This is even better than classic GALCIT Ed, AP instead of KP with Al gives
it an ISP of 240 vs 180.
But it's all good.
Ken
On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 5:56 PM Dr Edward Jones <RocketPioneer@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Conway, I agree and concur with Ken. GALCIT propellants remain
superior in some ways, Until roofing tar is banned.
On 2/26/21, roxanna Mason <rocketmaster.ken@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Conway, consider modified asphalt propellants, melts low enoughgroups
temps,~250F, to use AP. No toxic isocyanates and you can remelt the
unused scraps.
A report is available from Edwards AFRL.
Ken
On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 2:35 PM Conway Stevens <conlstevens@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Howdy all!!
Me personally im just getting back to things as rocketry and my research
propellant program had to take a back seat to a health issue for several
years til i could beat it. As of last year im back and looking to enjoy
where i left off with my research propellant program and flying rockets.
Not sure how many of us "lower tech standard APCP propellant goons" are
around on the list. Used to be alot of us here and i recently just
rejoined
the list. Just as there were alot of rocketry forums. And research
on social media are very restrictive on sharing quality info. Even what
ive
seen of the rocketry hobby is much different compared to what ive
participated in as what might be termed the golden years of the hobby.
Hopefully things are alive and full of fire for others. Btw i also used
to
be on the radar and had a LEUP. Of course back then APCP was on the
list... not sure of any cool stuff us simpler propellant/rocketry folks
are
doing currently.. but love to hear about it.
Signed ......An old APCP junkie getting back into the mix...
Conway Stevens
TRA 9567 L3
NAR 86005
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021, 1:03 PM Dr Edward Jones <RocketPioneer@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Not many years ago this aRocket forum was effervescent with
experiments, tests, questions, answers, and wise observations my
dozens of enthusiasts, IIRC.
I've only recently resumed hands-on rocket science/engineering/tech
after a few years playing with fire and reaction motors in Mojave.
Good fortune has brought me back to Socorro, in the Land of
Enchantment, home of both the Energetic Materials Research Test Center
[read 'explosives and propellants"] and New Mexico School of Mines now
known as NM Tech, as well as the illustrious and notoriously quiet Mr
Ray aRocket Calkins himself.
Ray commutes to ABQ where he's about to graduate with a federal A&P
License. He's simultaneously engaged with R&D projects at the nearby
SpacePort America, and befriending me with assistance and personal
support in my new life here.
I was an engineering coop training student at White Sands Proving
Ground before Sputnik One and NASA, studying at then NM A&MA, now NM
State U. The Army paid my way (GS-2, Step One, $1.17/hr) letting me
work hands-on with the then-newish HAWK dual-thrust propulsion system.
Now I'm eighty-one, socially isolated, living with permssion in an
"abandoned" house Ray found for me when my place in CA burned last
year in those wildfires.
Ray and I have been playing with fire in reaction motors together
since 1989, when with the support of Dr Henry Spencer we cofounded the
Rocket Science Institute right here in Socorro, on the anniversary of
Apollo 11. Our notion at that time was to cooperatively design, test,
and fly the first amateur (non-government, private non-professionals)
rocket to the Moon. Older aRocket readers will recall our "Lunaris
Project." Thank you again, Henry!
Today I'm developing do-it-yourself ematch igniters for nozzle-less
KNSB motors, cast in paper cases, burning blends of sorbitol, xylitol,
and fructose oxidized by KN with modest additions of AN and AP, along
with the usual condiments. I'm learning again about vacuum degassing
of hot mixes. Happily these little motors can be static and flight
tested nearby.
So what's happening in the low-tech, old-school realm of amateur
rocketry?
Curious, always.
Edward Jones