September 20-22, 2002 Black Rock Desert launch
The first flight of LV2 will be held at Arizona High Power Rocketry Association's (AHPRA's) experimental amateur rocketry event called "BALLS 2002", held in the Black Rock Desert (BRD) of Nevada. Our group is officially attending, along with possibly hundreds of other experimental rocketry enthusiasts from all over the world.
Here's the preliminary schedule:
Date Events Tuesday September 17, 2002 Evening: Meeting in FAB 155 Wednesday September 18, 2002 Evening: James burns psas.pdx.edu to CD after 5:00pm
Evening: Purchase food for group (last chance to opt-in)Thursday September 19, 2002 Morning: psas.pdx.edu packed up for trip to BR.
Some folks leave for Black RockFriday September 20, 2002 Morning: Meet at Matt Rupert's house at 4:00AM
Evening: PSAS arrives at BRD and sets up equipmentSaturday September 21, 2002 Morning: Airframe test on 'M' motor
Afternoon: Full systems launch on 'N' motor
Evening: Optional second launch on 'N' motorSunday September 22, 2002 Morning: Optional third launch on 'N' motor
Afternoon: Rapid tear down and return drive to PDX
Transportation Notes:
- The Black Rock Desert is about almost exactly 500 miles and thus a 12 hour drive from Portland. It's a nice drive through central and southeastern Oregon, but it's a long one. Make sure your car can handle the long trip, the high heat and the amazing amount of fine, gray dust. Note that you'll be driving off of the highway and directly onto the dry lake bed, called the "playa": we've had a Porsche 911 make it over the playa but you do want to be careful about low riding cars (more driving info). We'll eventually post maps and detailed directions from Portland here (here are the directions we used 3 years ago), but here's some directions for right around the playa.
- There are four mountain passes to navigate:
- Willamette Pass summit crossing the Cascade Range, on Hwy 58 between Oakridge and Crescent.
- A gentle pass between Klamath Falls and Alturas
- A 6100' pass crossing the Warner Range between Alturas and Cedarville. These are impressive mountains.
- A pass between the California/Nevada border and Gerlach crossing the Hays Canyon Range.
- There are agricultural inspections upon entry to California, between Klamath Falls and Alturas, and between Alturas and Cedarville.
- GPS coordinates of the turnoff from the road onto the Playa (note, this is the second such entry area, and is the second driveway on the second entry area):
- N 40° 46.571'
- W 119° 15.823'
- GPS coordinates of our encampment on the flight line:
- N 40° 48.674'
- W 119° 07.302'
- Elevation: ~4000' ASL
- The BRD is only 2.5 hours north of Reno, NV by car. For some people unable to make the 12 hour drive, consider flying into Reno, renting a car, and driving up to the BRD. We may also be able to arrange a pickup from the Reno airport if there are enough people coming in at the right times.
Environment Notes:
- The BRD is a beautiful but nasty place. It's going to be very, very hot and sunny during the day and very chilly at night. See the "BALLS 2002" site for more information, but you'll need everything from tents to your own water. AHPRA will be providing portapotties, but little else.
- We'll post more information here soon.
- The closest "place" to the BRD is the town of Gerlach, NV, which is right on the edge of the playa. There is no cell phone coverage, but there is a small motel called "Bruno's" (775-557-2220). If you don't want to camp, get your reservations ASAP since it'll fill up fairly fast.
- Communications: Cell phones didn't work there two years ago. We're not sure if they do now... but please don't count on it! We'll be using amateur band radios again this year (146.43MHz) for long distance communication, as well as FRS radios for short distance stuff. We'd love to get an internet connection, e.g. Starband, but that means someone has to bring their starband equipment and know how to set it up.
Logistics:
- Please try and know by the TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 3RD GENERAL MEETING if you're going to go to Black Rock. Please talk with Larry, Brian or Andrew before then if you CAN'T attend but still want to go.
- Registration: there will be a registration fee per person - we're looking into that now. Note that we'll be registering as a GROUP, so please be sure to bring money to the September 3rd meeting.
- Please see the Logistics Page for more details, including car sharing, who's bringing what, etc.
Things to think about bringing:
- Put everything in plastic bags to keep out dust.
- Lawn chairs to look up at all the rockets spiraling out of control.
- Spray bottles
- Hats, bandanas, SUNSCREEN
- Lots and lots of water (gallon or more per day)
- Bring FRS, CBs and 2m (146.43MHz) radios
- Bicycles
- GPS's in order to find the final launch site on the playa (dry lake bed)
- Flashlights, lanterns, floodlights, etc.
- Fire extinguishers, shovels, etc.
Specific logistics:
- Larry is bringing two tables
- Everyone brings their own chairs