Launching, though fun, is perhaps always the most dangerous part of the competition. Necessary precautions should always be taken to ensure no one gets hurt, and that the fun will not be spoiled!
Tip 1: Bring Dog BARf
“Dog Barf”, or just burnt up newspaper, is an insulation substance for your rocket. It is just absorbing all the fume and exhaust from your motor when it ignites so that your rocket will not set on fire and slowly burn away. They can often be purchased at your local Hardware Stores such as Home Depot or Lowe’s as cellulose roof insulation. You can also buy it from Rocketry Works here.
Tip 2: Check Weather
Launch sites are often out in the middle of “no where”, taking hours to drive to and back. Because of this, it’s often best to check the weather a few days before a scheduled launch. Heavy wind might die down, but rain may ruin everything. Especially for launch sites that have muddy areas or are near the desert, the rain can make it completely futile and impossible to drive into a launch site.
When it’s around the rainy season, our team likes to have two launch sites in mind just in case one site becomes un-accessible for more than a month. Below are the two sites we like to go to.
The American Rocketry Challenge 