VOLUNTEER JOB DESCRIPTIONS, MATERIALS LISTS, AND GUIDANCE

Volunteers going on shift should report to their scheduled slot +/- 15 minutes prior to the start time in order to overlap the volunteer going off-shift. Volunteers going off-shift should stay and train the new volunteer until they “get the hang of it” and can handle the job by themselves. If there is any concern about whether you or another volunteer is up to the job, ask for assistance from the relevant supervisor.

Most positions have a description listed below.  The Mission Objective describes the intended outcome of the position. Procedures, duties, and equipment lists are there to support the volunteer in achieving the mission objective. Each post or job has a designated supervisor for the station. Questions or concerns may be directed to the relevant supervisor or the Event Director.

 

REGISTRATION / HOSPITALITY

Supervisor: STEVE COLE

Mission Objective: Make attendees feel welcome and valued. Check-in or register attendees. Provide information and hospitality. Stay organized. Accept payments. Project a sense of friendliness, organization, safety and professionalism. Take time with new rocketeers.

Procedure: When an attendee approaches the table, greet them warmly and with a smile. Respond to their request or inquiry in a positive way. For fliers, find them on the roster, collect the items they have registered/paid for, and present these items to them while describing what they are getting. Be friendly, swift, and efficient. Do not treat this as an “assembly line”. When a flier contacts you, stay with them throughout their entire check-in experience plus any additional help if required.

Example:

Hi Mr. Jones. Welcome to NSL. Glad you are here. May I see your NAR membership card and ID please?

• Match card to name on roster and ID.
• Match the lanyard/name tag to the card and the roster.
  • Confirm HPR Level matches membership card and pre-printed lanyard.
  • NOTE: Attendees must have a current NAR or TRA membership card in order to receive a Flier’s name badge. Exceptions are made for local youth / take-it/fly-it
• Collect their items. Confirm their HPR Level, volunteer status, parking/camping, etc.
• Collect any relevant fees.
• Go through everything you are issuing to them one item at a time. Make sure they have it all.
• Highlight the Safety Briefing protocol, and explain.
• Highlight the process for non-nominal flights, and explain.
• Check their name off of the roster.
• Confirm their volunteer slot with them. All fliers must take one shift minimum. Generally discourage re-scheduling volunteer slots, but use your discretion. Invite them to take any open shifts.
• Ask if they have any questions. Do your best to accommodate any requests outside of the registration rules, fees, and memberships.
• If the flier needs to register, use a registration form and collect Cash or Check payment. Checks should be made out to the San Luis Valley Rocketeers.
• If the flier needs to sign up for the NAR, use a NAR registration form and collect Cash or Check payment, separately.
• Fold up payment into their registration forms so that the registration and the payment stay together. The treasurer and secretary will forward membership forms and payments to NAR HQ after the event.

Equipment list: Smile, Chair, Water, Sunscreen, All registration packets, Cash box, receipt book, box of pens pencils and sharpies, Notepads, Printed Pre-Registration roster, Blank registration forms, Blank name tags, lanyards, Event Schedule, Volunteer schedule

 

SAFETY CHECK / RSO

Supervisor: STEVE LUBLINER

Mission Objective: Promote safety by examining rockets to make sure they are flight worthy. Help coordinate HPR testing / certification needs.

Procedure:

