|
Silver Bullet 3 Bi-Propellant Hybrid |
 |
Ted poses with a 700 lb. thrust LR-5 SS rocket. |
|
The Flight Line (left to right):
1. Shadow 51 NOX/polypropylene hybrid
2. Silver Bullet III NOX/Alcohol
3. 3rd Generation NOX/Alcohol
4. LR-5
5. CPVC NOX Hybrid |
 |
|
 |
Silver Bullet III held by Dave Griffith. |
|
| Dave prepares the Silver Bullet III for record-setting flight. |
 |
|
 |
Silver Bullet III being prepared for launch. |
|
| Lift off of Silver Bullet III to 17,000 ft. altitude test. |
 |
|
 |
3rd Generation R.A.T.T. motor being loaded. |
|
| Flight of 3rd generation R.A.T.T. motor. |
 |
|
 |
Static test of RATTworks L1000 Nitrous Oxide and Liquid Alcohol-Bi Propellant Motor |
|
Fuel-Injected Hybrid |
View the launch report for Silver Bullet 8, the fuel-injected hybrid (FIH).
RATTworks Newsletter, Issue 1 (13KB Word) |
|
| Video of two different FIH rockets, Silver Bullet 8 (1.6MB AVI) and an unnamed FIH rocket (1.5MB AVI). |
|
View the assembly instructions for the FIH (1.3MB PDF).
Includes many detailed photographs. |
|
 |
Silver Bullet 8, ready for flight. |
|
| Lift-off of SB8. Note the fuel-rich flame. |
 |
|
 |
The recovered SB8 after a successful flight. Show here is Bill Wood and Dave
Griffith, the inventor of SB8. Bill Wood first proposed using nitrous oxide in
hybrid and liquid rockets. Apparently, it works. |
|
| L700 Tribrid launch. (2.2 MB MOV) |
 |
|
K350/K500 Tribrid |
 |
|
Static firing of the K500 "Tribrid".
863 KB
272 x 176
00:10 MPEG |
 |
|
Ignition of the starter grain. |
Hybrid Mode (ABS/N2O) |
Tribrid Mode (ABS/Alcohol/N2O) |
Bi-Propellant Mode (Alcohol/N2O). Note the nearly invisible
flame, characteristic of this type of motor. |
|
|
Graphical animation of motor operation by Andrew MacMillen.
Test Results of High Performance U/C Valve (543 KB PDF)
K350 Tribrid Thrust curve (58
KB PDF)
Note: You can see the transition from hybrid to tribrid at .55 seconds.
|
|
RATTworks makes history again!
On Saturday, February 13, 1999, at 12:00 pm, the people at RATTworks
test-launched the first nitrous oxide fuel-injected hybrid. The rocket was
a modified LR-5 liquid fuel rocket and the motor was a modified K240
hybrid. |
Top secret injector assembly. |
|
Ted connecting the NOX
loading hose and igniter. |
Fueling of the alcohol was done during assembly of the
motor, and the nitrous oxide was loaded remotely with the
rocket on the launch rail, ready for launch. At ignition of
the igniter grain, the nitrous fueling line burned through as
designed. The motor ran in hybrid mode for approximately one
second, then the fuel plug burned through and released the
alcohol. At that point, the motor was running in plastic and
alcohol fuel mode, producing a ten foot long flame. |
|
Approximately two seconds after liftoff, the
plastic fuel was consumed and the motor was running in
liquid-only mode. The visible flame was reduced to near zero,
which is typical for alcohol motors.
The rocket seemed to kick into warp drive as its rate of
acceleration quickly increased. Unfortunately, the rocket
burned out of sight and the crew ran out of daylight before it
could be found, with its onboard ALTACC accelerometer data.
Estimated altitude was around 15,000 feet, total burn time was
about six seconds. |
Launch of the fuel-injected
liquid bi-propellant rocket.
Note the six foot long flame. |
|
The inventor, Dave Griffith |
This type of start-up sequence for nitrous
oxide liquid-fueled motors will most likely become an
advantageous way to go, as the motor runs extremely smooth and
should not be subject to hard starts. Such circumstances can
cause numerous problems, such as explosions, flame-outs,
igniter blow-outs, back-flash, etc. In other words, a
problem-free high power rocketry liquid motor appears to be in
the works. |
|
|
3 Phases of the Tribrid Rocket Motor
Photos by Gary Moratz Rocketography - 11/9/08
K700 tribrid
Ignition |
K700 tribrid
Hybrid Mode
(ABS/N2O) |
K700 tribrid
Tribrid Mode
(ABS/Alcohol/N2O) |
K700 tribrid
Bi-Propellant Mode
(Alcohol/N2O) |
The photos above show the 3 different phases of tribrid propulsion. Hybrid to bi-propellent mode is completed within a half second. Note the left over pieces of ABS plastic hybrid grain being ejected at the beginning of bi-propellant mode.
|
