meant to say, how do we use an accerometer to detect apogee.