Developing a throttle system for solid rocket motors

[Neutronium95]

Joe Barnard's latest video is a really neat look at his development of a throttle system for hobby rocket motors intended for his next attempt a propulsively landing a rocket.

 

[Cape Byron]

As ever, extremely cool. Nice shirt, too.

 

[AeroTech]

Very cool!!!

 

[jimzcatz]

"Hybrids are trash".....I love it!!!

 

[rcktnut]

That guy is one smart cookie, but still I think it is dumb to try to diminish the performance of a perfectly good motor. For the most part in this hobby it seems that the higher or faster the rocket goes the better.

 

[Titan II]

That guy is one smart cookie, but still I think it is dumb to try to diminish the performance of a perfectly good motor. For the most part in this hobby it seems that the higher or faster the rocket goes the better.

I trust you are being facetious?

 

[rcktnut]

I trust you are being facetious?

Yes. What I should say is that I think it is a waste of his talent, time and resources on something that most likely would not even be allowed in the hobby due to being a fire hazard. I guess he is trying because it is hard to do, and for his personal satisfaction. Gimbaled thrust, now that's cool.

 

[UPscaler]

Yes. What I should say is that I think it is a waste of his talent, time and resources on something that most likely would not even be allowed in the hobby due to being a fire hazard. I guess he is trying because it is hard to do, and for his personal satisfaction. Gimbaled thrust, now that's cool.

He flies a FAR, where they also fly liquid rockets and things much more "concerning" than G motors with thrust blockers. "The hobby" would also likely frown upon trying to land rockets using motors as they descend.

Experimental rockets are experimental for a reason and that's the same reason he's not making his test flights at NARCON.

Braden

 

[bad_idea]

He flies a FAR, where they also fly liquid rockets and things much more "concerning" than G motors with thrust blockers. "The hobby" would also likely frown upon trying to land rockets using motors as they descend.

Experimental rockets are experimental for a reason and that's the same reason he's not making his test flights at NARCON.

Beyond that, his foundational powered-landing test flights in Tennessee were on the greenest grass I've ever seen, the envy of poor drought-starved Texans like me.

Also of note, while Joe is one of the pioneers - and thus one of the figureheads - of model rocket thrust vector control, he's far from the only one working in the field, and whoever finally brings a reliable product to market, I suspect one day we'll all awake to find a JLCR-like sea-change of commercially available TVC systems that may not land propulsively but will allow scale modelers to dispense with transparent fins.

 

[Neutronium95]

Also of note, while Joe is one of the pioneers - and thus one of the figureheads - of model rocket thrust vector control, he's far from the only one working in the field, and whoever finally brings a reliable product to market, I suspect one day we'll all awake to find a JLCR-like sea-change of commercially available TVC systems that may not land propulsively but will allow scale modelers to dispense with transparent fins.

Joe has actually done a few small production runs of his Signal flight computer. I believe that someone used it in a really neat Atlas V scale model a few years ago.

 

[David_Stack]

Joe has actually done a few small production runs of his Signal flight computer. I believe that someone used it in a really neat Atlas V scale model a few years ago.

There was also this use of Joe's Thrust Vector Control assembly featured in a recent issue of Sport Rocketry: