AeroTech Open Thread

[AeroTech]

RCS/AeroTech new facility groundbreaking yesterday.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

No leftover washer unless you opt to use an AT seal disk in place of the forward insulator. I haven't, but I know some people do.

Sorry, I meant O-ring (for the nozzle carrier).

 

[OverTheTop]

Nice to see success and a company expanding.

 

[David_Stack]

Good Afternoon All;

Preparing for a MPR dual-deploy flight (my first DD flight) using a G64 for motive power. Motor ejection for backup. Thrustcurve recommends a delay of 7 seconds, OR simulation is suggesting 7.37 seconds.

My G64's are a few years old (manufacturer date code: 102804 12).

Do the Aerotech delays tend to err to the long side (if I drill to 7 seconds or use a 7 second delay grain, can I be reasonably assured the motor ejection charge will be after the altimeter fired drogue charge)? Or should I allow a bit of cushion, and drill a 10 second delay down to 8 seconds?

Thanks in advance,
Dave

 

[3stoogesrocketry]

Good Afternoon All;

Preparing for a MPR dual-deploy flight (my first DD flight) using a G64 for motive power. Motor ejection for backup. Thrustcurve recommends a delay of 7 seconds, OR simulation is suggesting 7.37 seconds.

My G64's are a few years old (manufacturer date code: 102804 12).

Do the Aerotech delays tend to err to the long side (if I drill to 7 seconds or use a 7 second delay grain, can I be reasonably assured the motor ejection charge will be after the altimeter fired drogue charge)? Or should I allow a bit of cushion, and drill a 10 second delay down to 8 seconds?

Thanks in advance,
Dave

If your using motor ejection as a backup , always go long on the delay . The altimeter ( if used correctly ) is much more accurate.

 

[smstachwick]

Hey!

I recently visited the site and I like the updates and fixes that have been made recently. Having the Master Motor Matrix available there again was especially welcome.

I did notice something that was a bit unusual though: there seems to be quite a bit of overlap and blurred lines between the single-use motors with the Enerjet by AeroTech branding and ones branded with AeroTech alone. It appears to me that the brands are intended to roughly correspond to power ranges, based on the labeling of the site menus, yet there are a ton of F and G motors in the “AeroTech High-Power” grouping. The classification seems a bit arbitrary, especially since the G77R, G78G, and G79W are in the AeroTech section but the G80T, with identical casing dimensions and similar designation, is under Enerjet.

My question is this: is there currently a plan (plan in motion?) for more streamlined branding and product classification, or is there just something that I’m missing with the classifications as they are?

(Minor edits)

 

[AeroTech]

Hey!

I recently visited the site and I like the updates and fixes that have been made recently. Having the Master Motor Matrix available there again was especially welcome.

I did notice something that was a bit unusual though: there seems to be quite a bit of overlap and blurred lines between the single-use motors with the Enerjet by AeroTech branding and ones branded with AeroTech alone. It appears to me that with the brands are intended to roughly correspond to power ranges, based on the labeling of the site menus, yet there are a ton of F and G motors in the “AeroTech High-Power” grouping. The classification seems a bit arbitrary, especially since the G77R, G78G, and G79W are in the AeroTech section but the G80T, with identical casing dimensions and similar designation, is under Enerjet.

My question is this: is there currently a plan (plan in motion?) for more streamlined branding and product classification, or is there just something that I’m missing with the classifications as they are?

All the single use model rocket motors (other than Q-Jet) will eventually be branded Enerjet by AeroTech. DMS and RMS and all high power will remain as AeroTech for now.

 

[Neutronium95]

@AeroTech Jim Wilkerson got this gorgeous photo of the M1780 I used in my L3 cert attempt. I don't know if you'd want to use a photo of a motor that burned through in your marketing, but this is just so gorgeous.

 

[Theory]

@Neutron95
Beautiful picture!

Has it been confirmed that the cause of the failure was a short liner?

Asking as that motor is on my short list form my eventual L3

 

[AeroTech]

That is a fantastic photo! We will have to wait until Karl and Dane get back from IREC next week to figure out what happened.

 

[4regt4]

Is there any warranty on Quest Qjet motors, specifically a E26-4 (date code 080321)?

I had 2 of them fail this last Saturday. I emailed the "warranty" address for AT, but have heard nothing.

Thanks,
Hans,

 

[bad_idea]

Is there any warranty on Quest Qjet motors, specifically a E26-4 (date code 080321)?

I had 2 of them fail this last Saturday. I emailed the "warranty" address for AT, but have heard nothing.

Thanks,
Hans,

Karl is often away supporting launches. When I emailed recently about some igniters that had fallen apart on me, it was a few days before I heard back, but he did indeed get back to me. Gary says above that Karl is at Spaceport this week, so it may be a week or whatever, but I bet you'll hear from him in time.

 

[rharshberger]

Karl is often away supporting launches. When I emailed recently about some igniters that had fallen apart on me, it was a few days before I heard back, but he did indeed get back to me. Gary says above that Karl is at Spaceport this week, so it may be a week or whatever, but I bet you'll hear from him in time.

Indeed Karl is really good at getting back to people on warranty issues, on one occasion after a warranty question he and I had a nice long phone chat on methods to mitigate the issue that caused the Cato in that particular motor.

 

[AeroTech]

Is there any warranty on Quest Qjet motors, specifically a E26-4 (date code 080321)?

I had 2 of them fail this last Saturday. I emailed the "warranty" address for AT, but have heard nothing.

