Designing a New Rocket Motor (step by step)

I have decided to design, build, test, and fly a new rocket motor. Why not just fly one of my existing rockets with any one of the existing motors that I've already constructed? The reason is simple. I really enjoy going out to Mojave and flying rockets but the really fun part for me is the design and construction. The process is the cool thing, the fact that the culmination of that process is a rocket flight is just the icing on the cake. Plus it's been at least a couple of years since I've designed a new motor and I miss it. The one thing that I plan to do differently than in the past is to document the entire process right here.

The motor that I've been thinking of is an updated version of one of the earliest designs that I made. Large enought to loft a good sized rocket and but not too big to be a chore to prep for flight. Simplicity and ease of use are my goal. The orginal motor was my first step away from the venerable B-200 motor designed by Richard Nakka and was influenced by Richard's Kappa motor development. It was in the same class as the Kappa motor with a similar propellant configuration. I chose to use steel for my motors casing to simplify the design. I also utilized a retention groove in the nozzle and bulkhead which provided a recess for the retention screws which engaged into threaded holes in the casing. This was a holdover from the B-200 design and though simple to implement, in this larger diameter motor didn't prove as hardy as in the smaller diameter motors. While I never experienced a failure, the screw holes would get torqued pretty well and the casings would need to be replace frequently.

Anyway here is a picture of that original motor as well as the nozzle drawing that I did. I love that it has oil splatters on it from hanging behind that lathe while I made the part.




Next step will be to crunch some numbers in SRM and come up with a working design, and some basic dimensions.

SStS Success!

The Sugar Shot project reached a significant milestone this weekend with the first successful firing of the flight configuration dualphase motor. This is a design concept that many "experts" have said would never work. Congratulations to the team and particularly to Richard Nakka for never losing faith in the concept and working tirelessly to get the project to this point. This is a truly unique project that involves folks from all over the globe; to learn more about it please visit the website by clicking Here. The goal is to put an amateur rocket into space and the only incentive is to simply prove that it can be done (with a propellant which is made up largely of sugar!!). If you've ever wanted to be a part of something like this please consider making a donation. Video provided by Rick Maschek.

AMATEURS AND ROCKETS-1

I was asked recently if I had lost interest in rocketry. Nothing could be further from the truth; I love rocketry as much as ever and can't foresee ever losing my interest in it. Time constraints have kept me from actually doing much, but I'm always keeping my eyes open for anything rocket related. That leads me to this post. A couple of weeks ago someone on the Arocket email list mentioned a long out of print book called Amateurs and Rockets by Humphreys. I was surprised because with as few books that have been written on the subject, I thought I knew them all. I immediately went to Alibris and found that they had three copies, one seller was asking $280, one $180, and one seller was asking just $20. I ordered the twenty dollar book and forgot about it. When I got home yesterday I found that it had arrived and after a quick flip through I was a really happy. The book was written by two members of the Pacific Rocket Society and contains numerous photos and technical drawings from the 50's and 60's. Many of them from the Reaction Research Society of which I am a member. One of the coolest images that I found was of the RRS's newly constructed launch tower. The photo was taken before I was born! The other photo is of me at least 35 years later using the same launch tower. There are a ton of other interesting photos and stories that I hope to share here.

More Old Photos

These are pictures of the very first rocket that I launched at the RRS back in 2002. I hadn't bought a lathe yet and the motors were constructed primarily out of PVC pipe and fittings. It was the largest PVC motor that I have ever constructed and the last before moving on to fully machined motors made of steel and aluminum.

Old Photos

This is a rocket I flew back in March of 2004. My friend Peter and I got a lot of ribbing from the guys as the vehicle was constructed almost entirely from sewer pipe. The motor utilized an unrestricted burning grain, which basically means that it lept off the ground like a bat out of hell. That's me holding a propellant segment, Peter with the rocket, leaving the ground with a bit of an arc, straightening out, and the landing site. Fun Day!

Not Rockets

Other than offering a tiny bit of support to the ongoing Sugar shot project, I've been way too busy to do any real rocketry work. On top of being busy at work, we've decided to replace the floors at home with tile, to the tune of around 900 sq. ft. downstairs and 200 sq. ft. upstairs. I've decided to do the work myself. I convinced myself that it was a good way to save money, but the reality is that I kinda really enjoy the work. One of the first jobs that my dad had was as a stone mason, so maybe it runs in the family? It's going pretty well (I think) and I've gotten into a routine of laying whole tiles at night after the kids are asleep. By morning the mortar is set enough that they can walk on the tiles without causing any problems. Then on the weekends I cut and lay the smaller perimeter pieces when I can use the saw without annoying or waking anyone. In the bottom photo is how the floors looked before, and the other photos show the progression of the dining room area. Grout, baseboards, new carpet (on the stairs and upstairs), and paint still to come. Anyway, if anyone does actually follows this blog, stay tuned as I hope to get back to some rocketry work later in the year and finally fly this rocket.

We once had a Rocket

Mike Roberts posted a link to this interesting documentary film on arocket today. Mike reports that it was inspired by Francis Spufford's book "The Backroom Boys" and it's called "We Once had a Rocket". It documents how the engineers responsible for Black Arrow went ahead and launched the rocket with the satellite Prospero despite the government having just cancelled the whole programme. It includes a number of interesting interviews with some of the guys who worked on Black Arrow at the time. As others have pointed out on the arocket list, it seems unlikely that the government didn't authorize the launch, but the idea makes for a more dramatic story. Either way the video is interesting and worth a view.