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(Those purely thirsting to see the beast roar, who don’t have the patience to read the text first, scroll to the bottom of this page for the video!)
 On the weekend of 28 February - March 2, part of the team headed up to Washington, D.C. to attend, and help out with, the test-firing of our P-motor. In attendance from the Florida group were Andy, Kyra, Greg, and “Uncle Chris.”
Saying that Darren Wright of Ozark Aerospace and Jeff Taylor of Loki Research did an amazing job building this motor is the understatement of the century! This motor is the second largest motor ever built and attempted on the East Coast, and also on the East Coast is THE LARGEST AMATEUR MOTOR EVER SUCCESSFULLY FIRED. One of the ten largest motors ever built anywhere, our gargantuan 8-foot-tall P-motor weighed in at roughly 140 pounds, including 82.5 pounds of propellant. The plume of exhaust fire was 25 feet long and 8 feet in diameter at its base!
To acquire thrust data, we helped install the strain gage which would measure the output of the beast. The data is currently still being reviewed in comparision with various video footage. The total impulse places this motor in the high-P range, with roughly 70,000 - 78,000 Ns (a Q-motor would begin at 80,000).
Thanks to Darren, Jeff, and Erik for such a job well done!!!
The motor performance speaks for itself in the video below! Turn up your speakers as loud as they’ll go, hook up about 20 subwoofers, and then maybe you’ll get somewhat close to the full effect. :)
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