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“For demo only,” Ben Krasnow gives a walkthrough in the video below of his homemade hybrid rocket engine, made by combining a rod of poly(methyl methacrylate) with gaseous oxygen. Watch as he shows the fabrication methods for constructing the rocket as well as detailing the rocket engine’s ignition properties.
I built a small rocket engine for demonstration purposes… I lit the engine by inserting a burning cotton swab (with wooden stick) while a small amount of oxygen was flowing. The acrylic catches fire very easily in a pure oxygen environment. The engine can be throttled and shut off completely, which is a major benefit to hybrid engine designs.
18 thoughts on “Homemade Hybrid Rocket Engine”
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This reminds me of a batch of staple-bound books I picked up from the college library sale thirty years ago. “Pacific Rockets, The Journal of the Pacific Rocket Society”, from the late 40’s.
One of their experiments was drilling a hole through a hunk of redwood, mounting an oxygen tank on top and an igniter on the bottom, and launching it.
My collection of the journals is woefully incomplete, so I don’t know how high the wooden rocket launched, but I know that a couple of years later they had switched to plastic.
That’s a great story Tommy. It makes me yearn for a “library of maker books” from yesteryear. Thanks for reading!
Hi Tommy,
I heard about that from some of the folks who were involved with the PRS back in the day. Do you still have the journals, and would you be willing to sell them? I’ve been trying to find a copy, without a lot of luck; I have managed to get some of the American Rocket Society’s though.
I thought about doing the same thing, with a hybrid built of wood. I’ve also put a bit of work into a pulse jet made entirely of wood. It too would eat itself as it ran.
Ben
Nice piece of engineering.
Apt timing as the Bloodhound SSC project tested their hybrid rocket engine last week: http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/news/bloodhound-hybrid-rocket-test
Looks like this is pretty hot, but there is no video!
Hi Clark, I see the video – and it plays – just fine. But just in case here’s the URL: http://youtu.be/TLPWqCMb7DE