On 3/8/2014 2:33 PM, Ron McGough wrote: Seriously, Ron? Do you have a crystal ball handy?I drove two hours out to the lakebed on Wednesday afternoon. At that time, there was standing water in the road out to the launch site, and along the edges of 247 (I'll be happy to send you the photos).
Stepping onto what appeared to be the DRY spots, I would sink into the ground about an inch. Stepping into the MOIST spots, my shoes got stuck. I didn't bother stepping in the WET spots...
My judgement at the time was that by Friday afternoon/Saturday morning, it would be safe for cars, if they drove parallel to the main road in. I was unsure whether it would be safe enough for trucks/trailers.
Nobody could predict how much it would dry out, and I doubt if anyone would have been able to make a 'good' judgement call by going out on Thursday, either.
Lacking perfect fortune-telling ability, the BOD elected to err on the side of caution -- I'm disappointed as well, but I'm not going to kvetch about it.
BTW (and I haven't told anyone this until this message), when I was leaving the lakebed area, I had been careful to stay on the asphalt pad, but accidentally had one wheel slip off onto the muck and DID get stuck briefly with just one tire in! So, two days prior to folks coming out, the lakebed was simply NOT DRIVABLE.
While I appreciate folks that seem capable of 20-20 hindsight, and folks can argue all day long as to whether they would have come out if it was even only a 10% chance of being able to use the lakebed, the BOD has responsibilities to everyone in toto.
David Erbas-WhiteP.S. In re-reading this I think some folks may get the idea that I'm on the BOD -- I'm not. I'm simply an interested rocketeer who took the time to drive for four hours during the middle of my work day in order to provide the FACTS about the status of the lakebed Wednesday afternoon, in order to let the BOD use that information to the best of their ability.
If its so nice then why was the ROC BOD so misinformed? I was looking forward to going up and flying a couple K hybrids but canceled when it was reported that the lake bed was still a lake.Ron McGough /Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID/ R Dierking <applerocketry@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Amy is a little disappointed because there's not enough wind for her kite. Clear and temp is 72F. One of the most pleasant days I've seen here. Sent from my iPhoneOn Mar 8, 2014, at 1:59 PM, "R Dierking" <applerocketry@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:> Lakebed is in excellent condition and weather is very nice. Tried to post earlier but didn't go through.> > Sent from my iPhone > -- > ROC-Chat mailing list > roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > //www.freelists.org/list/roc-chat > -- ROC-Chat mailing list roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/roc-chat