80th Anniversary of the Reaction Research Society

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by Dave Nordling, President, RRS.ORG

Today, January 6, 2023 marks the 80th anniversary of the Reaction Research Society.

Founded in 1943 by George James, this small club of young boys gathered in Glendale to study and conduct experiments in reaction propulsion. It all began with a child’s chemistry set that included zinc and sulfur powder as a demonstration of exothermic reactions. This would lead to rockets and newer propellants and ever increasingly complicated experiments in the remote northern areas of Los Angeles from Mint Canyon to Rosamond to our present location east of Koehn Dry Lake. Many members of the Reaction Research Society have pursued professional aerospace careers making important contributions to the field.

In the war years of the 1940’s, rocketry was more the subject of science fiction and speculation than the robust science it is today in the early 21st century. Our society has seen eight decades of growth as a collective group of enthusiasts and colleagues supporting research and offering shared testing spaces while remaining dedicated to responsible projects and scientific progress. It is with pride that we share this milestone with the public on a bold new year of launch, facility improvement and looking forward to the future.

Photo credit: Mani Suri

Our month meetings are held at 7:30pm on the second Friday of each month by teleconference and in person at the front office of the Compton/Woodley Airport on Alondra Blvd. in Compton. For details, contact the RRS secretary.

secretary@rrs.org

MTA launch event, 2022-12-17

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by Dave Nordling, President, RRS.ORG

The RRS held our last launch event of 2022 on Saturday, December 17th. Wolfram Blume brought out the next build of the Gas Guzzler two-stage rocket. I was the pyro-op in charge and RRS member Joe Dominguez was my apprentice.

It was a flight test of Wolfram’s third rebuild of this complex system. The ramjet upper stage was empty for this flight test to demonstrate the rebuilt design would work well enough before proceeding with a fueled flight test of the ramjet.

Wolfram explains the stages and the integration
The Gas Guzzler is loaded and ready for flight.

The integration of the stages and mounting on the 1515 launch rail worked perfectly. The booster with an L-motor powered the vehicle on a stable trajectory under nearly zero wind conditions. Stage separation was clean and the drogue chute was seen deployed.

Booster stuck in the sand with the front end crushed.

The booster recovery failed to deploy and the main chute on the ramjet also failed. Both stages were lost but recovered less than 100 yards from the launch rail. The drogue chute was ripped clean and found downrange.

Wolfram has spare parts already made, but another launch may require at least another month before a new vehicle is ready. He must also study the wreckage and flight data to find the problems and how best to correct them.

Old anchors extracted by primitive but effective means
Patched holes finished.

The event was also used to fix the new horizontal mounting points. Four of the new 3/4-10 female anchors in the regular 7-by-4 pattern put in by USC RPL this year had problems. Two holes were blocked by old anchors so we spent the afternoon chipping them out. With a quart-sized plastic bucket and some small bits of gravel, the holes were patched with fresh concrete and left to cure until the next event in a month or so. The other two holes will be worked at the next event.

The event also continued the work on the restroom facility. The plumbing, pumps and electrical systems need work. The project will continue into January until its completion.

With the last hour of daylight, we started the stick welding of the missing mounting plate. Joe used the portable welding generator to get the plate in place, but multiple passes would be required to finish. We ran out of daylight before completing the job.

December 2022 meeting

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by Dave Nordling, President, RRS.ORG

The RRS held it’s last meeting of 2022 on December 9th at the front office of the Compton/Woodley Airport. After some consideration, the society voted to make this site our permanent meeting location. Our teleconference feature will also remain which has helped us through the pandemic and connect our members living or traveling far away.

The newly elected officers for next year, 2023, were announced:

Dave Nordling, President

Frank Miuccio, Vice President

Joel Cool-Panama, Secretary

Larry Hoffing, Treasurer

The society thanks Keith Yoerg for his two years of service as our secretary. We welcome Joel Cool-Panama as our new secretary starting January 1, 2023.

The society also would like to thank Drew Cortopassi for serving as our election chairman this year.

The Dosa Building, new firehouse and the restroom facilities.

Past events were reviewed including the USC RPL static fire and the work event on December 4th. Reports on these events have been posted.

Jay Miller (left) of Welding Services Inc. explains the naming convention for welding rods to RRS member, Mohammed Daya (with helmet). His son, Abdullah, new member to the society stands behind him.

The welding class in Vista was also a big success as we learned GMAW, MIG and TIG types of welding.. The society has agreed to buy a pair of better welding helmets.

We had two people join the society as associate members, Michael Rouleau and Abdullah Daya. We welcome them to the society.

Future events including a launch event on December 17th were discussed. An event on January 14th is in discussion as we may have a visitor that Saturday. Restroom construction will likely continue into January.

The executive council is working to complete the final draft of the Constitution. Many improvements have been made and it will be going out to the voting membership before year’s end for a 2/3rd’s ratification vote. Drew Cortopassi agreed to be our election chairman for this special vote. Voting will close in 45 days after submission to the voting membership which will be late January to early February 2023. Results to be announced at the February 10, 2023, meeting.

The new website for the RRS is still in work. Frank Miuccio continues to work with our webmaster. No date for its launch yet.

Our 80th anniversary as a society is on January 6th, 2023. We hope to formally announce our next symposium at the next meeting.

Next meeting will be January 13th, 2023, at the front office of the Compton/Woodley Airport.