Doug Jones wrote:
>
> Just a little bit you might find interesting-
>
> We have a new photo of engine testing up on our page below, under
> "Current Projects". I took the photo with a handheld spotlight
> illuminating the engine to prevent the brilliance of the plume from
> washing out the image. I had to hold the lamp so close to the exhaust I
> could feel the thrust on the lamp! The bolts and the vertical line to
> the right side of the image are parts of a lexan/aluminum blast shield
> structure just in case we have a bad day, since I was about a meter from
> the engine while it was firing. The noise at that distance is 144 dBA,
> so earplugs *and* muffs are a good idea.
>
> The plume is much brighter than it appears in this image, since I had a
> bit too much external illumination- the incandescent lamp also shifted
> the color balance, and the plume is not quite so bluish. One of those
> "Ya had to be there" things, but we should be doing public demos at
> various conferences in a few months (shameless plug).
>
Cool stuff. Y'know, if the x-1 project is still looking for funding you
might talk to Stacey "Scootch" Prineas of Seattle. He put together $5
million back in the late 80s and early 90s to build a TA-4J from three
hulks and a guatemalan Air Force surplus jet engine. Scootch is a funny
guy, I saved his plane (and all of our asses) one day when they were
doing the first engine test. The crew cheif or somebody had dropped a
screw driver in the intake during his intake inspection. I spotted it
rattling around in the intake screen during rev up as the engine rotor
had kicked it back up. He thanked me by taking me out and getting me so
drunk I couldn't get out of bed for a couple days... some thanks... I
didn't think that was any better than getting blown to kingdom come by
several thousand pounds of fuel at the time.
Anyways, since those days he has done some deals with Ollie North and
Adnan Kashoggi, so he might be someone to talk to.
Mike Lorrey
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:03:51 MDT