Let the Fun Begin!

So now that we have a fueled rocket, and safe bunker to test it's time to light this candle (Bad paraffin wax pun intended).

So I made some modifications to my bunker. I finally added wheels and a vice as you'll see in the video. It's also worth noting I clamped the video camera to the bunker, so that I would not have to be near the rocket the first time I ignited it. I felt that since I was a couple of small holes away from building a pipe bomb that I might not want to stand on top of it and take video.

Anyway, I connected the lines that run from the O2 tank to the rocket. I dowsed a few threads from a rag I cut up in gasoline, and threaded them through the exhaust nozzle to so that they contacted the wax inside the rocket body. The whole set up looked like this video I took from the day before the test fire. You can see that this is before I modified the bunker.



I actually ended up doing a small trial that day without the exhaust nozzle. Basically the rocket turned into a flamethrower that shot flame a good six to eight inches behind it. I have video of it but it's pretty crappy.

Tonight, I did the same exact set up, but with the improved bunker, and I kept the exhaust nozzle on this time. The results speak for themselves...



On a final note, the sputtering that you see in the video was actually caused by me. Throughout the burn I was constantly playing with the oxygen flow rate. I wanted to put it at full power, but when I would the flame would literally light up the sky. There were a couple of points in the burn where I goosed the throttle, and then had to ease it back. The next test will be 100% oxygen flow throughout the entire burn.