Tag Archives: LR101

August 2019 meeting

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by Dave Nordling, Secretary, RRS

The Reaction Research Society (RRS) held its monthly meeting on Friday, August 9, 2019, at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. We were glad to welcome a new member to the society, Drew Sherman. Frank mentioned that the latest educational event with LAPD CSP was going well and that we can expect the next launch event to take place on Saturday, September 21st.

Drew and Arthur Cortopassi attend the August 2019 meeting of the RRS

We began our meeting with the call to order ambien online and reading of the treasury report. This August meeting would try to catch up on topics intended for past meetings.

[1] MTA launch events since the last meeting

The first topic on the agenda was discussion of the recent launch events held at the MTA since our last meeting. The RRS hosted Operation Progress at the MTA on July 13th. The launch report for this last event with the LAPD CSP program has already been posted.

UCLA held stromectol over the counter its second of two high school rocket launch events at the RRS MTA on July 31st. This was supported by Osvaldo Tarditti and Larry Hoffing as the six teams flew and recovered egg payloads using model rockets with “G” sized commercial motors. The event was a great benefit to the young participants and a welcome change of pace as the RRS welcomes model rocketry and amateur rocketry alike.

UCLA supports high school rocketry, the RRS was glad to host two events at the MTA in July 2019.

RRS members, Jack Oswald and Cooper Eastwood, had a launch event at the RRS MTA on August 3rd, delayed 2 weeks from the original July 20th date. The “50 for 50” rocket was built to reach 50,000 feet on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Jack’s large solid motor was impressive as he and his family worked hard at the event to get his rocket ready for flight.

Jack’s mom carefully folds and stows the streamer payload which would be the first deployment after the booster reaches apogee somewhere near 50,000 feet. The Oswald family was a big part of making this flight possible and the vehicle integration went quite smoothly even clomid in the August summer heat of the Mojave Desert.

A last minute inclusion was a radio tracking package made by Friends of Amateur Rocketry (FAR) member, Joe Conway. Joe was kind enough to allow his tracker to fly in Jack’s rocket as his device was not operational. Our fellow amateur rocketry enthusiasts at FAR came over to assist in the launch and the RRS was glad to have their participation.

Jack’s rocket weighed in at over 82 lbs with 30 lbs of AP composite propellant in four Bates grains within his booster. With a team of four to six people, the booster and instrumented payload section were assembled and loaded into the rails.

Cooper Eastwood, Jack Oswald and Prof. Barsoum Kasparian (holding the booster igniter) inside the George Dosa building at the RRS MTA

Unfortunately, the “50 for 50” rocket flight was a failure and the booster exploded shortly after ignition https://evimaz.com/modafinil-without-prescription/. Based on the film footage, ignition of the motor was achieved and the rocket lifted about two to three feet within the rail before an over-pressure event ruptured the booster and destroyed a great deal of the launch rails. No one was injured in the firing, but there was a large amount of clean-up to be done. We were very thankful to all of our attendees for their attention to safety and assistance in carefully gathering for disposal of the unburned propellant scattered from the violent end of this rocket.

The 50 for 50 rocket just after ignition and lift-off. This is the last frame before the booster disappears into a cloud of debris and smoke shattering the launch rails into a twisted mess.

Given the extensive damage to the rails, refurbishment will be costly. The RRS is already assessing plans to replace the necessary parts to restore this large adjustable rail launcher very soon.

Initial frame taken from the observation bunker as the “50 for 50” booster shatters in the rails throwing the payload upward with the streamer and parachute coming out

Jack is preparing a report of his entire build processes and some theories regarding what happened and what could be done better. This report will be submitted to our membership, but Jack will be unable to present his findings in person as he will be leaving for his freshman year at MIT. Even in failure, it’s important to keep good records. The RRS is a scientific society which insists on good record-keeping and sharing knowledge to make each project https://www.elanmedspa.com/ambien-insomnia-treatment/ better than the last.

It was an amazing effort by a group so young. They had great support from many people and sponsoring organizations who donated money and resources to completing their rocket for this test. The RRS was proud to help our members achieve a great learning experience and in time, try again.

