Ye Olde Rocket Forum - View Single Post

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Originally Posted by Doug Sams

IOW, save the low-thrust and medium thrust motors for later.

Once we get the engine machine cranking out a particular size, that whole lineage will be available. That means a B4, B6, B8, and B14 would all be released at the same time.

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I wonder about reliability and cost. I've heard that some large BP motors had fiberglass cases.

We will avoid THAT! I think the fiberglass tubes would not work with our machine anyway.

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The potential beauty of this is that only two pieces are required (plus glue) to make a myriad of delay options. Looking at Aerotech thru an accountant's eyes, I was able to learn the huge costs they have tied up in delays and delay spacers. .....From a manufacturing perspective, delay grains would be cranked out along with 0 delay motors. Advanced users - us - would buy these two piece motors and use them however we need - eg, C20-0, C20-5, C20-10. But ordinary retail channels can be served with pre-trimmed, pre-glued products as well. However, these would be built up using the same two pieces. There would be no large factory inventories of pre-trimmed, pre-glued motors.

We had originally thought about just that... Build 18mm boosters on a machine and DECAPS on another much smaller and simpler machine, then glue them together to "fill the matrix." When we ran the numbers, the projected retail price was:

B6-0 $2.05 each
B6-4 $2.30 each
DECAP $0.75 each

So to make them up separately "just-in-time" would bring a premium in price of about $.50 each. For people that want the best, it is still an option. The DECAP should be far more accurate in delay time. Once a DECAP is glued-in, it is permanent. We will have the top of the DECAP color-coded with the BBROYGBVGW scheme so the delay time would be known.