First Timers

Attendance at events hosted by the Rocketry Organization of California (ROC) is AT YOUR OWN RISK. Insurance to cover your rocketry activities is available as a benefit of membership in either the National Association of Rocketry or the Tripoli Rocketry Association. Please note that membership in ROC does NOT include insurance, or any assumption of liability on the part of ROC. ROC membership allows you to fly at all of our launches without paying the daily launch fees, and a few other membership benefits. All attendees at ROC events must check in at REGISTRATION at the launch and sign the ROC Agreement and Liability Release Form to indicate understanding and acceptance of the risk and liability. Spectators and flyers will be given a wristband to indicate that they have registered.

Start here: This page is for both first time spectators and seasoned rocket fliers that are joining us for a launch for the first time. If you haven’t been to one of our events at Lucerne yet, or need a refresher, there’s a bunch of important information below.

Our monthly events usually run for 7 or 8am to 11am-2pm, depending on the season and the weather. Everyone is encouraged to show up early.

Once you’ve found our launch site, find a place to park. The center, North/South aisle due north of the porta-potties is an emergency access corridor, as is the 100′ due South of the coned or roped off flight line. Depending on attendance, a couple of rows of cars usually form in the East/West direction. Find a space, understanding that your neighbors may have friends coming or tents they’re setting up and need more space than you’d find in a local mall parking lot.

Keep your head up! Rocketry is an inherently dangerous activity – objects often fall from the sky, sometimes at a very high speed. We have rules and procedures to make this activity safe for everyone as possible, but bad things can happen if the rules are not followed. Everyone onsite must understand and follow these rules to ensure safety:

  • Check in at Registration as soon as you arrive and sign the ROC Agreement and Liability Release Form to indicate understanding and acceptance of the risk and liability. We have copies on site-no need to find a printer yourself.
  • Pay attention! Every flight is potentially dangerous to you and your family. If the Launch Control Officer (LCO) yells “Heads up!” they mean it! If you see the incoming rocket, point at it so others can find it as well
  • Please stay behind the coned or roped flight line barrier, and please do not set up your chairs etc. at the barrier.
  • The safety zone extends 100′ south of the flight line. No sitting in chairs or on the ground, or operating wheeled vehicles (cars, ATVs, bicycles, tricycles, etc) in this area.
  • If the LCO announces a flight as a “Heads Up” flight, that means get on your feet and pay attention until the rocket’s recovery device deploys, or until the rocket is on/in the ground.
  • If you are away from the pad area and cannot hear the public address speakers, please tune your FM radio to 90.1 MHz to monitor LCO announcements.
  • Do not attempt to catch any rocket as it lands. Even a small rocket can cause an injury.
  • Do not pick-up or move any rocket that is not yours, unless you have the owner’s permission.
  • Park your car behind the line marked on the lakebed, and please do not park in any areas designated for vendors or for launch administration. If there are no lines marked (at some small monthly events) ensure you are 100′ south of the flight line and not in the center aisle between the LCO table and porta-potties.
  • RVs and motor homes must park in the second row or further south.
  • Please drive 3mph as you approach the launch area, and within the launch area. A vehicle moving any faster can raise a surprising amount of very annoying dust!
  • Please use only the provided toilet facilities (porta potties). Please do not throw trash into the porta potties! Human waste, toilet paper and sanitary products only please.
  • Please keep control of your trash and carry it off the lakebed when you leave.
  • Please keep your children, friends, and family under control and be sure they understand these rules.
  • You may pick up or move another fliers rocket that has landed only under the following conditions:
    • You have the owner’s permission to do so.
    • If you are a long distance away, and the rocket is undamaged, and no one appears to be looking for it, you may carefully bring it back to the registration table; if the rocket is damaged, please note the location and report it to the registration table.
    • If the rocket is being dragged by the wind, please carefully stop the rocket and place the parachute under its body tube or nose cone, and note the location and report it to the registration table
  • If you find a reloadable motor casing that has been ejected from a rocket, wait until it has cooled off and bring it back to the Registration table.
  • The use of drones, R/C aircraft, UAVs, RC Gliders and any similar non rocket powered flying device anywhere at the event at any time is expressly prohibited. This exclusion does not apply to rocket powered RC gliders that are flown from the range in accordance with the NAR Rocket Powered Glider Safety Code.