[roc-chat] Re: New 'mass launch' rules
- From: Allen H Farrington <allen.farrington@xxxxxx>
- To: roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:01:05 -0700
I've been focused on NFPA 1127 (High-Power), where the rule is not altitude
based. I agree that the change is silly for Model Rockets.
Allen
On Apr 20, 2012, at 8:56 PM, Allen Farrington wrote:
> Well, I'll go back and review this.
>
> Allen
> Terseness and mis-spelling courtesy of my iPhone
>
> On Apr 20, 2012, at 7:46 PM, David Erbas-White <derbas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> On 4/20/2012 6:42 PM, Allen H Farrington wrote:
>>>
>>> 3) Safe Launch Distance for Spectators and Participants
>>> This is the one that is being modified. There are defined distances in both
>>> NFPA 1122 and 1127 for how far you have to be from a launch pad when you
>>> ignite the motor. This distance ranges from 15 feet to nearly 1500 feet
>>> depending on impulse. For complex rockets, the distances are "one impulse
>>> level higher" if you look at the table. This works out to be about 1.5
>>> times. Since ROC uses a range layout that allows folks to be at one set of
>>> pads while the other are launching, we have a range layout that
>>> accommodates these distances. (except for the aforementioned M-to-M, 2
>>> stage, Mass Launch). In any case, the absolute maximum distance required
>>> for any combination in CA is about 1/2 a mile (2250 ft). Other states allow
>>> larger impulses and therefore their ranges might be larger.
>>>
>>
>> Allen,
>>
>> First, a TREMENDOUS thanks for all that you and the rest of the board are
>> doing for ROC.
>>
>> Second, here is the exact wording of the new safety code (i.e., the wording
>> of the change):
>>
>> "When conducting a simultaneous launch of more than ten rockets I will
>> observe a safe distance of 1.5 times the maximum expected altitude of any
>> launched rocket."
>>
>> In the course of the discussions on the NAR group, and apparently as part of
>> NFPA as well, this DOES mean that (at least for model rockets), that rather
>> than being 15 feet away from a launch of a single Alpha, one would have to
>> be 1.5 times the distance of the maximum expected ALTITUDE (not the previous
>> safety distance) for a launch of more than ten rockets.
>>
>> Note that this would affect some of our current activities, even with some
>> of the sparsely attended launches. We sometimes launch the entire front row
>> if we're getting backed up -- this rule will now prevent this from being
>> possible (though we could launch up to ten rockets at a time).
>>
>> David Erbas-White
>>
>>
>> --
>> 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
>
--
ROC-Chat mailing list
roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
//www.freelists.org/list/roc-chat
Other related posts:
