Media Information

The media are always welcome at rocket launches, and LDRS 26 is no exception. Rocketry is a fun, safe, educational hobby, and, as rocketeers, we always enjoy having the opportunity to share our passion for our hobby with an appreciative audience.

However, as with any event involving hundreds or thousands of people, there are a few basic rules that we must ask everyone, including the press, to follow, in order to maintain our exemplary safety record:

1. No non-essential personnel are allowed on the flight range. We will be launching hundreds of rockets every day, and to do so safely, we must maintain tight control of who is allowed onto the flight range, and where they are allowed to go while flight operations are underway. Flyers will be allowed out on the range to load or recover their rockets only when directed and/or escorted by a member of the event staff, and photographers will only be allowed onto the range with a press badge, which will be available for purchase on-site for a one-time fee of $25, after signing a liability release form.

2. Event staff are the ones with experience running a safe rocket launch; the general public, including reporters and photographers, are not. If an event staffer asks you to move further back, or directs you to a different area, please follow their instructions. Also, please pay attention to the posted signs, and to any announcements made over the public address system. We want this launch to be fun and safe for everyone, and we appreciate your cooperation in helping us to achieve that goal.

3. Flyers are generally quite willing to discuss their rockets and the hobby at almost any time, but we ask that you refrain from interrupting them while they are doing something requiring their full concentration, such as assembling a reloadable rocket motor, or wiring the parachute ejection charges to their rockets' altimeters or other electronic deployment devices.

4. If you hear someone call "Heads Up!", look up immediately. We do our best to try to ensure that rockets land out in the range, but occasionally something will go wrong, and a rocket will fly back in the wrong direction. "Heads Up!" is the universal "look up to make sure something isn't coming down on you" call, and it's your responsibility to make sure you get out of the way of anything that might be coming your way.

5. While rocketry is a very safe hobby (much safer than baseball, for instance), with almost no serious injuries in the near half-century that it's been around, there is always an element of risk involved when you throw something heavy high into the air. By attending LDRS, even as a spectator, you are doing so at your own risk, and you have a responsibility to be aware of your surroundings, to follow the posted rules and the instructions of the event staff, and to use common sense at all times.

What is LDRS?

LDRS is the annual "big event" for the Tripoli Rocketry Association, the hobby of high-power rocketry's premier national organization. Once a year, LDRS gives rocketry hobbyists from all around the world the opportunity to gather together and fly lots of rockets -- and the bigger and more extreme the projects, the better.

LDRS is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek acronym; it stands for "Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships", and the name aptly captures the extreme nature of the event: at LDRS, you'll see flights of some of the biggest, fastest, and just plain coolest rockets around. However, despite the name, there's no reason to panic. All launch activities are conducted with the safety of participants and spectators as the number one consideration, in accordance with an extensive safety code.

What is ROC?

There are few organizations that can effectively play host to an event of this size. However, July 2007 will mark the second time that the Rocketry Organization of California (ROC, website at http://www.rocstock.org) has hosted LDRS: the first time was in 2001, when ROC held LDRS 20 in Lucerne Valley, CA.

ROC is a Southern California-based prefecture (local club) of the Tripoli Rocketry Association. ROC is also one of the largest rocketry clubs in the world, with years of experience holding world-class rocketry events. Twice a year for the last 12 years, ROC has held "ROCstock", a three-day rocket launch event that attracts thousands of fliers and spectators.

What is TLV?

Tripoli Las Vegas is also a Tripoli Prefecture, based (unsurprisingly) in Las Vegas. Every year, TLV hosts a large regional launch -- Springfest -- at Jean Dry Lake. They are bringing their extensive local knowledge and experience, and a large number of volunteers, to LDRS to help ROC make this a launch to remember.

Where can I find more information?

Rick Dickinson is the Media Coordinator and Public Information Officer (PIO) for LDRS 26, and he will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Rick is an experienced high-power rocketry hobbyist, a long-time member of the Rocketry Organization of California, and currently serves as a Director on ROC's Board of Directors. During LDRS 26, feel free to ask someone at the Registration table to have Rick paged. Before or after LDRS 26, you can reach Rick by email at: rtd@notesguy.com

In the months leading up to LDRS 26, we will be updating this web site with further information, and adding links to other sites with more information on the hobby of high-power rocketry.