Did He Just Make a Rocket in His Garage?

Seems like the comments are very technical so for those in the know enjoy.  (I just think this is cool regardless!)

Here is a bit of an intro from the inventor:

I built a small rocket engine for demonstration purposes. The engine is built from a 2″ diameter acrylic rod through which I drilled a 0.5″ hole. The oxygen at 80 psi or less is passed through the hole and then is forced through a convergent-divergent nozzle at the tail end. The nozzle’s throat is about 0.25″ and expands to 0.625″. 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. Solid-fuel rockets cannot be throttled or shut off, which makes them difficult to control.

Commenter Rick O has this to say:
This is great Ben.  I love the fact that you can see inside the engine while it’s lit.  I’m looking into building a hybrid rocket motor myself.  If you know of any good resources for designing the nozzle I’d love to hear them.  I’m not too sure about how to calculate the different angles, throat diameter, etc.
We hope you enjoy the video and don’t try this at home once again.
Stay tuned for more videos from this home inventor.



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