John Newman of FAR standing next to the damaged rail launcher examines an unburned grain fragment from the “50 for 50” booster.

Going back to the MTA launch event of July 13, Brian Johnson was able to present a summary of Kent Schwitkis’ trajectory analysis of the Compton Comet alpha rocket flown that day at the MTA event for Operation Progress and LAPD CSP. Kent did a thorough analysis of the optically measured positions of the alpha as it left the rails within the view of the footage taken. Using the video footage taken of their alpha fired from the RRS MTA box rail, careful scale measurement of key landmarks in the background, the software program can make reasonable estimates of the position, velocity and acceleration of the rocket as it is seen and timed frame by frame in the video.

Brian Johnson goes over the trajectory analysis based on video footage of the July 13 flight of the Compton alpha rocket. Kent Schwitkis performed this analysis using a physics software package which provided reasonably good results given the number of potential difficulties in using an optical measurement approach.
The trajectory data plotted in Excel showed a clean acceleration pattern which matched expectations from past testing of the alpha.

The optical measurement approach provided some direct confirmation about the starting acceleration (95 G’s) and burnout speed (200 m/sec) of the RRS standard alpha flown that day. Kent Schwitkis’ method has great potential. The best course of action would be to conduct further tests of this kind to get a larger data set to confirm the statistical accuracy and variation between similar alpha rockets flown. The society will have this opportunity at the next event planned for September 21st.

[2] RRS standard liquid and the TAM project

Richard Garcia, our director of research, has created a prototype design for a simple liquid rocket that after some initial trial and error could become a standard project at the RRS much like the alpha and beta have become for micrograin solid propellant. Richard has created a materials list and the society is in the process of acquiring the necessary items and will begin construction of the initial prototype. For now, it is too early to say what this standard design will look like, but as many past members have built their own liquid rockets over the years, the RRS can draw upon a sizable base of past knowledge to create a modest liquid rocket that is both powerful and practical for future members to try.

I have been working with a small group at the Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM) at the Compton Airport. This project has a simple goal of creating a ground testing system to hot-fire a surplus LR-101 vernier motor. TAM has acquired a few of these kerosene and liquid oxygen LR-101 motors which have internal cooling passages and are made for long duration firings. Although the engine is already made, building the necessary regulated pressurization system and valves will be the primary challenge. This work can easily benefit other liquid rocket projects.

[3] RRS social media improvements

This is a regular agenda topic to be discussed at each meeting with the goal of finding ways to improve our presence in social media platforms and on the internet in general. Bill and Alastair, our two media coordinators, were both absent at this meeting so this topic will return next month as planned.

We’ve had a few new posts on our Instagram feed with recent events. Bill Behenna recommended that on flyers for future RRS events, the addition of a QR code to link back to our official webpage or other important information is something we should do.

[4] Pyrotechnic operating licensing at the RRS

The RRS has been working with CALFIRE on having more of our membership becoming licensed pyrotechnic operators to better enhance our operations and foster amateur rocketry in general. Osvaldo Tarditti, Larry Hoffing and myself have all been working through the licensing process. We encourage more of our membership to spend the time to prepare their applications and gather letters of recommendation necessary to begin the process. This will be a slow process, but as more pyro-op’s at the RRS become available, more able our society will be to hold events and support other rocketry groups in their projects.

[5] New RRS alpha payloads

The RRS holds many launch events throughout the year with Los Angeles area schools thanks to our partnership with the LAPD CSP. These events have from six to twelve alpha rockets flown from the RRS MTA at the conclusion of each program but they have empty payload tubes. This represents a great opportunity to fly more payloads.

John Krell has been working on an instrumentation package that can record high accelerations, barometric pressure and capture high speed data all in a compact package that fits in the tiny confines of an RRS standard alpha rocket. There are many commercially available instrumentation packages for model rockets which have larger plastic bodies Given the smaller internal diameter of an RRS standard alpha rocket, many of these great devices simply do not fit. John’s design seeks to make use of the latest instrumentation chips all in a long thin compact package ready for use in the RRS alpha. With luck, his device should be ready for flight at the next RRS MTA launch on September 21, 2019.

John Krell shows his latest breadboard model of his alpha instrumentation package.

SImilarly, Brian Johnson, in partnership with Kent Schwitkis and Compton College, has been working on an instrumentation payload of their own design for the RRS standard alpha. The first flight of his payload on July 13, 2019, was not successful as it failed to start recording. Brian has worked to improve the design, but the fundamental principles were sound. A second flight of this design at our next launch event at the MTA on September 21, 2019, should prove to be successful.

Brian Johnson’s alpha payload designed to fit inside the aluminum nosecone of an RRS standard alpha.

[6] Discussion of the next RRS symposium

The RRS opened discussion about the possibility of holding another symposium in the next calendar year, 2020. Previously, the society had decided not to hold another symposium after 2019 until two years later for both reasons of cost and resources necessary to conduct the event. While the society has not formally decided whether or not to have a 2020 RRS Symposium, the executive council did decide to study the matter further based on continued success and enthusiasm by past attending organizations.

The RRS will make a decision on this matter before the next meeting. If the RRS does decide to proceed, we must begin preparations in the latter part of the year to allow sufficient time to contact participants giving them time to prepare for a symposium in the spring as was done since our 2017 RRS symposium. Further, full engagement of our membership will be critical to keep this string of successes going strong.

IN CLOSING

As the meeting adjourned, RRS member, Mohammed Daya showed us the two model rocket bodies he purchased at a Northrop-Grumman swap meet recently. These were built by a retired rocketeer who wanted his hobby to go to another enthusiast.

Mohammed Daya shows Osvaldo Tarditti and Wilbur Owens the two model rocket bodies he bought at a swap meet. F and G type commercial motors look to be the right size.

As these two rockets only need some minor repairs and suitably sized commercial motors to be installed, we hope Mohammed will be able to launch them from the MTA on September 21.

The RRS will hold our next meeting on September 13, 2019. We plan on discussing three very important subjects:

(1) RRS MTA facility improvement plans including a new restroom facility, a new blockhouse and replacement of the large box rails damaged in the August 3, 2019, launch attempt.

(2) Discuss the initial draft of the updated Constitution as presented to our attending membership by the 2020 RRS Constitutional Committee.

(3) RRS decision on the next symposium.

If there are any questions, please contact the RRS secretary.

secretary@rrs.org

March 2019 meeting

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Dave Nordling, Secretary, RRS.ORG

The Reaction Research Society (RRS) met for our monthly meeting on March 8, 2019, at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena, CA. The RRS was glad to welcome our newest associate member, Jaren Li. After our reading of the treasury report, we began the agenda.

[1] Preparing for the RRS symposium, Saturday, April 27, 2019

The first topic was the status of the forthcoming 2019 RRS symposium. This will be an all-day event, Saturday, April 27, 2019. Frank Miuccio, our symposium coordinator, was happy to report we have confirmed Cal Poly Pomona and Northrop Grumman as attendees. With nearly 200 Event-brite tickets sold already, we have 20 exhibitors and nearly a full roster of speakers throughout this all-day event.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rrs-2019-rocket-and-space-exhibit-symposium-tickets-54839067126

The RRS will need the help of our membership for setting up on the night before. Also, we expect a good crowd on Saturday and we’ll need our membership again to help support the number of activities going on behind the scenes. The executive council will be contacting our members to enlist their support for specific tasks in the next few weeks. The one thing that everyone can do is spread the word and share our flyers with those interested in coming.

first design of the 2019 RRS symposium flyer, Jan 2019

[2] Improvements to the RRS social media presence

This is to be a regular agenda topic to be led by our two media officers, Bill Janczewski and Alastair Martin. In their absence, the society discussed a few common sense things that will be helpful. Including links in our Instagram and Facebook postings back to the RRS.ORG website should help bring more people to read about us. Also, the RRS should track the number of hits our sites are getting as a way of measuring improvement.

Alastair Martin held the second podcast for “Rocket Talk Radio” at his Hollywood studio. Richard Garcia and I both were pleased to be guests on his show as we talked about the timely subject of Small Launchers. There’s been a lot of recent activity in this area with new businesses such as RocketLab, Vector Space Systems, Relativity Space and Firefly Aerospace entering the market. This project is through Alastair’s company, Production Tribe LLC. You can find Alastair’s podcast at his website at Watch Hollywood -dot- TV:

http://watchhollywood.tv/

Frank Miuccio attended a seminar at the University of Southern California (USC) early this month on leadership of non-profit groups. He said he got a lot of practical advise and suggestions for improvement. He did not have his findings summarized for the March meeting, but he can elaborate on his experiences at the USC seminar at the next meeting.

[3] RRS Mission Statement

A mission statement is a short statement of purpose to describe why an organization exists. After reviewing a few drafts, the society decided to use statements made in our articles of incorporation, but it has not been posted on our website until now. The RRS mission statement can be found near the “Donate” button on the main toolbar of the RRS.ORG website.

[4] RRS Website Articles and Publication Guidelines

It was suggested that RRS ought to publish a set of guidelines for new members and contributors to the RRS.ORG website. The society encourages all of our membership to do more than simply discuss their ideas, but to put them down into writing for the wider audience to see. Our society is one of builders, thinkers and experimenters. We have a long legacy of past articles, but what is equally important is that we continue to contribute to our growing body of knowledge.

The initial set of publication guidelines for website articles was sent to our society membership a couple weeks ago. Although I have not received any formal feedback, the society decided at the March 2019 meeting that those initial publication guidelines will be published both on the RRS.ORG website and on our Facebook page. The society reserves the right to edit and holds the sole discretion to publish articles or not. However, at this time, the RRS is very interested in what kinds of things our membership would like to hear about. More importantly, the society would like our membership to contribute an article.

[5] Loyola Marymount University base11 Liquid Rocket Competition

The RRS has been working with Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Westchester, CA, providing them with guidance on their liquid rocket vehicle design that will ultimately compete in the base11 Space Challenge. A few members of the LMU team were in attendance at the March 2019 meeting of the RRS. The goal of the competition is to be the first university group to fly a liquid rocket to an altitude of 100 km for a prize of $1,000,000 USD. A link to the base11 home page is below.

Home

The LMU team are very busy assembling their Preliminary Design Review (PDR) submitted presentation which is due in the next few weeks. They were able to ask questions of the society members present on details relevant to their liquid rocket.

Pedro Sales and James Hribal of Loyola Marymount at the March 2019 meeting of the RRS.

Per our charter to support academic groups and our membership, the RRS has supported other liquid rocket competitors in this competition including University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Many of the participants in these competitions later become members of the RRS as it is a very exciting thing to build a rocket of your own.

[6] The LR101 Project with Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum

RRS members, Wilbur Owens, Xavier Marshall and myself (Dave Nordling) have joined a project hence known as the “LR101 project”. This project is in coordination with Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM) at the Compton Airport in Compton, CA. This project team also includes students at Compton High School and at the local Compton College.

https://www.tamuseum.org/

The short term goal is to build a suitable static test setup to hot-fire an LR101 vernier motor at the RRS Mojave Test Area (MTA). A link to the Heroic Relics website is below for more details on this small auxiliary rocket motor used in both the prior generation of Atlas and Delta vehicles. This small legacy rocket has been the core of a few liquid rocket projects in the past including at least one at the RRS.

http://heroicrelics.org/info/lr-101/lr-101.html

The primary goal of this project is to renew and expand the RRS presence in liquid rocket testing. The team is working out the basic sizing and requirements at this stage. Later this summer, the RRS members on the TAM team can provide an update.

An LR-101 motor sits on the table at the February 2019 RRS meeting at the EAA 96 hangar.

[X1] Update on the RRS Educational Events

Frank, Larry and Osvaldo gave an update on the latest educational event that the RRS started with Compton Elementary on March 8th. The program is well underway and they plan to finish with a scheduled launch event at the MTA on April 6th. The program, known as “Rockets in the Projects” is in partnership with the LAPD Community Safety Partnership (CSP). This partnership has been very successful in the year and half it has been in operation having had over 100 students and counting participating in the project. Not only does the society get the chance to give back to younger students, but also a chance to inspire younger people to be active in rocketry and science as they grow older.

https://www.facebook.com/lapdcsp

[X2] Rocket Statue On Display at the 2019 RRS Symposium

The RRS events coordinator, Larry Hoffing, raised a question about the Rocket Statue designed by our society director of research, Richard Garcia. Although this statue was designed to be a permanent fixture inside the main gate at the RRS MTA, Larry had asked if a model could be assembled in time to have it on display at the Ken Nakaoka community Center when we hold the symposium on April 27, 2019.

Richard Garcia’s rocket sculpture concept; soon to be seen at the RRS MTA

Based on available resources and time, it seems unlikely to happen, but the RRS has managed to do great things in a short amount of time before. We shall see…

[X3] Cal Poly Pomona visit to the RRS

As a last minute addition to the agenda, James McPherson of Cal Poly Pomona made a short presentation to the society. James is the leader of the solid rocket team for the FAR1030 competition. The RRS has had a lot of experience in helping university groups with many aspect of solid motor design and build at the MTA. James had outlined a plan for their motor construction and the RRS was glad to review it. We did not have sufficient time at the March meeting to discuss Cal Poly Pomona’s project in detail, but we hope they can come back for the April meeting.

Jaren, Laila and James of Cal Poly Pomona stopped in to the RRS March 2019 meeting.

IN CONCLUSION

Our next meeting will be Friday, April 12, 2019, at 7:30pm at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. We’ll certainly be talking more about the symposium as it will be happening just two weeks later on April 27th. We also expect to have a summary from the next launch event at the MTA on April 6th.

If there are any questions or corrections, please contact the RRS secretary.

secretary@rrs.org

February 2019 meeting

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Inside the EAA 96 hangar at the Compton Airport. The meeting ran very late as you can see by the clock.
EAA 96 Hangar at the Compton Airport, 1017 W. Alondra Blvd., Compton, CA, 90220

The RRS met for our February monthly meeting at the EAA 96 hangar at the Compton Airport on Friday night, February 8, at 730pm. The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Local Chapter 96, was gracious enough to offer their main office boardroom. RRS members, Xavier Marshall and Wilbur Owens were kind enough to even provide food and drinks for our membership and guests. After reading of last month’s treasury report, we agreed to get an update next week as our president (doing the duties of the treasurer) was not able to attend this meeting. After the customary introductions of some of our visiting guests, we began the agenda.

Bill and Wyatt Janczewski at the February 2019 meeting at the EAA 96 hangar

(1) Discussion and task assignments for the 2019 RRS Symposium

The 2019 symposium will take place on Saturday, April 27, 2019. We have confirmed 8 of our 13 speaker slots and are working on building the panel discussion that will happen at the end of the symposium. We will likely soon fill all of our 13 speaker slots for the fourteen 30-minute sessions throughout the day. We have already confirmed several of our past speakers such as Northrop-Grumman and some new presenters such as the Air Force Space and Missile Command.

Frank said that the most important thing that all of our membership and friends can do is to spread the word and circulate our flyers as soon and as much as possible. Having an on-site food provider is in the works and John Mariano has offered to provide his brand, Celebrity Coffee, at the symposium. Based on the rate of (free) ticket sales through Eventbrite, we are on track to have a great symposium. We have 13 exhibitors confirmed and hope to have well over 21 exhibitors (last year’s total) by the time the symposium arrives. We are trying to pace events throughout the day to have a steady stream of participation from morning to afternoon.

Frank will soon be holding regular meetings to get as much of our membership involved with the myriad of tasks necessary to make the event fruitful and exciting. We ask all of our membership to do as much as they can. Ideas are always welcome, but people that can take action are appreciated even more. The RRS will not hold another symposium until 2021, so we would like to put as much of ourselves into this event as we can. Our symposium chairman is Frank Miuccio, please contact him or any of the Executive Council at any time.

vicepresident@rrs.org

president@rrs.org

secretary@rrs.org

treasurer@rrs.org

(2) Improvements to the RRS social media presence

In the months leading up to the 2019 RRS symposium, the RRS should look at improving our social media presence. One of the things we will do is post different advertising flyer designs on our Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Alastair and Bill have had fruitful discussions on this subject and would like to have recurring monthly spot on the meeting agenda as the RRS social media presence will always remain important in our bid to reach new and old members.

