MTA work event, 2022-10–01

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by Dave Nordling, President, RRS.ORG

In the cooler temperatures of October, the society restarted our build efforts on the restroom container. It was great to have the support of several members including Dimitri Timohovich, Waldo Stakes and former president, Osvaldo Tarditti. We were able to make significant gains on the exterior plumbing connecting the water tanks and begin the heavier aspects of the interior plumbing for the toilets.

Setting up for a day of building at the MTA restroom
Thanks to Manny Marquez and his dad for helping with the effort.
Waldo and Osvaldo change out tools for the interior work.
Checking the spacing of things.
A lot more work is ahead of us.

We charged the water tanks with just a few hundred gallons in each to verify no leaks in the new header plumbing. We’ll bring more in later trips. We will need to meet at least a couple more times. Next build event is planned for November 6th. Our goal is to get an operational toilet, urinal and sink by year’s end. This much desired improvement remains our top priority.

MTA Firing Event, 2022-09-10

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by Dave Nordling, President, Reaction Research Society

The University of Southern California (USC) Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (RPL) conducted a series of six propellant sample burns for characterizing their latest mixture. I was the pyrotechnic operator in charge for that day. New member and former USC RPL student, Michael Rouleau, was my apprentice that day.

Careful installation of the grains.

Testing took place in the horizontal configuration on our repaired pad with the new 3/4” female pattern using a load cell and chamber pressure transmitters reading from the bulkhead in a modular nozzle can configuration.

USC RPL’s ”Kiwi” subscale propellant grain testing rig.

USC RPL has had several motor failures in recent times which has led this year’s team to try a better known and safer recipe. COVID-19 played a role in creating a knowledge gap. This year’s team hopes to reclaim a success when the full static fire motor is tested at the RRS MTA in a little more than a month.

One of six successful grain firings.

September 2022 meeting

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by Keith Yoerg, Secretary, RRS.ORG

The Reaction Research Society held our monthly meeting on September 9th. It was the first in-person meeting in 31 months We met at the front office of the Compton/Woodley Airport at our usual starting time of 7:30pm. This was a new location for us and we are grateful to the staff of Los Angeles County for their hospitality.

We still held our teleconference which continues to allow our members living far from the city to join us. We will stay at this location for the next two more meetings to decide if this will be our permanent location.

September meeting agenda

  1. Review of recent MTA/rocket events:
  2. Upcoming MTA events
    • Bathroom work to continue this month
    • New concrete launch pad
    • USC RPL testing campaign
  3. Catching-up in person

This is a placeholder until the full meeting minutes can be transferred.

Our next meeting will be on October 14 at the same location at the front office of the Compton/Woodley Airport. We will meet every 2nd Friday of each month. Contact the RRS secretary for information.