Thanks,
Hans,

Karl is away at IREC in New Mexico, I'm sure he will get back to you when he can.

 

[AeroTech]

Is there any warranty on Quest Qjet motors, specifically a E26-4 (date code 080321)?

I had 2 of them fail this last Saturday. I emailed the "warranty" address for AT, but have heard nothing.

Thanks,
Hans,

Actually Karl says that he already responded to you.

 

[4regt4]

Actually Karl says that he already responded to you.

HI.

Yes, yesterday afternoon I received an email from him. Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure what the policy was.

Hans.

 

[loopy]

Good Afternoon All;

Preparing for a MPR dual-deploy flight (my first DD flight) using a G64 for motive power. Motor ejection for backup. Thrustcurve recommends a delay of 7 seconds, OR simulation is suggesting 7.37 seconds.

My G64's are a few years old (manufacturer date code: 102804 12).

Do the Aerotech delays tend to err to the long side (if I drill to 7 seconds or use a 7 second delay grain, can I be reasonably assured the motor ejection charge will be after the altimeter fired drogue charge)? Or should I allow a bit of cushion, and drill a 10 second delay down to 8 seconds?

Thanks in advance,
Dave

If it's true dual deploy (e.g. altimeter with events to fire charges at apogee and desired altitude for main), leave the delay as long as possible to prevent it from ejecting prior to apogee. Let the altimeter fire at apogee, and the motor ejection charge will fire later on.

 

[WoShuGui]

This is some damage to the gain side of a 38 mm forward sealing disk noticed after a I327DM flight. Looks like aluminum is erroded. Anyone seen this before?

 

[Wayco]

Looks like most of mine do. I don't call it damage, it's just wear. Damage is when the lip is burned through.

 

[rharshberger]

This is some damage to the gain side of a 38 mm forward sealing disk noticed after a I327DM flight. Looks like aluminum is erroded. Anyone seen this before?View attachment 524041

looks just like a launch rail after launching sparkies off it. The white hot titanium sponge and combustion products cause the pitting, not unusual, as Wayne says its normal wear and the price for flying sparkies.

 

[Banzai88]

Agreed, normal wear. Think of seal discs as long use consumables.

 

[WoShuGui]

looks just like a launch rail after launching sparkies off it. The white hot titanium sponge and combustion products cause the pitting, not unusual, as Wayne says its normal wear and the price for flying sparkies.

Thanks. My brother's Punisher 3. Jim took this awesome photo, so yeah... definitely worth it.
https://jimwilkerson.zenfolio.com/p739332538/ha652253

 

[rharshberger]

Thanks. My brother's Punisher 3. Jim took this awesome photo, so yeah... definitely worth it.
https://jimwilkerson.zenfolio.com/p739332538/ha652253

Jim Wilkerson takes good pics, of course thats what he does, but yep great shot. Jim was just at our Memorial day launch and took many great photos.

 

[mtnmanak]

Agreed, normal wear. Think of seal discs as long use consumables.

Absolutely - This is why I am using the stainless steel versions on most/all of my 54mm, 75mm and 98mm flights now. Aeroech requires them for the hard hitting propellants like Super Thunder, but they great for all motors and are awesome for sparkies to prevent disc damage. If you use pyrodex, it can really damage the aluminum seal discs. In the picture below, one flight actually took some chunks out of a 54mm aluminum seal disc. All we need now is a 38mm stainless steel version...

 

[mtnmanak]

I am pretty sure this has been asked before, but this thread is 175 pages long now and difficult to search through.

Is there anywhere that lists which nozzle goes with which motor? I have acquired motor grains for K1499 and L1250 motors, but they didn't include the bag with the nozzles, smoke grains and O-Rings. Smoke grains and O-Rings are easy, but I need to know which nozzles to get on the RCS site. How do I match them up? Are spec sheets for each motor (including nozzle specs) posted anywhere?

 

[Neutronium95]

I am pretty sure this has been asked before, but this thread is 175 pages long now and difficult to search through.

Is there anywhere that lists which nozzle goes with which motor? I have acquired motor grains for K1499 and L1250 motors, but they didn't include the bag with the nozzles, smoke grains and O-Rings. Smoke grains and O-Rings are easy, but I need to know which nozzles to get on the RCS site. How do I match them up? Are spec sheets for each motor (including nozzle specs) posted anywhere?

The motor cutaway drawings on RCS specify the nozzle part number, and the size that the throat needs to be drilled out to.

 

[mtnmanak]

The motor cutaway drawings on RCS specify the nozzle part number, and the size that the throat needs to be drilled out to.

That is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

Although, unfortunately, the L1250DM not listed.

 

[AeroTech]

That is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

Although, unfortunately, the L1250DM not listed.

It is now.

Let me know if there are others missing.

 

[mtnmanak]

It is now.

Let me know if there are others missing.

Awesome, thanks so much!

 

[AeroTech]

Something new we tested today.
K1800ST-PS
Super Thunder™ reload kit for the RMS-75/2560 case
Total Impulse: 2,420 N-sec (544.1 lb-sec)
Maximum Thrust: 2,140 N (481.1 lbs.)
Burn Time: 1.35 Sec.
Average Thrust: 1,793 N (403.1 lbs.)
Loaded weight: 2,777 g (6.12 lbs.)
Propellant weight: 1,113 g (2.45 lbs.)
Delivered Isp: 222.1 sec.
No timeline on certification or release, just seeing if there's interest.





View attachment K1800ST-P Static Test 6-29-22.mov