It's been some time since I last added to the 'Laffin-Gas' blog. David and I took a couple of months off to visit family and friends that are sprinkled around the planet. We visited son, Ken, and his new family in Maui (Hawaii), then our great buddies, Mark and Pav Stacey in New Zealand, followed by David's amazing sister, Judy and my other son. Will, in Sydney and Brisbane.
Last year, we made great strides in the performance and power of the rocket systems with the development of the bi-fuel motor using kerosene as the fuel. Tests indicated that we would be able to achieve around 6,000lbs of thrust from the four rocket motors in the car. With a weight of just under 1,000lbs (minus the all-too skinny driver!) that indicated a power-to weight ratio of 6:1.
A car that can pull 5-6 g under constant acceleration made us re-think where we should be going and what we could possibly achieve. It became clear that, with the right modifications, it would be possible to hit 400mph and get safely stopped on a two-mile runway right here in the UK.
This is a very ambitious and risky venture, of course, but it's a terminal speed that could only be hit using rocket-power. You need to get up to speed in a very short distance (about 1./3rd of a mile) in order to have enough room to get safely stopped. The rocket systems in the car are up to that job.
The car, at present, needs quite a few changes, including new, higher speed, wheels and tyres, more braking power and some new, much slicker, bodywork. We've made a start by enclosing the cockpit and, bit by bit, we're accumulating the new parts to up-rate the chassis from a drag-car to something a bit more capable.
On Thursday 10th June we conducted a final in-car static test of a single kerosene/N2O rocket to confirm that the systems were all working as they should and to be sure that the power we've observed, in test-rig firings, was being re-produced in the car with (all it's extra systems). The test went very well with the car leaping forward against it's tether and the rocket producing a level of power that is quite astonishing for an N2O rocket. You can watch the firing at: youtube.com/laffingastv or click on the icon on our homepage dashboard.
We had decided, last year, that we would only return to running the car when we were satisfied that we would be able to achieve a decent level of reliability. That time has now arrived, so testing can now move from the farm to the runway.
This project has never had outside financial support, so David and I have always had to proceed at a pace that our meagre finances could support.. With the recent recession, and now the massive increases in prices for fuel, power, materials, we've had to go even slower than before. We've tried to concentrate on things that require time, effort and use of all the tooling we already have, rather than on things that require big lumps of cash. We're a bit like the old sit-com; 'The Good Life', only with spanners instead of spades. We're self-sufficient and resourceful, so we can get things done for a fraction of the cost one might expect.
We've done a lot of work on the transporter, which, (with it's generator, compressor, refrigeration units and other kit) is as much a part of going fast as the car itself. One of the biggest jobs was to paint the whole thing white to help the refrigeration units in their struggle to cool gasses and the car on warm summer days. It's made a massive difference and the cooling systems are doing a much better job.
We've also constructed a WW2-style canopy for the cockpit. Having added more ballistic protection behind the driver's head, in the form of a titanium dome, we simply had to enclose the cockpit as we’d turned the entire roll-cage into an air-brake!
On the rocketry side, we've been doing a lot of design work on scaling up to produce a 20,000lbs thrust system for possible use in the ever-growing private space-flight industry. Nitrous oxide hybrid rockets have long held out a promise of cheap and relatively safe rockets for flight, but have never achieved the performance and safety levels needed for the job. Our systems represent a real breakthrough in both performance and safety, renewing the possibility that Nitrous Oxide rockets will be a viable way of getting payloads into space. The car is a wonderful way for little guys like us to demonstrate to the world just what us Brits can do from our back-yards.
There is a way of thinking, these days, that great projects and engineering breakthroughs only come from big companies with big budgets and massive teams of people. When we look at our engineering history we find that much of the really good stuff came out of little workshops and very small, passionate and ingenious groups of people. Ken Tyrrell took three F1 World championships (against the might of firms like Ferrari), working out of a woodshed. Frank Whittle did much the same with his Gas Turbine 'Jet' engines. Colin Chapman started Lotus in a garage behind a pub. So there's no reason why a record smashing rocket-car, and revolutionary rocket technology can't emerge from the machine-shop at the bottom of our garden.
We've now reached a stage where some external financial input is needed. Not a lot, but some. Force India's budget for ONE DAY, would be enough to get us to 400mph! This could be a great opportunity for a company that wants to raise its profile by getting involved with a bit of old-fashioned romance, passion, adventure and engineering achievement. So any one, who would like to come along, 'kick the tyres' and see for themselves if this is for real,get in touch and come and have a butchers!
If you've got an event coming up and would like something to add a bit of spice and interest, why not book us to bring the car along and give an entertaining, sometimes amusing, not-to-difficult talk on our adventures in rocket-science?
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