Launch!

If anyone is itching to launch on 18 April, RIMRA has a launch scheduled.

https://www.rimra.org/

Check out their other dates that don't conflict with ours.

I see they allow all flights to 1500 feet but don't see where I can find any info on FAA COA/Waiver. I do see notes that flights over this altitude require approval by TF Green but it's not clear what that means in practice.

I'm split between going to St Albans, VT for the higher waiver or staying close and living with the lower ceiling (and less walking). St Albans is also looking windier than RI, which could mean even more walking with higher flights.

Curious about RIMRA - they got in touch with me yesterday about the donation I ended up making to the Spadafora Memorial Fund. The person who emailed me said I could bring it to the launch they have on the 18th. As for permission from T.F. Green airport, I thought that that would be more under a FAA waiver, not permission directly from the airport. With RI being such a small state, I don’t think RIMRA would ever get a high altitude waiver from the FAA because flight patterns in and out of T.F. Green basically cover all of RI.

To close the loop here - the club coordinates directly with the Air Traffic Control if they want to launch over 1500ft (they have someone to call in a request). It seemed to work ok for launches that day. If you're under 1500 there's no need to call in the flight (all regular safety rules followed).

Independent of the altitude questions, despite a slight breeze I don't think I saw a single rocket go into the trees but I could have missed one. The field is deceivingly large.