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THE R-10,000 (PIECE) CATO
In Sept. of 2004 we attempted to launch our 2nd version of the R-10,000 Hybrid.
The vehicle was truly stunning and at a mass fraction of .62 it looked very promising that we would reach our 100,000 ft goal.
On Sunday we attempted to load 175 pounds of N2O when Kevin Baxter noticed turbulence exiting from the nozzle, This indicated an oxidizer leak somewhere in the combustion chamber. After a quick review of the situation we decided to shut off the gas vent and finish up the 14 minute fill time followed by a 10 second count down. Five seconds after the fire button was released the vehicle went BOOM!
The cause of the cato was oxidizer leaking into the combustion chamber. This resulted in the fuel |
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grain becoming frozen or layered with ice. During ignition, pieces of frozen fuel grain or ice broke off and clogged the nozzle resulting in over pressurization of the motor case. Once the shock wave entered the oxidizer tank the vehicle fragmented and pieces were propelled in every direction.
Many lessons where learned this last September and thanks to Tom, one of our new sponsors, we are actively building vehicle # 3. We are looking forward to Sept. 2005. |
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