NARAM 2000 WAIVER ANNOUNCEMENT - 6/29/2000
After three weeks of unsuccessful negotiations with the FAA, I regretfully must inform all NAR members and NARAM 2000 attendees that the FAA has denied our waiver application for NARAM 2000.
BACKGROUND:
The NARAM 2000 launch site is located just outside of Canon City, CO on
land owned by Vernon Estes. The location is also within 5 miles of the
Fremont County airport. NARAM 2000 Contest Director Ken Mizoi and the
NARAM 2000 organizing committee were well aware of this from the early
planning stages of NARAM 2000, over a year ago. As part of their
preparation, they contacted Dick Baker, the Fremont County Airport
Manager and also Vern Estes, who is a member of the Fremont County
Airport Advisor Board. The NARAM organizers were assured there would be
no problems. Ken also applied for AND received a waiver to 10,000 feet
for a launch last year on the NARAM 2000 site. This was done partly to
insure that a waiver could indeed be obtained for this location, and it
was. The waiver process was pretty much routine and contact with the FAA
office in Denver as part of the process gave no indications of any
concerns on their part.
Note: This spring, during the NARAM 2000 planning process, the altitude limit for NARAM was lowered to 6000 feet. This was done to insure compliance with NFPA 1127. Route 67 borders the launch site on one side and the traffic on the road is above the 2 car per hour limit, so the altitude limit was reduced for this reason. It was not an FAA limitation.
CURRENT EVENTS:
In early June, Ken received a phone call from the Seattle office of the
FAA. The nature of the call was to inform Ken that the waiver
application for NARAM 2000 was denied. The reason cited was that the
launch location was within 5 miles of the Fremont County airport. This
obviously came as a big surprise in that a) the Fremont County airport
was fully aware of our activities and supported them, and b) we had
successfully obtained a waiver to 10,000 feet for a launch last year.
That waiver had apparently been issued from the Denver office. A change
in procedures from 1999 to 2000 had the waiver application now going to
the regional office in Seattle and the FAA representative there denied
it.
For the past three weeks, Ken has been working with the FAA and the Fremont County airport to try to obtain some type of waiver to allow HPR flights. As a minimum, Ken tried to have some limited launch windows during times when the airport traffic was lightest. In particular, we sought to do this on the weekend to allowed HPR flights to be made at least on a limited basis. The FAA office in Seattle would not budge. In a final effort to secure a NARAM waiver, NAR President Mark Bundick called his contacts in the Washington DC FAA offices. While that contact resulted in Mark having review of the proposed waiver with Jim Lambert of the FAA office in Seattle, the FAA simply would not grant a waiver for a launch within 5 miles of the Fremont airport. They cited parachute jumping, glider towing, and glider operations conducted on the airport along VFR (visual flight rules) traffic traversing the airspace.
So the bottom line is, in spite of the best efforts of Ken and Bunny, there will be no waiver at NARAM 2000. Launches will be limited to 1500 grams and 125 grams of propellant. Note that this does allow for limited HPR flying such as H128 and H180 reloads in lighter rockets (<1500 grams). Level 1 certifications can be made if they meet the LMR requirements.
MOVING FORWARD:
I know what a disappointment this news is to many of you. I've talked to
a number of people who were looking forward to flying HPR at
"Estesland", as was I. Unfortunately, the news of the waiver being
denied came too late for the NARAM committee to consider moving NARAM to
another launch site. With little over a month to go, we simply have
made too many plans and commitments for accommodations, equipment
rentals, banquet facilities, etc. at the present location. To move NARAM
at this late date is simply too difficult a task. So, we are asking you
to come anyway and have a good time. The sport range will be open and
all model rocket and large model rocket flights are welcome. This change
will have minimal impact on the NARAM competition or the contest range.
In closing, having worked with them for the past 12 months, I can assure you that Ken and the NARAM 2000 committee have worked, and are continuing to work, very hard to provide a high quality national meet. Don't miss out on the fun and activities that are unique and special to NARAM, and in particular, this NARAM.
As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
Dan Wolf
NAR National Events Chair