Tag Archives: model rocket

MTA Launch Event, 2024-09-07

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by Dave Nordling, RRS.ORG

The Reaction Research Society held a launch and firing event to honor the memory of Richard Garcia. His wife, Jeannie Riddles, his brother, Russell, and his aunt and cousin were present to witness the events of that day at our Mojave Test Area. I served as the pyrotechnic operator in charge with Dimitri Timohovich and Leanna Lincoln serving as my apprentices for the several operations we conducted that day with our membership and invited guests. RRS president, Frank Miuccio, was also present for this important event.

The safety briefing was given to all in attendance at 11AM with special recognition given to our honored guests. The weather was very hot (105F) which is typical for early September, but under low winds and a few high clouds.

We had several very different projects that day with many of our members coming to demonstrate their current projects and some bringing new builds. RRS member Jerry Fuller and his daughter Charlotte were also present that day.

Dimitri and Leanna mixed a batch of micrograin from the new zinc stock and our existing sulfur supplies. Chase Lang had a standard alpha and Bill Nelson a standard beta for launch. Both conducted safe loading operations in the RRS loading area.

With everyone under cover and passing air and road checks, the launch of the alpha still showed some of the initial low thurst stalling during firing before exiting the launch rail and being recovered downrange. The beta fired but showed an even lesser performance not managing to generate enough thrust to even leave the launch rail. Both rockets were returned for examination. Most likely cause is excessive moisture absorption into the sulfur, but that is under debate. Clumpiness of the powdered oxidizer was noticed during the mixing operation but a propellant sample burn beforehand showed no problems. it was thought that the tumbling process would be sufficient to homogenize and dry it out. Sulfur is not expensive and the society may consider buying fresh stock and improving the storage conditions.

Fourth year UCLA graduate student, Nick Kuenning, and his advisor, Prof. Mitch Spearrin, were present with a few UCLA Rocket Project members to static fire their new portable rig at the MTA. The main objective was to demonstrate the new oxidizer tank they added and run a prior engine design to check out the whole system. The test also served to show just how far UCLA has come in the many years since the liquid rocket program began at UCLA. Richard Garcia was one of the first RRS members to help UCLA in their early days of the Rocket Project. I attended UCLA PDR’s and CDR’s with him. Nick was just a freshman at the time. It was very generous of the UCLA team to conduct this firing in Richard’s honor during the last of the summer quarter when few students were back from vacation. The crew of four ran a clean and steady full-duration burn of their ablative lined engine on an impinging ethanol and LOX injector used with prior success. The burn went a full duration of 20 seconds with clean startup and shutdown. It is a very nice static fire rig and will give the team many opportunities to continue developing better engines. Nick is planning to speak at the RRS monthly meeting to share their results.

Mike Kramer and John Tsohas came to the RRS MTA as guests. Mike and John fired a few hybrid rockets that day and later joined as members. John had fired with the RRS several years ago and it was good to welcome him back. They had several successful launches and recoveries with the nitrous oxide loading and firing rig they brought.

Bill Inman brought the latest version of the Solar Cat which he and RRS member Dale Talcott built. The Solar Cat is a steam rocket mobile launcher that uses a parabolic reflector type of solar furnace for heating. It is an impressive piece of engineering with the ability to track the sun’s position in the sky and reach steam pressures up to 465 psig before moving the rocket tube into a vertical firing position. It is operated remotely and uses common off the shelf hardware.

After some considerable setup period the day prior in the northern expanse of the MTA, sun conditions that day were inconsistent however after 3:30pm a break in the clouds allowed a one hour period of insolation sufficient to reach adequate steam pressure for launch. Launch ended up not occurring as there was a mechanical snagging problem with one of the harnesses impeding the movement of the release mechanism.

Bill made the decision to abort the launch and remotely opened the vent to relieve the system dumping the load in a safe direction. Minor improvements will be made to the design to prevent similar issues and help avoid problems in deployment and stowing on the trailer. The Solar Cat design has advanced much and has had a few successful firings in Nevada. With Dale and Bill’s continued perserverence, the Solar Cat will one day fire from the MTA. It is a very long drive from Carson City, but Bill’s dedication to that test is a true honor to Richard Garcia and the passion he had for amateur and professional rocketry.

The RRS would like to thank our guests, our visitors and especially our membership for making this event possible.

The launch events will be discussed at the monthly meeting on Friday, September 13th, at 7:30pm at the front office of the Compton/Woodley Airport. RRS meetings are always on the 2nd Friday of each month. Contact the RRS secretary for details.

MTA work and launch event, 2023-02-19

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by Dimitri Timohovich, RRS.ORG

The RRS met at the Mojave Test Area from Sunday, February 19, through Tuesday, February 21st, primarily to continue working on the restroom. We also got a launch or two off on Sunday thanks to Keith Yoerg.

Returning rocket to the MTA courtesy of favorable winds

Here is a basic recap of what was done and what needs to be finished to get the bathroom up to working order.

On Sunday, 2/19/2023, Keith and I installed 5 of the 6 unistrut segments on top of the Dosa building. The last piece was accidentally left behind and will be installed on the next trip out. Dave Nordling assisted with installing the lighting in both bathrooms which were tested. 4-hour mechanical timer switches were used to avoid wasting power.

Dave Nordling also cleared brush in the western part of the MTA property that day.

Mechanical timer switches used in both restrooms.
Dual LED panels from recreational vehicles provide excellent low-power lighting.
Good quality light from just two panels.

On Monday, 2/20/2023, I welded and installed the four-inch sewage drain passthrough and attached the sewage drain line to the passthrough. I started welding the other two passthroughs.

On Tuesday, 2/21/2023, I continued welding passthroughs until the wind came up and had to stop. From there, I continued installing the water intake line on top of the container and continued hooking up Pex pipes inside the container.

What’s next will be finishing the 4-inch drain line and starting the 2-inch drain line in the ground. The 2-inch passthrough must be welded in to the container wall. Attachment of the intake water line to it’s passthrough will follow, then attaching the water line from passthrough to water pump. We must also finish attaching the water lines from the pump to all fixtures.

We will temporarily attach the water pump to battery power and test the lines. This will get the bathroom to interim working status which is a major goal of the project. The date of the next work event is not known at this time but will be coming very soon.

MTA launch event, 2020-11-07

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By Dave Nordling, Reaction Research Society

The RRS held a launch event at the Mojave Test Area on November 7, 2020. It was a largely overcast day with brief periods of sun. The daytime temperatures reached only 50 Fahrenheit but the winds were no more than 20 miles per hour which meets the criteria for safe launch. Osvaldo Tarditti, our society president, was the pyrotechnic operator in charge for this event.

RECOVERY OF ANOTHER ALPHA FROM JULY

John Krell was able to find the standard length micrograin alpha rocket laumched at the July 2020 event. The rocket was found further north than expected but the downrange distance was about right. This was the rocket with the ceramic coated nozzle which was to have its performance compared to the standard alpha with a plain steel nozzle which is known to erode from the high temperature exhaust.

Recovered standard alpha from the July 2020 launch
The standard length alpha was recovered with its nozzle and the ceramic lined throat. No erosion seems to be present.

Unfortunately, the data was absent on the memory chip. It appears there was a malfunction and flight data wasn’t recorded. John is looking into the problem.

The nozzle was removed and inspected from the recovered alpha. Preliminary results show that the nozzle stayed intact. Careful removal of the largely zinc metallic residue firmly adhered to the entrance and nozzle throat must be done to determine how well the ceramic coating survived the 2300 Fahrenheit flame temperature for the quick four-tenths of a second burn time, John Krell is trying a traditional remedy of heated white vinegar (acetic acid) which has been modestly successful in this application.

The golden color of the coating can be seen at the inlet. The condition of the coating around the throat is what must be determined.

A FEW ROCKETS IN NOVEMBER

Keith Yoerg and a few others launched five model rockets from the MTA event that day. We’re getting a lot more participants at our launch events which is a trend the society will encourage as we are expanding our organization by supporting a range of projects.

  1. The first was “Star Orbiter” which was prepared and launched by Wilbur Owens, and successfully recovered about 3/4 of a mile from the launch site. 
  2. The second launch of the “29mm Rocket” was prepared and launched by Ivan DeDios, and unfortunately was not found after a lengthy search. 
  3. The third launch of the day was “Charlie Horse” and featured the largest motor flown that day. The rocket was prepared and launched by Keith Yoerg and resulted in his first flight above Mach 1.0. In addition, it was the first flight of a GPS carabiner used to track the rocket which performed extremely well & was easy to use. Cheaper options of similar technology are being researched for future flights.
  4. The fourth launch was the “Bell X-2” which was prepared and launched by Keith Yoerg, and was a textbook flight with a simple recovery.
  5. The fifth and final launch of the day was “Low and Slow” which was prepared and launched by Alexander Jones. Unfortunately, the parachute failed to deploy at apogee and the rocket came back ballistically & was destroyed along with one of the carabiner GPS units.
The aptly named “29mm rocket” by Keith Yoerg, powered by a 29mm H115 Darkmatter motor, seen at take-off from the RRS MTA on 11-07-2020
The 29mm Rocket taking off.
Keith Yoerg’s “Charlie Horse” takes flight again frim the RRS MTA on 11-07-2020 powered by a 38mm J520 Skidmark motor.
A great still capture on the Bell X-2 at launch.
Camera view of the Low and Slow rocket at take-off
The recovered remains of the “Low and Slow” rocket by Alexander Jones.

The RRS encourages all forms of reaction-based propulsion including commercial solid motor rocket flights. We have our traditional love for the micrograin rockets, but our society is open to all ideas as long as they contact the society and our pyro-op in charge well in advance of our launch events.

The five commercial solid motors laid out on display.

BILL INMAN’S SOLAR COLLECTOR

Bill Inman came out to the MTA to test his next prototype of a solar collector. Bill’s latest project is exploring the idea of a solar-based heating system for a steam rocket. This second device had a wider collection area and a longer pipe length. He didn’t have good sun conditions that day and his larger collector structure was a little unstable in the wind, but he was able to get ideas for improvement.

Dimitri Timohovich aids Bill Inman in deploying his second generation prototype solar heater. It was a less than ideal day for solar insolation at the RRS MTA. Even the Mojave Desert can be cold on winter days.
A wider collector area in the new design. It was a less than sunny day.

There was a very short period of sun that day and in that time a measurable temperature gain was seen with the new collector.

A wider view of Bill’s solar collector

Testing the same device in the days following the MTA event at another location showed this second design to be a substantial improvement with the larger parabolic mirror area which allowed the water pipe to reach fluid temperatures exceeding 300 Fahrenheit and internal pressures of 90 psig. This is closer to Bill’s goal of reaching above 400 Fahrenheit for his next generation steam rocket from his successful Scalded Cat design almost 20 years ago.

Vapor curve data for water, psia in the left column, degrees Fahrenheit on the right.
The vspor curve of water showing the whole range from triple-point to critical point.

STATIC FIRE OF THE USC RPL ALUMNI SOLID MOTOR

A group of USC RPL alumni static fired an 8-inch solid motor at the MTA. The team worked very hard from the night before and all through the day in getting the motor ready for static fire. The RRS MTA is an excellent location for these operations and conducting safe motor testing.

Unfortunately with some experiments, the results can be disappointing. The hot-fire in the very last hours of daylight ended with a rupture near the bulkhead after roughly one second of the burn.

The 8-inch motor in preparation for testing.
Preparation at the pad as the afternoon is fading at the MTA
Photo of the static firing, less than ideal performance

IN CLOSING

The details of the event will likely be discussed at the monthly meeting teleconference on November 13th. We’ll be also discussing our next launch event to be held next month in December.

We will likely attempt the nitrous oxide hybrid motor with the modified igniter. The colder temperatures should allow the propellant manifold to operate properly without any modifications.

The removal and replacement of the bent panel on the vertical thrust stand was deferred because of USC’s static firing of their solid motor. This maintenance activity will remain a high priority since the replacement plates are ready and at the MTA already.

Thanks to the many members that contributed to this report. We will be planning our next launch event for the month of December at the monthly meeting scheduled for Friday, November 13th.