New O-Motor Certified

AWESOME!!

See the video at

I love the post burn out 'sighs'

How long before the Colin/Damian consortium come up with something to take it?

I've gotta ask... With the number of motors you've certified in the past 6 months, how many test firings, and test flights, have you had on each type?

-Kevin

We are the largest user of Nitrous Oxide in the City. On Average we burn just under 500 pounds of Nitrous a Month, for a total of roughly

6000 Pounds of Nitrous a year.

Some motors get fired less than others due to them being very similar to another design.

I.e. a 38mm Motor w/ a 20 and 28 inch case will burn very similar when the same fuel and injector size. So as a result we can burn less. But there is still a lot of motors fired.

The Volume of motors fired is HUGE! In an effort to speed up our testing we designed and build a mobile test trailer that can be driven out to the test site, and motors can be fired directly off of it. There is actually storage compartments in the front of the test stand which are hidden under partial barrels to hold GSE and other testing supplies. All in an effort to allow us to fire more motors in less time so that we can rapidly move through the prototyping and testing phases of motor production.

Thanks Tom

Hi Tom.

Just curious,

how many test flights in rockets on each motor type ?

1 to1 ? 3 to 1 ? 5 to 1 ?

motor type to rocket test flight in those ratios.

CD

Doesn't TMT and S&T require testing multiple motors of each type?

That's the way I thought it used to be...

That was an "average" could be determined. Testing only one motor of each type wouldn't yield that

Right from the Tripoli website:

(maybe this is outdated?)

4-2.1 For new certification of high power rocket motors the following number of motor types will be required for Tripoli certification:

Disposable Motors H through L class motors - three (3) of each

Reloadable Motors H through L class motors - three (3) of each

4-3.1 For new certification of advanced high power rocket motors the following number of motor types will be required for Tripoli certification:

Disposable Motors M through O class motors - two (2) of each delay time

Reloadable Motors M through O class motors - two (2) of each delay time

So, for 12 new motors, there had to be 24-36 firings (more if some had multiple delays).

I'll admit, the announcement of the new O motor sounds like only 1 was tested.

you are correct. For Motors which are of an impulse of L and Below 3 of each type has to be fired for TMT. For Motors which are of M and Above (up to O) only 2 have to be fired. This is the same for all manufactures (solid or hybrid). This ensures that you don't have a burn which is high or low and that they can be averaged. So you are correct in assuming that we fired over 36 motors this past weekend. In order to do this, we have a LOT of hardware!

Our hardware which we have on hand is...

38mm (6 of each) 16 inch 20 inch 28 inch 36 inch 48 inch

54mm

28 inch 36 inch 48 inch

3 of each 75mm

1400cc 2050cc 3200cc

2 of each 98mm and 152mm

5300cc 15000cc

We also have an extra couple cases in case there is a motor which we don't get fired on the first day, or if we need to get an extra motor or 2 tested when we go out.

Don't get me wrong, during the time leading up to TMT Testing we work out butts off. Sleep is not an option, and we have plenty of supplies, and parts ready in case there is anything which we need.

For the O motor 2 of them were fired back to back. They both performed great!

We were going to fire a second O motor on the second day of testing, but when it came down to it, we did not get around to loading everything for TMT the second day. After very little sleep the night before we just could not get it all done.

Thanks Tom

My question was in regards to the number of motors that Contrail fired and flew prior to the testing session, not how many were fired during TMT testing.

That's a question Tom still hasn't answered, other than to say he uses a lot of nitrous.

-Kevin

I said it varied from motor to motor. Some motors need more testing and fine tuning before we put them up for TMT. Some motors have been fired dozens of times before ever going up for Certification. Some get fired less. I am sorry I can not give you an answer such as 10... which would be easy.

But as all manufactures will tell you, some motors take more work to get right than others. Take for example the 38mm XXF Motors. We fired those for months before they were all ready for TMT. It took a few trips back to the drawing board to fix nozzle designs and how to get them to fire reliably. We feel that we have done that and the new XXF motors will be released soon.

Since we have fired many hundreds of motors to date, we have "gotten the hang of things" in regards to specific ratios and the such of different motors. This has definitely helped when we prototype and design a new motor, but they still need to be tested and fired to ensure they are up to our standards.

One thing to remember and consider is that Contrail Rockets is all that I do at this time. It is my JOB. I don't have a day job other than this, so rather than it being part time as it is with many other manufactures, I devote all my time to this business. The other half of Contrail Rockets (Tom B. Sanders, my Father) also works his fair share in this business.

So Kevin, while i can't just give you a specific number of fires for each motor prior to them being certified with TMT, I can tell you that our motors are tested and retested until we are comfortable with their performance and feel that we are giving customers a top notch product.

Thanks Tom

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What a monster!

I hear you can get one by dialing, 1-800-it-bankrupted-me.com/poor now.org/house-for-sale.us

A cato of that thing will reduce you to crying and vomiting at the same time.

HDS