1. Confirm that the flier is certified to fly the rocket presented for inspection. See GOVERNING SAFETY REGULATIONS and GENERAL RULES.
2. Check the flier’s lanyard/badge. Handwritten badges must have a current card from the NAR, TRA, or CAR.
3. Confirm that the flier has attended a Safety Briefing.
4. Remind the flier that safety check is that – a check, and that ultimate responsibility lies with the flier of record.
5. Remind the flier that any non-nominal flights of L1 or higher rockets must come back to Safety Check for a post-mortem.
6. Inspect and verify that:
   1. Verify that the high power rocket igniters are not installed in the motor(s) and the electronics are not armed.
   2. If radio control is being used, ask what frequency is being used.  For systems other than 2.4 GHz need to verify frequencies are deconflicted- if in doubt, call for help from the RSO.
   3. Motor is mounted and retained correctly.
   4. Fins, body connections, nose cone, and all other parts are secured properly- verify the use of shear pins on HPR rockets as friction fits can fail.
   5. Motor is a certified motor and will provide sufficient thrust for the rocket weight (we will look for a 5:1 thrust to weight ratio at launch), that the delay and electronic configuration is correct to ensure safe flight.
   6. Verify stability. The rocket should exhibit 2 Calibers of static stability. Marginal stability should be verified either by evidence of prior successful flights or by verification with a second party such as the RSO.
   7. Verify that the rocket will not exceed the waiver.  Be prepared to state the coefficient of drag used for simulations or calculations.  Be prepared to state the launch altitude used for calculations (Alamosa site altitude is 7600 feet MSL).  Flights will be limited to 90% of the waiver altitude without extensive flight performance documentation.
   8. Determine if the recovery system will operate properly. Proper delay, fresh batteries, cone or section separation friction or pins are correct.
   9. Determine if this is a heads up flight:
      1. First flight of a unique rocket?
      2. Is the rocket marginal in any aspect?
      3. Multiple stages or clusters?
   10. Confirm that the flight data card is fully and correctly filled out
   11. Sign the card if all conditions are satisfactorily met.
7. If the rocketeer is a NEW rocketeer:
   1. Describe / explain what you are doing and why.
   2. Provide extra customer service by carefully explaining what they should do next / where they should go, and what to expect.
   3. If convenient, alert Pad Assignment and Pad Helper to the new rocketeer.
   4. Make sure the flyer is using flame resistant wadding.
8. If the person wishes to take a HPR test, solicit help from any nearby event staff or the RSO.
9. Tell the rocketeer where to line up to wait for a pad.

Equipment List: Certified Motor List, Small Scale, Large Scale, 2-way radio tuned to LCO channel, Fire Extinguisher, Water, Clipboard and notepad, Launch Cards, Pens and Pencils, knife, tape, sandpaper, “superglue” and accelerator, HPR tests and related forms.

 

PAD MANAGER / SUPPORT

Supervisor: DENNIS PERRIN

Mission Objective: Coordinate with LCO. Assign Pads, keep flight cards organized, provide service, assistance, and support to individuals while they are loading their rockets. Advise rocketeers on launch rod tilt/alignment to prevent over-flying the camping area.

Duties and Procedure:

• Train your relief on the routine for one or two cycles.
• When your area of the range is safe/cold according to LCO, greet and collect fliers and their rockets from the queue.
• Assign the fliers to the pads, and point them toward the correct bank/array.
• Answer questions, provide guidance on how the launch system works.
• Enforce launch system safety and security including turning the relay boxes on and off.
• Organize the flight cards starting with the furthest- away pad first. Turn these into Launch Control when your area is loaded, and/or Launch Control is ready.
• Keep an eye on the “line”; work to expedite operations to keep the guest wait time to zero.
• Monitor mis-fires. Coordinate with LCO and relevant rocketeers to ensure safe repair or re-try.
• Recommend “tilt” to rods and rails to prevent rockets over-flying spectator areas.
• Pick up trash; monitor for smoke/fire.
• Maintain continuous open communication with LCO.
• Verify that rocket launch rails/rods are angled away from spectators and parking areas.

Equipment list: Hi-Viz Vest, Smile, servant’s heart, patience, Water, Sunscreen, Leatherman tool, masking tape, Scotch Brite, sandpaper, voltmeter, pens/pencils. 2-way radio tuned to Launch Control

 

LCO ASSIST / EXPEDITER

Supervisor: DENNIS PERRIN

Mission Objective: Coordinate between LCO, Pad Support, and other operations. Keep administrative and operational details out of the LCO’s way to ensure efficient, swift launching of rockets.

Duties and Procedure:

• Train your relief on the routine for one cycle
• Work with Pad Support/Managers. Accept incoming flight cards and ensure they are ordered logically.
• Monitor mis-fires and coordinate with Pad Support and LCO to ensure that the relevant rocketeer gains access to their rocket on the next attempt.
• Liaise with Hospitality regarding general announcements, to ensure that the timing of announcements does not delay rocket launch operations.

Equipment list: Hi-Viz Vest, Smile, servant’s heart, patience, Water, Sunscreen, Clip boards, pens/pencils, 2-way radio tuned to Launch Control

 

LAUNCH CONTROL OFFICER

Supervisor: DENNIS PERRIN

Mission Objective: Maintain safe, steady, smooth, continuous launch operations.

