Most static fires take a beat to come up to chamber pressure before things settle. This one is built for speed: the motor goes from standstill to full pressure in under ten milliseconds, and the target ignition time sits below that same 10 ms mark. Instant light-off with rapid pressure buildup is the stated goal, and it is what separates this motor from the usual slower start.
The hardware looks purpose-built. Harry Amadeo assembled the test stand from bolted metal angle iron and flat bar stock, finished with dark vertical rails and a red horizontal clamp. The motor cylinder sits vertically in that ground-mounted stand, and a central metal nozzle assembly connects to electrical ignition wires. Firing is vertical, outdoors in a wooded area.
The firing itself is striking. White sparks and pale grey smoke pour from the nozzle first, then an intense vertical yellow-white flame plume ignites immediately. The result is a loud, sustained jet roar and a tall, bright plume, white at the core with a reddish glow around it. Peak Kn in the test hits 250. After two to three seconds the plume shuts off abruptly, which reads to me as a clean, decisive end to the burn.
A couple of details stand out. The propellant carries strontium salts to give a red color, but the maker notes the exhaust definitely contains traces of carbon, and that carbon kills the pink flame effect. A lithium perchlorate attempt also failed to produce a red flame. The ignition system is a touch temperamental and needs more data before the maker understands exactly how the ignition works; the mechanism will be explained once it is ironed out, which leaves a genuinely interesting open question here.
Project by Harry Amadeo. Watch it on their YouTube channel: