Black Rock - Fireballs 98

August 1, 1998
Black Rock Dry Lake, Nevada

Fireballs 98 (or just "Balls 98" as it's commonly abbreviated) is an annual event for test flights of experimental rocket motors used in high-power rocketry (HPR). This was my first trip to Black Rock Dry Lake. I only have pictures from the afternoon of Saturday, August 1 because I made it a day trip while visiting my brother in Sparks, Nevada, which is about 2 hours from the launch site.

For more information about HPR in Northern California and Northern Nevada, see the AEROPAC home page.

Note: having been back to Black Rock many times since this trip, I should point out some things in this trip which I have since learned were not the right thing to do at Black Rock...

I went on the playa alone without anyone knowing where to look for me.
I went on the playa without a GPS.

However, some things I did right in spite of my lack of experience at the time...

I carried a mobile Ham Radio and could have called for help if I had needed to. (There is no cell phone service for 80 miles at Black Rock. Ham Radio and satellite phones are the only ways to call out.)
After entering the playa, I stopped the vehicle for a moment to look back and study the terrain around the 12-mile entrance to the playa. I often took looks to make sure I could still find it. This made it possible to just drive back to it from anywhere.
I brought plenty of water and snacks.
I brought a hat and sunblock.
I drove in 4-wheel drive all the time on the playa. This gave me extra time to react and turn away when I began to run into a muddy spot which was between the JP Aerospace and AeroPAC sites.
My vehicle was in good mechanical condition.

The "California High Power Rockets" group booth.

Two British rocketeers a looooong way from home. You can see their flag on one of the guy wires for the canopy. Their rocket is at the bottom of the photo.

This father and son duo said that while I was taking pictures, they wanted to show that everyone else is taking all the rockets much too seriously. These had to be the hottest rockets at the event. ;-)

A high-power rocket launches from a distant launch pad. One of the guys walking back from setting up a different pad conveniently provides some scale for the photo.

Same rocket... We're now looking almost straight up. It went waaaaay up there. Nice flight!

A look down the flight line.

You can barely see the rocket coming down via parachute in this one...

"The mushroom" - a friendly group of rocketeers from Portland, Oregon. The base of the mushroom is a surplus Army communications trailer, complete with a VCR/TV, ethernet hub and other stuff powered by a generator (not shown in the photo.) Four poles hold up the parachute covering for shade. Even though at first glance you'd think black is not the best color for shade in the desert because of absorption of heat, there was so much volume for air flow under it that it worked fine.
I later found out this group is PSAS, the Portland State Aerospace Society. Here are their pictures from the 8/1-2 launch.

Another launch... the rocket is relatively tiny compared to its black smoke trail. The different color is due to a different composition of fuel.

Another rocket with a black smoke trail.

Whoops! Something went wrong here. This rocket popped it's chute just after liftoff. It should have gone much higher and coasted after engine burnout before ejecting the chute.

A distant launch...

...and a very nearby landing.

A good launch...

Another good launch...

A good view of an ascent with a dark smoke trail.

Too close for comfort!!! This is where that rocket landed. My truck is just behind the car - I was backing up out of the way when this rocket came down.

A very nice, straight ascent by a rocket with an N motor. "It went dattaway" and it didn't come back.

Some residents of the nearby town of Gerlach dropped in with their "perfect desert vehicle" (a name given to it by the Oregonian group :-) to see who's using the lakebed this weekend. They're used to the rocketry groups being there.

The exposure's not quite right on this photo but you can see some of what it looks like to drive around on the playa (dry lakebed). The mountains ahead are 15-20 miles away.

Again a little overexposed... The pickup truck ahead of me is the US Bureau of Land Management (the landlord of Black Rock Dry Lake.) Usually these guys are just making sure the users all clean up after themselves. But I heard that this day they were playing taxi for FAA reps evaluating the site for an airspace waiver for amateur space launch attempts. The group of tents and parked vehicles ahead is JP Aerospace, a non-profit research group from Sacramento and a competitor for the CATS (cheap access to space) Prize. They brought Sacramento Channel 10's news crew along with them.

The JP Aerospace computer and Amateur Radio ground station.
(I didn't attempt to get close views of their equipment since at the time I was with ERPS, another group that was competing for the CATS Prize. All these photos were views JPA approved for web posting.)

JP Aerospace's flight gear, placed at a distance to test telemetry reception.

The main cluster of JP Aerospace's tents. The one in the middle was the engineering tent where their rocket was being worked on. I did not attempt to get a closer view than this since I'm with a competing group.

A better exposure on this photo shows more of what it's like to drive on the desert playa. There are a lot of tire tracks in this photo.

More playa driving...

Back at the Fireballs 8 flight line... By this time, it's past 4PM and the FAA airspace waiver for the launches has expired for the day. Everyone is beginning to settle in for the evening.

One of the groups there opened a trailer, pulled out an ultralight autogyro and went flying around.

More of the autogyro in flight...

More of the autogyro in flight...

...and on the ground.

Another shot of the autogyro on the ground, with some spectators. Everyone really got a kick out of watching this guy fly around. (Though I'm a little leary of ultralights, prefering something more sturdy like a Cessna or Piper aircraft.)

Another shot of the autogyro... This one is mainly to show a different angle of the surrounding terrain.

