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                                                                38mm Fuel for Thought 2-14-07
                            
This is my second attempt with this fuel in a 38mm motor. Test #1 was at a KN of 147. It resulted in a 40 second burn time. It was incredible to watch. It also answered the question how low is too low of a KN for this fuel.

Attempt #2 was at a KN of 313. This is in the  range that this fuel likes. I also tried out a new ignition method on this motor. I cast a 3/8" slug of 65% KNO3 - 35% Dextrose - 1% RIO fuel at the top of the forward grain. The motor lit within .6 seconds. That is 4 - 6 times faster than before. I will try this trick again with the next static test.

I was also able to collect some useful data from the firing.  The numbers look too good to believe, so for now I choose not to believe them until I can test again. I will post them to make it easier to compare later.

131.5 gram of fuel fired in .75 seconds. 184.05 Newtons of total thrust. 230.06 Newtons of average thrust. Anyone familiar with sugar motors is saying " no way you got that thrust from 131.5 grams of fuel." I am saying the same thing. My test stand was calibrated before firing and that is what the numbers worked out to. Only another test will tell. I expected a better than normal ISP, but not this good.

38mm x 112mm static test 2-14-07

Overall it was a fun day. This is the reason I love Experimental Rocketry.