One Small Step .........

This is the business end of a Diplo 220x55 mm solid fuel rocket motor. It consists of two home-made extruded 110x55mm solid fuel cells stuffed end to end into the pipe. The nozzle is cast ceramic. This lot (and possibly multiples of) are contained in a blast box to minimise the risk from errant motor combustion. Not immediately obvious from this picture, but the blast box is bolted to the back of one of Diplo Jnr's push-bikes - we've some work to do because this is an ex skip-find bike that has been stripped of brakes etc for stunt use. Ignition is via a home made Diplo electronic initiator powered by a 12 volt battery using a "GO" button on the handle bars. As with all solid fuel boosters, there is no "OFF" switch. Earlier static motor tests indicate we could be in for some massive thrust and impressive speeds. We have had some huge motor explosions as well but we are confident that recent technical improvements have eliminated the most dangerous problems. MORE ROCKETRY !

Ballistic Cuisine

Preliminary tests on KNO3 solid fuel rocket motor have been interesting. I'm not sure I was quite prepared for the volume of smoke to be generated - neighbours certainly weren't - Diploville was briefly plunged into a dense smog Sunday afternoon but a stiff breeze soon cleared things enough for us to inspect the damage. The copper tube is being used for test purposes,to be replaced in production by cardboard tube lined with aluminium foil to save weight. Since this shot of a 7.3 second burn we've been experimenting with nozzle geometry and a little bit of venturi effect. No thrust details as yet. We're making a rig for tests using a spring balance. Slightly blurred image due to a combination of factors!

Accurate, digital scales are a great help - brilliant for these sort of projects as they are zero-able at the touch of a button. Very expensive Swiss stainless cookware is optional but it's always a pleasure to use good kit. MORE SMOKE !