New Directions

Our very good buddy, Mike Mathews, commented the other day that we haven’t put anything new on the old ‘Rocket Works’ blog. We’ve been very busy, but that’s no real excuse, so here’s an update:

It’s all change and new directions for the car. A cockpit cover is being made, the front running gear is being changed for different wheels, fatter tyres and bigger brakes. The rear suspension is being strengthened and an additional, very small, parachute is being added. The controls have been moved and the seat position changed to accommodate our new driver. Yes; you heard that right – a new (lady) driver! We made the decision, a few months ago to split engineering and driving duties. It was easier to replace the driver (not that easy, but easier!), so that’s what we’ve done. Her name is Joanna Finch and she’s a very bright and capable woman with a good understanding of engineering and a passion for going fast. (Her regular wheels are attached to a 950cc supermoto – ‘nuff said!).

Two further new members have joined the team, David Lowe an experienced Mechanical Engineer with a back-ground in Aviation and Aerodynamics and Jon London with a lot of experience in rocketry and in education.

David Lowe will be working on improving aerodynamics (including some wind-tunnel work) and making sure that our running-gear is up to the task ahead. Jon will be working both with the rockets and in our educational outreach activities. This takes a huge load off me (Carolynne), now if only someone else could drive the bus…..

We’ve also been doing a lot of work on other applications for our rocket systems. We have met with Professor George Fraser at the Space Research Centre at Leicester University. George is a very interesting man who makes me think of a Scottish version of Dick Keller, (understated, very funny, very commercial and very single minded). George gave us a jaw-dropping tour of his enterprise (and it is an enterprise – not an ivory tower) with room after room of wonderfully engineered stuff, all for the purpose of building payloads to go into space. There was so much neat stainless-steel stuff all over the place. (I should have taken a bigger handbag!).

The upshot of that is we’ve agreed to start on the process of a feasibility study, and then (hopefully) a development programme to do the work to provide a low-cost orbital insertion vehicle. Jon London (who’s passion is rockets for flight) will be in the thick of this process. Many, many thanks must go to Philippa Davies of De Montfort University, whose thoroughness and persistence made this all come together. I’m doing my best to ‘rope her in’ on a more long-term basis. We like having bright women on our team, we do!

I’ve been corresponding and Skyping with a very bright and experienced ex-pat engineer, Geoff Daly, who’s been a great mentor and sounding-board for the last couple of year or so. Geoff has great experience at the highest level in rocket engineering and has his own Consultancy based in New Hampshire in the USA. He’s been very helpful in sourcing up-graded components. He’s also been able to make some real headway in getting to the bottom of what happened in the Mojave Desert, three years ago, when three people were killed and several more injured in an N2O explosion during a test at the ‘Scaled Composites’ facility. His research has given us a lot of comfort, in that it has largely confirmed the conjecture about exactly what kind of event it was and where the mistakes were made. Our safety systems, design and methods have been developed to avoid such an event, so confirmation that we’re on the right path is very well received.

In the course of his efforts, Geoff has talked with many of his contacts and colleagues in the USA, who, it appears, have shown much enthusiasm for our designs, systems and safety methods. Geoff is still pressing on with these matters, so it’s premature to go into very much detail. However, consider this: Mid Afternoon, June, the Mojave Desert, no shade, concrete test-pad, N2O!! Our dear readers can work this one out for themselves, methinks. Keep up the good work, Geoff!

Oh! I forgot – Why all the changes to the car?

400 mph in the UK!!

There you go – I’ve blurted it out.