Beginning with Experimental Motors
By Garett Foster, Propulsion Team Lead
10/7/2017
As the Propulsion Team began the journey of making experimental composite propellants with the ultimate goal of being able to fly our competition rockets off of experimental motors, it became immediately evident that this is something best learned by experience. Luckily, over the past year Lucas Utley, the rocketry team’s founder, has been able to cultivate relationships with rocketeers around our area and get us connected with people who have been making propellant for years. The high power rocketry community is full of people willing and ready to share any knowledge they have to help others. This Saturday I, along with five of the Propulsion Team members and Lucas, got a chance to learn the art of propellant mixing from some veteran rocketeers. The two gentleman we met with, Lance Lickteig and Steve Klausmeyer, are members of the KLOUDBusters rocketry club out of Argonia, KS. They graciously welcomed us into (Steve’s) incredible workshop filled with retired rockets and supplies for future projects in order to learn the basics of what it takes to make solid rocket fuel.
On Saturday once we arrived at Steve’s shop there were brief introductions and Lance showed us some of the information about the propellant we’d be making, then we got right to work. The majority of the process was made up of our experienced teachers measuring out ingredients and adding them to a bowl under an industrial stand mixer. I along with everyone else ferociously jotted down notes and tried to absorb as much information about the process as possible. Once the batch was finished, similar to a cooking show, Lance pulled out a batch of propellant they had made the night before and had the proper time to cure. This was where the process became more hands on because one of our younger members, Shawn, and I got to put on gloves and load the finished propellant into casting molds. Due to the curing agents having just been added, this part was time sensitive. Lance would add the extremely sticky propellant to the casting tube while Shawn and I tamped it down until the tube was full, then we capped it off to let set and harden. After the propellant casting was done, we moved on to clean up which is not a simple task when dealing with flammable ingredients. The two gentlemen took us through what the steps are to clean all of the equipment and how to properly dispose of any leftover propellant.
The trip to Wichita was a great success, the range of experience in our Propulsion Team varies but there is a constant desire to learn. I was amazed by the number of members we had show an interest in propulsion and immediately want to take part in the trip north. The information and experience we gained will accelerate the process of beginning to make our own propellants. Next weekend Cowboy RocketWorks will be heading up to Kansas once again for some of our members to launch their own certification rockets as well as a chance to see the very propellant we helped to make launch skyward.