MTA Work Event – January 20th, 2024

by Dave Nordling and Joel Cool-Panama, Secretary, RRS.ORG


The RRS held a work event at the Mojave Test Area (MTA) on Saturday, January 20th. The primary purpose of this meeting was to give Joel Feree, our contact with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), an in-person tour of the whole MTA, so that he could get an idea as to what we were working with for our collaboration with American Artist which will involve the recreation of the 1936 Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) prototype liquid rocket engine. This was Joel Ferree’s first time at the MTA and he gained much insight into how we’ll be seeing the project through. Dimitri Timohovich also used his experience in the film industry to highlight some practical aspects for the production. Following this meeting, Dave Nordling, Dimitri, and Joel Ferree came up with a timeline for the project. Dave Nordling, serving as the project leader, is working hard to get hardware ready for an initial firing by our membership at the MTA. Once the system is proven to work reliably and safely, the static firing of this replica will be the centerpiece of the filming to take place at the MTA.

On the same day, four student representatives of Loyola Marymount University’s rocketry team came to meet with Dave Nordling. They intend to build a custom hybrid motor, which they plan to static fire at the MTA. Dave gave them some points on their motor and feed system designs, which they can certainly appreciate, given that this is their first experimental rocket project. Rushd Julfiker and Dave will continue to advise the team on their propellant loading system and ignition system, and they may well use a firing box of Dimitri’s design.

While there, Dave and Dimitri worked on moving some of the society assets from the Dosa Building to the new Bldg. 14 office container.  This was done partly to declutter the working space, in order to make it into a meeting and workspace once more. If the lease does end next year, then Polaris will be removing many items of theirs which are also in the Dosa Building, including refrigerators, stove, and laminar flow bench. Polaris is required according to the terms of the lease to notify the RRS Executive Council of the movement of their assets.

According to Dimitri, a company called Tortuga Industries has reportedly bought 183 acres of land along Munsey Road. According to the rumors, they are looking to turn their parcel into a private duck hunting reserve, complete with a large pond.

Dimitri also reported that Crisalli is taking the initiative to fix the northern road running along the eastern side of the MTA property. Gordon has so far filled in the trench near the northeastern corner of the property, removed the concrete barricades, and installed a gate across the road. He has reportedly been using this northern route himself, dragging it several times in the process. He reports that the 4 miles of the northern road leading to the highway is now certainly passable, albeit the creek bed is still soft as of this writing. The RRS still recommends all visitors and users of the MTA continue to use the western (Munsey) road from Cantil until further improvements can be made.  The RRS MTA has access gates along the eastern border but they are rarely used.

Next monthly meeting will be February 9th.

Next work event at the MTA is planned for February 17th. This will depend on planned Polaris operations which could close the access easement road. Coordination with Polaris will be required.


MTA Launch Event, 2023-06-10

by Dave Nordling, President, RRS.ORG


The Reaction Research Society held a launch event at our Mojave Test Area on June 10, 2023. We had two groups holding separate events that day.

Operation Progress and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Community Safety Partnership held an event with student built “Big Bertha” rockets. Our society treasurer, Larry Hoffing, was the pyro-op in charge. Our vice president, Frank Miuccio, was supporting the event in uniform.

Everything went well as we had some clouds, low winds and mild temperatures for June. A group photo under the MTA arch was a nice finish to a great event. We thank Operation Progress and LAPD and the volunteers who helped make the event a success.

The RRS MTA’s latest improvement, our containerized restroom got its first live test and performed well. Final fixes to be completed this year.

The second event we had at the MTA a little further north was the UCLA Capstone project. Every year before graduation, some UCLA students build custom model rockets with different objectives. They used F and G motors so they still qualify as model rockets. RRS secretary, Joel Cool-Panama, and myself supervised the event with Professors Mitchell Spearrin and Bret Lopez.

All teams were able to launch, sometimes multiple times. UCLA teams recorded their results as part of the senior class. UCLA was well organized and is very easy to work with. We hope to see them again next year at the MTA.

While Joel and I observed UCLA’s operations, we took some time with a shovel and rake to remove the large amount of brush that has grown around the MTA launch and work areas. This year’s abundance of rain was a God-send to many throughout the drought-racked state od California. To the society, it served as a bold reminder that brush clearance is and will be a frequent need to safely continue our operations.

The large vertical test stand with its concrete flame trench has been idle for several years. The Compton Comet team hopes to conduct a static fire test some day soon. After some surveying of the area’s worst spots for brush, Joel decided to clear out the flame trench. I was getting winded just keeping up with loading and carrying away the removed piles. Joel is a good worker and has made his mark this year at the society and serving as an officer on the council.

The last photo is of the 2023 RRS executive council, all of whom attended and participated at this June 10th event.

Our next event will be in July. This could be Saturday, July 22nd, if I get more confirmation from those wanting to launch. All launch and test requests must be made to the RRS president.

president@rrs.org


February 2023 meeting

by Joel Cool-Panama, Secretary, RRS.ORG


The Reaction Research Society held its monthly meeting at the Compton/Woodley Airport location, February 10th, at 7:30 PM PST.