(3) Formation of the 2020 RRS Constitutional Committee

The RRS is an organization that has persisted for a very long time, but periodically, the way we operate has changed over the decades. The last time a review of the RRS Constitution was done was in the 1990’s. Although some amendments have occurred to update our organization, it has been observed that many improvements, clarifications or simple corrections need to be made to reflect how we operate today.

Alastair Martin, Wilbur Owens, Larry Hoffing and Frank Miuccio at the February 2019 meeting at the EAA 96 hangar at the Compton Airport; a Rocketdyne LR-101 vernier motor sits on the table

The RRS voted and approved the formation of a three-person Constitutional Committee consisting of one Executive Council member and two people from our regular membership. After a solicitation of our membership at the February meeting, the following people will form this temporary 2020 Constitutional Committee:

Frank Miuccio, Vice President

Larry Hoffing

Bill Janczewski

This 2020 committee will first gather up all known copies and amendments to the RRS constitution. It is important to best establish where we stand before proceeding with the editing process. Frank has much of these records and with this collection of information, the committee will create a new draft of the Constitution. The intent is not to make many (if any) changes so much as to make clarifications of roles and responsibilities in areas that have been vague or entirely absent.

After a great deal of effort, the RRS has updated our membership roster as best as we have been able to do so. We continuously call upon our past and present membership to pay their dues and remain active during this important time. Please contact the RRS treasurer, Chris Lujan, or make your payment to the RRS president, Osvaldo Tarditti.

treasurer@rrs.org

president@rrs.org

With the 2019 Symposium around the corner, our priority is to execute the April 27 symposium. Therefore, the 2020 committee will not have to report back to the RRS until our September 13, 2019, meeting. Having the whole of the summer of 2019 should allow the committee to perform the laborious duty of researching and retyping the Constitution in such as manner that makes it clearer. The new draft or 2020 Constitution will then be reviewed numbered paragraph by numbered paragraph to assure a thorough review to approve portions that make sense and discuss others that may require adjustment.

Concerns were expressed about maintaining the requirements of our 501(c)3 educational non-profit organization when it was formed. These are important concerns which will be addressed. The committee will likely need to seek advice from our membership and they certainly will reach out as necessary throughout their working period this year.

This 2020 committee will then present their draft at the September meeting taking specific feedback and returning their final draft at the November 8 meeting. The new “2020” Constitution will then be put to a vote by our active membership. By our articles, this must be approved by a 2/3rd’s majority which may take some time to do. As any changes will largely serve for clarification, this draft of the Constitution, paragraph by paragraph should be able to be approved by the vote taken across our active membership with a deadline of the end of the year, December 31, 2019. Once the 2020 update to the RRS Constitution is approved, all prior drafts will be voided and the committee dissolved. Further, to avoid a permanent state of churn, it was agreed that after approval of the 2020 Constitution, no further amendments will be made for at least one year to allow the society to operate long enough to see where the problems are. A Constitution is a living document, but changes are purposefully not easy to make without a significant consensus of our active membership.

If there are any questions (which I am virtually certain that there will be), please direct them to the RRS Constitutional Committee chairman, Frank Miuccio

vicepresident@rrs.org

(4) Rocket Talk Radio

Alastair Martin has started a pod-cast called “Rocket Talk Radio” which is an hourly program that will talk about selected topics in the rocket business. These topics will be very relevant to the increasingly active world of space exploration. Alastair’s company, Production Tribe LLC, is producing the show to which RRS members, Dave Nordling and Richard Garcia, have agreed to be regular guests on the show. At the first show, we had Waldo Stakes as our first guest. As the show continues, Alastair will have other guests on the show to explore the many number of exciting topics happening today and in the near tomorrow.

Richard Garcia waves hello to the studio at the first podcast of Rocket Talk Radio

Alastair Martin’s company, Production Tribe LLC, will be producing more shows soon and we hope to provide links on our website, RRS.ORG, from time to time. For those seeking ROCKET TALK RADIO, please go to Alastair’s website WATCHHOLLYWOOD.TV at the link below.

www.watchhollywood.tv

The next program is expected to be next week where ROCKET TALK RADIO will discuss the growing market of small launchers.

