FLIGHT TANK

The flight tank is no longer supplied by Aerotech and Catalina Cylinders typically does not sell direct to consumer. Thankfully I stumbled across a direct replacement. They are available from racing CO2 shift systems. The best prices I have been able to find are from Jegs and Autometer. https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/60205/10002/-1 The above bottle requires that you […]

IT WORKED!!!

After test flying the Lust For Thrust on an Aerotech J570 on Saturday it was time to get the rocket up first thing Sunday morning. I was able to squeeze in 385 grams of N2O into the flight tank after chilling it overnight in the cooler and prefiling it with 50 grams of nitrous and […]

Balls Bound!

I had a few tasks to take care just before Balls. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to do a proper test firing due to the 50+ days of 100° and higher temps and the burn ban in my area. This post will update the final configuration for the tank connector and which grains […]

Casting the grain

The propellant grain is cast from a sorbitol mixture consisting of 80% sorbitol, 10% synthetic paraffin wax, 8% AL powder, and 2% red iron oxide as a burn rate catalyst. I was able to make a simple spreadsheet to help with the calculations. I have also included red copper oxide but that will be utilized […]

Fill Adapter

The fill adapter for the tanks can be made from off the shelf components. The fill hose can be obtained from Holley which is one of the listed suppliers in the data pack. There are two types, and the only difference is the color on the fitting, blue or red. The red is supposed to […]

Preheater grain

The preheater grain is required for proper operation of the motor and encourages combustion of the fuel grain. The materials are still produced by Aerotech but you must know what to look for on the RCS website. It is made from a section of Blue Thunder propellant 1 inch long with a 3/8 hole bored […]

off the shelf components

Although the forward closure is no longer produced it is available through RCS. It is highly recommended that you also obtain the data pack as well. I was able to obtain all but two of the components using off the shelf hardware with only minimal changes. The custom components are of course the injector plate […]

Ball valve Option

While awaiting the additional parts for the forward closure I was reviewing some of the Tripoli Facebook comments and one user mentioned a ball valve option. I looked into it and it is possible but the hardest part is acquiring the tank adapter, which I found. I was able to get a 5/8-18 UNF thread […]

Injector Plates

Perhaps one of the most critical parts of the forward bulkhead assy has been made and is in the mail. Thanks to a highly skilled teacher from Oregon, he was able to make me six of each of the 98 and 54mm injector plates from my son’s Fusion 360 drawings and STL’s. The rest of […]

Recert Complete

After a long absence, last flight 2006, I was able to renew my Tripoli membership, get my original number, and recertify back to level 2. Level 1 was accomplished in Nov with my scratch built Pershing 1A with 3d printed fins and nosecone on an Aerotech I218R. Level 2 was done Dec 3 with my […]