Duties and Procedure:

• Train your relief on the position for one cycle.
• Focus on launching. Work with the Pad Managers and Expediter to ensure safe and efficient launch area operations.
• Familiarize yourself with the launch control equipment and range layout.
• Receive flight cards from the Pad Manager or Expediter.
• Advise on which side of the range is Open or Closed / Hot vs Cold
• Safely and Expeditiously launch rockets. Halt operations for any unacceptable condition including but not limited to setbacks, weather, non-nominal flights, aircraft, personnel, etc.
• Once the rocket is safely off of the pad, hand off tracking to SPOTTER and proceed immediately to the next launch.
• Observe rocket trajectories that appear to be overflying parking and spectator areas.
• Keep chit-chat and editorializing to a minimum; focus on getting the next rocket off the pad.
• L1 or higher non-nominal flights: Alert the flier of record to bring their model to Safety Check after recovery. Turn over the relevant flight card to Safety Check for review and follow-up.

Equipment List: Smile, servant’s heart, patience, Hi-Viz Vest, Water Sunscreen, Sunglasses, hat, Pens and pencils, Clip board, binder clips, or similar tool for holding and organizing cards, 2-way radio on LCO channel, Air Horn, Binoculars

 

RANGE SPOTTER

Mission Objective: Promote event safety by monitoring each flight. Sound alarm if a flight is irregular and may present a hazard to attendees or property or if aircraft are overhead. Keep an eye out for irregular flight patterns so that the LCO can move quickly to the next launch. Promote swift launch operations by taking over rocket visual tracking from the LCO after each launch.

Procedure:

Scan for aircraft between flights. Watch each and every launch and monitor rocket’s flight for the LCO until you see a parachute or are otherwise satisfied that the flight will land safely, away from people or property. Spotters allow the LCO to move to the next launch right away.

• If an aircraft threatens to enter the flight operations area, alert the LCO to pause operations until the aircraft is clear. Use the binoculars to collect a tail number. Report tail number, date, time, and direction of travel to RSO and Event Director.
• Upon launch, track the rocket visually. In a clear voice announce “LCO, the spotter has the rocket”. Continue to track the rocket. Until you are convinced that the rocket flight trajectory is safe and that deployment is functioning as intended.
• If a rocket does not display a safe flight pattern, alert the LCO of an irregular flight so that they can pause operations i.e. “LCO, we do not have a recovery system deployment. The rocket is (location) and traveling (direction).
• IF a rocket threatens to come down on/over people, sound the horn and give a “heads up”, plus general location of rocket i.e. “Heads up over the parking area to the North”.
• Coordinate with LCO if flights seem to be coming down in/near parking or camping areas too often. This will trigger pad re-alignment.
• Use binoculars whenever possible to ensure a drogue/streamer/recovery system has been deployed. Do not use binoculars if the rocket is in/near the sun.
• Take a few minutes at the end of your shift to work with your replacement for a few launches to ensure that they are comfortable, settled in, and oriented on the equipment.
• Log any irregular flights on the notepad so that this info can be used to increase future safety. Ask the LCO to log and separate the launch card for later review.
• Remain hydrated.

Equipment list: Air horn or other alerting device, 2-way radio tuned to LCO channel, Chair, Water, Sunscreen, Sunglasses, Binoculars, hat, Clipboard and Notepad

 

FIRE SPOTTER

Mission Objective: Promote safety by monitoring the range for fire, smoke, or evidence thereof.  Sound alarm and respond to locations where there is evidence or threat of fire.

Procedure:

Watch each launch. Monitor the ground beneath the launch pad and visually scan for smoke or fire.

• If smoke or fire is detected, sound the alarm and alert LCO to halt launch operations.
• Advise parents/guardians of children to fall back a safe distance
• Proceed to the site after the LCO acknowledges the alert.
• Extinguish the fire.
• Ask the LCO to log and separate the launch card for later review if the fire threat is related to rocket malfunction.

Follow similar procedures for smoke or fires set by launch/engine failures, CATOS, and other flight irregularities.

Equipment List: Hi Viz Vest, Air horn or other alerting device, 2-way radio tuned to LCO channel, Fire Extinguisher, Shovel, Rake, Drinking Water, Sturdy footwear, Gloves, Sunscreen, Sunglasses, Binoculars, hat, Clipboard and notepad

 

RAFFLE TABLE

Mission Objective: Promote vendors who support our hobby. Generate revenue for the club to offset operating expenses.

Procedure:

• Check in with the Hospitality Director
• Make sure the raffle table is nicely displayed and set up.
• Promote the sale of raffle tickets.
• Every hour or so, take a few items up to the LCO to be raffled off. Wait until there is a break in the action so that raffle announcements don’t interfere with launch operations.
• Tape the relevant raffle ticket to its prize.
• Hand out prizes to people with matching tickets.