Attending: Michael W,
Dave W,
Dan S,
Kevin B,
Eric W
Called to Order: 8:15 p.m., May 10, 2007

H2O2 Production:
Nothing new on the sparger or fractional freezing unit.

Hypergolic Fuels:
Dave W talked about getting some 25% Copper Naphthenate in petroleum solution. He believes this can be used as a hypergolic fuel with HTP. It’s available locally at reasonable cost. It dries easily on things like 2” filter paper and is very miscible. The suggestion was to do specific reactivity testing with very small, measured amounts of HTP onto suitably isolated and douse-able treated filter papers.

It was also suggested that DMez in wood alcohol might make another hypergolic combination.

Proposals will be brought to the next Board meeting for studies to fund.

Possible ignition concerns were raised and discussions centered around disposal of experimental traces and the need for a “burn bucket”.

TechShop Classes:
Kevin B talked about the TechShop that is offering classes in all sorts of useful skills like TIG welding, machining, etc. Most of their classes are $30. They have a very well equipped shop you can work in and offer $100 monthly passes as well. Located at Marsh Road and Hwy. 101 in Menlo Park, they’re just up the peninsula and open weekends. Eric W said he knows the owner and would talk with him about possible opportunities. They also have classroom space that may be usable for meetings.

Kevin mentioned that the powder used in the cermet catalyst was now 3 times as expensive as it was in the 90’s. He is looking at butanol as a good fuel option with high density. There was also discussion of DMHE.

Kevin is preparing to modify the big cover plate from the 750 lb. engine to allow for a pintle injector that will make the engine into a bi-prop test engine.

Ranch Status:
Michael raised the question of whether anyone had been to the ranch recently to see how the rains have eroded things. (This happens every year.) No had been out for a while, though Chuck is still living there and it’s expected he would contact someone if there were major problems.

Dave said last time he was out they connected power to the lower blockhouse by the generator. He mentioned that Chuck was putting frame boards into the second story by the work house.

Kevin mentioned that he has a big sparger at his house that he wants to move to the ranch in the next month or so. Michael will try and coordinate with him to move it using his truck (which has a lift gate). Kevin has a 300 psi HEPA pressure filter on the sparger. It has a heater/blower that puts out 1200 cu ft per minute. It’s a 4 k.w. spa blower that runs at 30o-40o C.

Engine Status:
Michael asked for an inventory of where the various E.R.P.S. engines are:

  • Dan has the K.I.S.S. engine
  • Kevin has the 750 lb. engine
  • Dan has the P.O.G.O. engines
  • Kevin has several of his 50 lb. engines
    • 1 is believed to be in the storage unit
    • 1 is at Dan’s
    • 1 is at Kevin’s

The Swagelok 1 gal pressure tank is in the storage locker.

Kevin had (and gave out) several Type E thermocouples that he got off eBay. These are good to 1200o C and have twice the milli-volt output of the J/K type.

Eric asked about the possibilities of turpentine and H2O2 but no one knew of any specific testing with that propellent combination.

The question of engine welding came up and it was asked if anyone knew of a good laser welding shop. Brightlight Welding in Santa Clara was recommended. They did work for Masten Space Systems while they were here.

It was mentioned that UnreasonableRockets had a servo ball valve that may be of interest.

Vehicles:
Dan mentioned that he wants to start buying parts for Spike. He has a source for 1/8th inch wall 10 inch diameter 6061 AL tubing and wants to buy some.

Dan mentioned that he has the K.I.S.S. II flight video on DVD and can duplicate it. Michael asked for a copy and will see about adding it to the web site. It was suggested we might want to put the K.I.S.S. II video on YouTube as a promotional item. This lead to a tangent where we all looked at the Mondo Spider walker.

PR:
BayCon is coming up Memorial Day Weekend (in San Mateo). We’ve asked for a club table, but have not got a definite answer back. They have less space because of the change of location.

Several people are planning to go to the Fresno HPR even the 19th/20th.

AST’s regular COMSTAC meeting will be May 17th/18th in DC. There will be an Experimental Permits Workshop on May 16, 2007.

There has been no word on possible HTP from Sweden yet.

Kevin said he would try some tests with a new ion exchange resin.

Adjourned: 10:19 p.m.

General Meeting #316