(5) Paintball Tanks and Regulators Used in Amateur Rocketry

Cameron Harrington is both a student at California Polytechnic State University in Pomona and a sponsored competitive paintball sportsman. After having some very interesting discussions about these commercially available, robust and mass-produced high pressure tanks and regulators, it is clear that they can be useful in building a simple pressure-fed liquid rocket. Ninja is one popular brand of these tanks and regulators used in paintball guns. The 4500 psi composite-overwrapped pressure vessels hold a finite volume (e.g. 77 cubic inches) of compressed nitrogen gas better suited for pressurizing fuel tanks. The Ninja Pro V2 regulator is adjustable by internal shims to allow a finite range of discharge pressures (350, 450, 550 psi etc) which work in small liquid rocket engines.

Ninja Pro V2 paintball regulator, adjustable outlet pressure by shims
Cal Poly Pomona students visit the EAA 96 hangar machine shop at the February 2019 meeting of the RRS

Cameron gave the society a brief overview of his experience with this hobby sport equipment and his experience in building a liquid rocket system. The society is considering buying a few of these devices for liquid rocket prototypes that will ultimately lead to a standardized design that the society can use and offer to other universities seeking a common-sense plan to flying a liquid rocket.

A simplified diagram of a pressure-fed, bi-propellant liquid rocket; valves and regulators have been omitted

(6) Ramiro Rodriguez, Deputy State Fire Marshal, CAL FIRE

The RRS was happy to be visited by Ramiro Rodriguez, Deputy State Fire Marshall with the California State Fire Marshal’s office (CAL FIRE). Deputy Rodriguez has been with CAL FIRE for over 19 years and largely supports Fireworks and the Motion Picture industry. He is glad to visit with amateur rocketry groups to see what our concerns and needs are. CAL FIRE has been busy streamlining and examining their processes to better serve the public and groups such as ours who benefit from CAL FIRE..

RRS members Drew Cortopassi and Chris Lujan sit on opposite sides of our special guest, Deputy State Fire Marshal Ramiro Rodriguez of CAL FIRE

Amateur rocketry, much like with hobby rocketry, is governed by the state laws and regulations concerning fireworks. The four primary duties of CAL FIRE are prevention, engineering, education and enforcement. They train fire departments and fire service professionals. They also are responsible for resource management in the state of California such as forestry and watershed projects. They are the licensing authority for all 12 classes of pyrotechnic operators including the 3 classes of rocketry pyro-op’s. Ramiro answered questions by our membership and attendees.

Pyro-op’s must be 21 years old, have a clean criminal record and must submit an application to the state with five letters of recommendation from active pyro-op’s at or above the class level that they are applying. CAL FIRE is willing to accept expired pyro-op licenses as long as that license hasn’t lapsed more than a year. This is a common problem in many groups that pyro-ops allow their licenses to lapse out of financial necessity or simple neglect. The RRS is very active in our goals to acquire and advance more pyro-ops not only for our society, but for the amateur rocketry community at large.

Ramiro read some statistics from CAL FIRE’s database, that there are only 10 active first-class rocketry pyro-ops in the entire state of California. Only 10 active second-class rocketry pyro-ops and 34 active third-class pyro-ops remain throughout the large expanse of the Golden State. Concern has been raised by the amateur rocketry community about the difficulty in acquiring five active and relevant signatories when pyro-op’s want to advance their level. CAL FIRE is considering ways of making this process easier to do as they would like to see an increase in the number of rocketry pyro-ops in the state of California. The obvious solution is to require a lesser number of signatories for applicants, but CAL FIRE has not made a decision on exactly what they intend to do.

Concern was also expressed regarding the necessity of the two-year waiting period between achieving rocketry classes. Some applicants have a large amount of experience either professionally or in activities with their society. Ramiro had said that CAL FIRE does have some discretionary authority to recognize significant experience in proving an applicant suitable to advance to the next level, but he underscored the importance of log sheets and the responsibility of all pyro-ops and trainees to take accurate clear records of the work that they do. Put simply, the more familiar CAL FIRE is with your activities, the easier it becomes for them to evaluate you.

This is a rich subject which many more had other questions, but given the late hour, we concluded by appreciating Ramiro’s time and was happy to make his acquaintance. The RRS and CAL FIRE have had a long, positive relationship and hope to continue to do so. The RRS has extended an invitation to Ramiro or another deputy from CAL FIRE to come visit our private testing site when we will hold another event on April 6th with the student of Crenshaw Elementary with the LAPD CSP.

first design of the 2019 RRS symposium flyer, Jan 2019

We also gave CAL FIRE an electronic file of our 2019 RRS Symposium flyer and have invited CAL FIRE to be a presenter and/or exhibitor at the Symposium.

(X1) Experimental Aircraft Association, Local Chapter 96

The RRS was happy to have our February 2019 meeting hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 96 at the Compton Airport. Xavier Marshall is both an RRS member and the vice president of the EAA 96. The EAA 96 is encouraging hobbyists such as those in the RRS to become members as we have many areas of common interest. Aircraft and rockets require hands-on machining skills which the EAA 96 is willing to share with new members. To become a member of the EAA 96, you must join both the national and local chapter. Right now (but discount offer soon to expire) they are offering 3-years of membership for only $99 which covers both the local and national membership.

Presses and sheet metal working tools at the EAA 96 hangar at the Compton Airport

Xavier gave the RRS and visiting students from Cal Poly Pomona a tour of their machine shop which has a large lathe, a horizontal and vertical mill. The hangar is accessible to members 24/7 and the EAA has many members happy to help those needing to learn practical machining skills. This is a great opportunity for many of the RRS who do not have regular access to machining. The RRS is largely about making our own custom parts and the EAA 96 is an excellent resource to help.

Xavier Marshall leans against a large sheet metal brake in the EAA 96 machine shop

For questions about joining the EAA 96, please contact Xavier Marshall or Wilbur Owens

xavier.marshall@gmail.com

wil.owens@cox.net

Vertical mill at the EAA 96 machine shop

(X2) Visit to the Rocket Lab at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum

Given the late hour, we were unable to take our society membership and visitors on a tour of the Rocket Lab at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum. Waldo Stakes has been very active in this project to bring a small group of Compton locals to build a small liquid rocket of their own. On display at the meeting was a Rocketdyne NA-LR-101 liquid vernier rocket motor that they hope to static fire at the RRS MTA. This 1000-lbf kerosene/liquid oxygen rocket has been commonly used in past amateur rocketry projects due to its robust design, however, as these surplus motors are becoming more scarce, it is important to appreciate having such an asset for learning. The RRS is happy to help the Compton group with their goals in flying this motor in a future design.

It was suggested that the RRS hold their March 8th meeting at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum at the Rocket Lab. Although this is a fine suggestion, the RRS had planned to return to our regular location at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. That being said, the RRS would like to schedule an event at the Rocket Lab very soon. The RRS will let our membership know when this visit to the Rocket Lab can be scheduled.

(X3) Upcoming testing events at the RRS MTA

As was mentioned a little earlier, the RRS has set a new class with the students of Crenshaw Elementary School through the LAPD CSP. The first class will start on Friday, March 1, and run each Friday until the launch event we will hold at the RRS Mojave Test Area (MTA) on April 6th.

The RRS classes continue to be very popular and we are glad to share our hobby and passion for rocketry and learning.

RRS member, Michael Lunny, has been working with his local high school, Redondo Union, were they intend to enter rocketry competition to launch a rocket payload with 3 eggs and subsequently land it by parachute. We hope they can come visit the RRS at the next meeting on March 8th. Redondo has expressed interest in launching at the MTA in late March.

(X4) Groups wanting to test at the RRS MTA

For all groups interested in working with the RRS or with testing or launching from our Mojave Test Area, please download and fill out our Standard Record Form from the RRS.ORG website under “Membership” tab, then under “Forms”. All requests must be filled out with a complete set of contact information and a full description of the testing. The most important thing is to declare your test date and hold to this date as resources have to be scheduled. All requests must be submitted to the RRS president for the society to review.

Forms

president@rrs.org

IN CLOSING

Our next meeting will be on Friday, March 8th, at our usual meeting location at the Ken Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena. If there are any questions, please let the RRS secretary know:

secretary@rrs.org