An eastbound view up the flight line.

Some of the booths at the central area of the flight line...

Now that's a big rocket! The owner said it was just on display here but was going to be launched the following weekend at LDRS in Utah.

Lots of canopies and rockets...

More big rockets...

Yup. This is what it takes to survive in the desert. ;-)

One rocketeer applying duct tape to a rocket. Hmmm...

Looking back westbound at the rest of the flightline from the "mushroom".

One more shot of the "mushroom" at the far east end of the flight line as preparations for the evening begin. The tripod in the left foreground was to hold a telescope (cylinder somewhat behind it) which undoubtedly must have gotten plenty of use after dark that evening.

Back up to Ian's Black Rock Pictures page

	The "California High Power Rockets" group booth.
	Two British rocketeers a looooong way from home. You can see their flag on one of the guy wires for the canopy. Their rocket is at the bottom of the photo.
	This father and son duo said that while I was taking pictures, they wanted to show that everyone else is taking all the rockets much too seriously. These had to be the hottest rockets at the event. ;-)
	A high-power rocket launches from a distant launch pad. One of the guys walking back from setting up a different pad conveniently provides some scale for the photo.
	Same rocket... We're now looking almost straight up. It went waaaaay up there. Nice flight!
	A look down the flight line.
	You can barely see the rocket coming down via parachute in this one...
	"The mushroom" - a friendly group of rocketeers from Portland, Oregon. The base of the mushroom is a surplus Army communications trailer, complete with a VCR/TV, ethernet hub and other stuff powered by a generator (not shown in the photo.) Four poles hold up the parachute covering for shade. Even though at first glance you'd think black is not the best color for shade in the desert because of absorption of heat, there was so much volume for air flow under it that it worked fine. I later found out this group is PSAS, the Portland State Aerospace Society. Here are their pictures from the 8/1-2 launch.
	Another launch... the rocket is relatively tiny compared to its black smoke trail. The different color is due to a different composition of fuel.
	Another rocket with a black smoke trail.
	Whoops! Something went wrong here. This rocket popped it's chute just after liftoff. It should have gone much higher and coasted after engine burnout before ejecting the chute.
	A distant launch...
	...and a very nearby landing.
	A good launch...
	Another good launch...
	A good view of an ascent with a dark smoke trail.
	Too close for comfort!!! This is where that rocket landed. My truck is just behind the car - I was backing up out of the way when this rocket came down.
	A very nice, straight ascent by a rocket with an N motor. "It went dattaway" and it didn't come back.
	Some residents of the nearby town of Gerlach dropped in with their "perfect desert vehicle" (a name given to it by the Oregonian group :-) to see who's using the lakebed this weekend. They're used to the rocketry groups being there.
	The exposure's not quite right on this photo but you can see some of what it looks like to drive around on the playa (dry lakebed). The mountains ahead are 15-20 miles away.
	Again a little overexposed... The pickup truck ahead of me is the US Bureau of Land Management (the landlord of Black Rock Dry Lake.) Usually these guys are just making sure the users all clean up after themselves. But I heard that this day they were playing taxi for FAA reps evaluating the site for an airspace waiver for amateur space launch attempts. The group of tents and parked vehicles ahead is JP Aerospace, a non-profit research group from Sacramento and a competitor for the CATS (cheap access to space) Prize. They brought Sacramento Channel 10's news crew along with them.
	The JP Aerospace computer and Amateur Radio ground station. (I didn't attempt to get close views of their equipment since at the time I was with ERPS, another group that was competing for the CATS Prize. All these photos were views JPA approved for web posting.)
	JP Aerospace's flight gear, placed at a distance to test telemetry reception.
	The main cluster of JP Aerospace's tents. The one in the middle was the engineering tent where their rocket was being worked on. I did not attempt to get a closer view than this since I'm with a competing group.
	A better exposure on this photo shows more of what it's like to drive on the desert playa. There are a lot of tire tracks in this photo.
	More playa driving...
	Back at the Fireballs 8 flight line... By this time, it's past 4PM and the FAA airspace waiver for the launches has expired for the day. Everyone is beginning to settle in for the evening.
	One of the groups there opened a trailer, pulled out an ultralight autogyro and went flying around.
	More of the autogyro in flight...
	More of the autogyro in flight...
	...and on the ground.
	Another shot of the autogyro on the ground, with some spectators. Everyone really got a kick out of watching this guy fly around. (Though I'm a little leary of ultralights, prefering something more sturdy like a Cessna or Piper aircraft.)
	Another shot of the autogyro... This one is mainly to show a different angle of the surrounding terrain.
	An eastbound view up the flight line.
	Some of the booths at the central area of the flight line...
	Now that's a big rocket! The owner said it was just on display here but was going to be launched the following weekend at LDRS in Utah.
	Lots of canopies and rockets...
	More big rockets...
	Yup. This is what it takes to survive in the desert. ;-)
	One rocketeer applying duct tape to a rocket. Hmmm...
	Looking back westbound at the rest of the flightline from the "mushroom".
	One more shot of the "mushroom" at the far east end of the flight line as preparations for the evening begin. The tripod in the left foreground was to hold a telescope (cylinder somewhat behind it) which undoubtedly must have gotten plenty of use after dark that evening.