Edwards rocket test and "dream catcher"

Some KEDW notams. Subtract 8 to get local time.

Dream Catcher

KEDW EDWARDS AFB

L0874/10 - AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY WILL CONDUCT A ROCKET TURBO PUMP BURN SFCB5,000 FT AGL, UP AND OUT. 10 DEC 17:00 2010 UNTIL 11 DEC 02:00 2010. CREATED: 10 DEC 00:45 2010

L0873/10 - NASA DREAM CHASER OPS R2515/ALPHA CORRIDOR/BUCKHORN/WEST RANGE SFCB170. 10 DEC 19:45 2010 UNTIL 10 DEC 20:45 2010. CREATED: 10 DEC 00:44 2010 L0872/10 - NASA DREAM CHASER OPS R2515/ALPHA CORRIDOR/BUCKHORN/WEST RANGE SFCB170. 10 DEC 16:00 2010 UNTIL 10 DEC 17:00 2010. CREATED: 10 DEC 00:43 2010

L0871/10 - PREDATOR OPS R2515/FOUR CORNERS/EAST RANGE 080B150. 10 DEC 16:30 2010 UNTIL 10 DEC 20:30 2010. CREATED: 10 DEC 00:43 2010

L0870/10 - GLOBAL HAWK OPS R2515 SFCBFL620/R2508 FL400BFL600. 09 DEC 20:00 2010 UNTIL 10 DEC 22:00 2010. CREATED: 09 DEC 01:35 2010

L0864/10 - PREDATOR OPS R2515 SFCBFL230. 10 DEC 13:50 2010 UNTIL 10 DEC 14:20 2010. CREATED: 09 DEC 01:30 2010

reply to post by gariac


I guess it might just be late in the night for me...
but what do all those numbers mean...
are you saying they are gonna test that bad boy out??

reply to post by antibren


As I stated, you subtract 8 hours. Here is the first event:

10 dec 17:00 is 9AM on December 10th.
11 dec 2:00 is 5PM on December 10th.

If you subtract 8 and the number is negative, you need to add 24. During daylight savings, you subtract 7 hours.

Nearly all NOTAMs are in GMT. Once in a while the time will have a "L" next to the time to indicate local. The Nellis Red Flag NOTAMs are often done in local time because when they do them in GMT, they are often wrong!

SCFB is new to me. A quick google search didn't turn up an answer. AGL is Above Ground Level. The alternative would be MSL (mean sea level). FL is flight level. Multiply by 100 to get the actual level. BFL is Bellow Flight Level.

Edwards is a very progressive air base. They publish their flight manuals online.
EDW flight operations

I'm not a pilot, so take my translations with a bit of skepticism. Corrections welcome. I have this dream some geeky pilot will write a NOTAM to English translator.

Well I agree this would be a great flight to watch....

reply to post by antibren


The problem is most tests are done during the week. You have to make an effort to watch them, and you still might not see anything. Edwards did do one of their hypersonic tests on the weekend, though it was just their B52 carrying the test article under it's wing.

Nellis Green Flag exercises are done on the weekend. Often if air force reserves are involved, some operations are on the weekend.

Reading the NOTAMs can give you clues to interesting events, but it is a chore to wade through all the routine data to find the special events.

I find night exercises pretty entertaining, even though you only see lights in the sky. The key is to have a scanner running so you can understand the activity.

Getting back to Edwards, they have a P-16 trunk radio system. It is easily monitored with the right gear. These tests will generate radio traffic.

I have a bit of Edwards info here:
Edwards AFB

Like most of the website, it needs to be updated. Edwards added a 4th trunk radio site maybe two years ago. It doesn't seem to be used for anything, but I don't live in the area, so I don't get to monitor it often enough. This new trunk system has great coverage to the east, so it is my suspicion (and have no evidence to back this up) that the new system was added after the F22 crash out near the solar power station.

Anyway, you can learn a lot with a scanner and binoculars. Edwards must have an IFE (In flight emergency) on a daily basis. I parked on a hill north of North Base one morning and caught 3 IFEs in about 4 hours. Most IFEs don't lead to press reports unless the plane diverts to some civilian airport. IFEs last a while if they have to get a chase plane up to inspect the plane in trouble. [The plane can do a tower fly-by, but then it throws away valuable altitude.] Crash/rescue will roll. It is a reasonably big enough deal, even if routine. The pilots remain very calm under pressure, which is part of the job.

Wow seems like you got it down...
too see that space ship fly...
would be amazing...
but at the same time
they arent gonna launch this dreamcatcher eh?
more like fly it around like a normal airplane?

you got yourself a HD cam?

reply to post by antibren


I think Dream Catcher is more of a drop test.

Most of the time these events are so far away that video is useless. Telephoto lenses plus DSLR is the way to go.

reply to post by gariac


Good afternoon Gariac,

Always look forward to your threads

Was looking over at the NASA site regarding the Dream Chaser, and here is what their milestone chart says:

15. High Speed Launch of DC-2 from Ground Dec 10

Source

According to the NASA site, it looks like this is the last test for the DC-2, before they roll out the DC-3 sometime in March.

It was going to be a drop test of a scale model of the Dream Chaser from a helicopter. The drop was supposed to happen earlier in the week but there was no Range Safety Officer available. Since then, it has just been too windy.

reply to post by Shadowhawk


Pleading ignorance here, is it a plain vertical drop, or do they give it a bit of forward momentuim? Any idea how high they drop it? Choppers don't have much of a ceiling.

I imagine that there was some forward momentum. It is supposed to glide for a bit and then deploy a parachute for landing. The Sierra Nevada "Dream Chaser" lifting body is based on NASA Langley's proposed HL-20 which was based on the Soviet BOR-4 mini space plane. The "Dream Chaser" had a successful drop test last Thursday and a second drop test on Saturday during which the recovery chute failed to deploy resulting in a hard landing.