Agenda topics of the meeting were:

  • Pyro-op licenses. New applications, test materials, CALFIRE website list, renewal period reminder.
  • Newman motor pouring class interest
  • Outreach
  • CALFIRE Rocket subcommittee
  • Bill Claybaugh
  • Jim Gross meet up in San Fernando Valley for electrical firing video
  • Symposium
    • Entrance fee
  • Larry Hoffing

Past Events

On January 22nd, 2023, we hosted another work event at the MTA. The work event was productive, but the electrical and septic work are not yet done. More support during the work week was requested, and another event was scheduled for February 19th.

Keith Yoerg held a firing event at the MTA on January 28th. He, Leanna Lincoln, Rushd Julfiker, Jim Gross, and Michael Rouleau attended. Keith recorded videos of the event, including slow motion footage, of the four micrograin standard alpha rockets they fired. Larry briefly went over methods for cleaning out alpha rocket propellant tubes as a part of the discussion.

FAR’s liquid rocket symposium on the same day, January 28th, at the Flabob Airport in Riverside was a success, having about two hundred persons in attendance. Videos and presentations from the event are currently hosted on Mark Ventura’s website.

The society is pleased to announce the new Constitution has officially been ratified. While there were no opposing votes, the fact is that a majority of society members did not vote on the matter.

On February 6th, the executive council discussed the new website. We currently expect that the site will launch by the first of March. As of now, we are seeking tax exempt status from Paypal, in order to reduce the cut of our donations which they take. We also need to archive the old website.

Regarding our April symposium, we are currently leaning strongly towards holding the event at the Mary Star of the Sea High School in San Pedro, which has approved the event. It should be noted that the location has good parking, and might provide food for the event. We also discussed holding a class on their football field.

Current Events

The Society is pleased to announce that Keith Yoerg is currently getting his recommendation letters for a Class 2 Rockets pryo-op license. Wolfram is also undertaking the process for obtaining a license, and Michael Rouleau is considering it as well.

For any others who might be interested in obtaining a pyro-op license, it was mentioned that the lowest grade license, Class 3 Rockets, doesn’t require recommendations from fellow license holders. Instead, recommendations from any non-related person as to your character will suffice.

John Newman’s solid motor pouring class at the FAR site was also mentioned at the meeting. He is going to be hosting the class on the first and third Saturday’s of March. So far, nearly ten society members have shown interest in attending.

Society vice president, Frank Miuccio was pleased to announce his first class in a year at Nickerson Gardens. The class demonstrated straw rockets and Newton’s three laws of motion.

Society treasurer Larry Hoffing attended the last CALFIRE Rocket subcommittee in Dave’s place. Mark Holthaus of FAR and David Reese of ROC have been giving a lot of good guidance to CALFIRE regarding laws governing rocketry which will be taken for legislative review this year in Sacramento. Based on some language seen in a recent draft, society president Dave Nordling had strong reservations against manually relieving pressurized tanks which should be avoided by design on rockets and remote releases should be mandated instead. This will be mentioned in further meetings at the committee.

Bill Claybaugh continues to prepare for a late April launch and may need to use the MTA again in the near future.

Future Events

Jim Gross is still planning to watch some educational videos with members of the society. The location was set for his home in Northridge, but the possibility of an online meeting, potentially through Zoom, was discussed.

The date and time for the society symposium has been set for April 15th, 8am to 5pm. The society discussed using the preceding Friday evening to set up for the event. The ordering of exhibits was discussed as well, and it was suggested that universities be allotted later presentation times, as well as big ticket exhibits. A limit of twenty minutes and twenty slides was suggested for each exhibit, but it was suggest that this number of slides was in excess of the time alotment. There was also brief discussion of holding a launch at the event.

The subject of fundraising at the Symposium was also discussed. It was suggested that some or all visitors pay an entrance fee, but it was mentioned that another society encountered issues when they sought to do the same. It was suggested that the society could have a dedicated RRS table to collect donations which would require constant monitoring. It was also suggested that donations might help cover expenses and the need for cleanup volunteers after the event was mentioned.

The CALFIRE Subcommittee has deliberated on some new rules. Among them are a requirement that blockhouses have two layers of sandbags on their roof or the equivalent to slow down projectiles. Although the idea is not new, there is some question about the exact and specific need of sandbags to provide adequate protection versus other means of construction providing similar or even superior protection.

Larry Hoffing needs a blueprint for a new blockhouse which Chris Lujan is to assist with. It should be noted that the contractor who worked on the septic system is a mason, and could be asked for assistance when time requires.

Following the completion of the restroom, the next project which the society wishes to tackle is the creation of a sixty-foot launch rail for liquid propellant rockets. Many universities have requested this and Mark Holthaus of FAR may be able to give us the design for the one used at FAR.

Another potential future project is the surplus LNG container that the society owns. While it isn’t ready for use and requires some refurbishment, some groups to the MTA have inquired about our capacity to deal with LNG. The society will need someone to work this project.

The next society meeting will be on March 10th, 2023. Contact the secretary for details.