Tag Archives: static fire

MTA Firing Event, 2024-03-02

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by Joel Cool-Panama, Secretary, RRS.ORG

The UCLA Prometheus team arrived to the MTA late Friday night under cold winds and light rain. Taking shelter from the elements, many set up their tents inside the Dosa Bldg.

The UCLA team brought their latest custom hybrid motor for a horizontal static fire. Dave Nordling served as pyrotechnic operator with Rushd Julfiker and Dimtiri Timohovich apprenticing. After passing low pressure leak check, they corrected issues in high pressure leak check.  Some minor control issues set back first hot fire to just past sunset. First igniter was a dud. Pyro-op in charge permitted a second attempt with a new igniter. Improper sequencing pushed out the second igniter before the booster charge could light the motor grain under the rush of the oxidizer stream which resulted in the dumping of the nitrous oxide flow over the grain with no ignition.   After some consideration to adjust the timing and reset a new electric match, given the late hour and a concern about hard starting the motor with a recently oxidizer soaked grain, the pyro-op in charge opted to call off the event.  Our unpaid volunteer pyro-ops sometimes will stay late, but sunset is generally considered the cutoff point. UCLA put a great deal of effort and ingenuity but with no success by the end of the event as sometimes happens despite best efforts. UCLA was very courteous throughout the whole event and the RRS looks forward to the Prometheus team’s return to the MTA.


Dimitri and his colleague, George Warner, began the trenching and electrical work this weekend needed to connect our new diesel generator at the MTA which will soon serve our larger electrical and lighting needs around our facility.  The work continued through Sunday, 3/3/2024. The crew cabin (Bldg 15) and the office (Bldg 14) were the first fully-owned RRS owned to be connected to electrical power as they have air conditioning. This will be a welcome resource in the late summer months.


Rushd Julfiker is working on his 38mm Contrails hybrid kit motor for an initial static fire.  Rushd refilled the society’s nitrous bottle. Dave Nordling and Dimitri Timohovich brought and shared their resources and experience. A hybrid motor firing hasn’t been done in a few years and its good to bring this work back as society. Unfortunately given the late hour and missing the nylon tubing needed, Rushd will return at a later date.

Osvaldo Tarditti worked on the shower systems in the restroom facility. We hope to have this convenience working in the coming months. The toilets, urinals and sinks continue to run well even during high usage periods.  The convenience of this facility at our remote location has been a much lauded benefit.

Dave Nordling added metal folding handles to the backsides of the wooden privacy panels in the windows of Bldg’s 14 and 15 for easier removal and replacement.  These heavy panels help insulate the interior from the beating sun. Also, the RRS ate its first meal inside Bldg 15.  The large interior space also can offer our visitors shelter from the elements once we add the beds and more chairs inside.


Dimitri brought the methanol run tanks and empty gas bottles used only for public exhibitions to the MTA. Dave Nordling brought the steel support frames to the MTA along with several components for the fluid feed systems for the 1936 GALCIT engine replica. The first engine parts will be brought to the MTA this coming Thursday when American Artist visits the site for the first time. We look forward to his visit and beginning the first steps in the project.



RRS members involved with the LACMA / American Artist project including RRS President, Frank Miuccio,will be at the MTA on Thursday, March 7, 2024. This will be the first time that American will see the site. Establishing the filming location for the static fire of the 1936 GALCIT replica rocket engine will be the first priority. American’s cinematographer (Chester) and a documentary film crew from PBS will also be present that day.

Next monthly meeting of the RRS will be March 8, 2024, at the Compton/Woodley Airport.

MTA Work Event – January 20th, 2024

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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 firing event, 2023-01-28

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by Keith Yoerg, RRS.ORG

The RRS held a firing event at the MTA on Saturday, February 28th, 2023.

The purpose of the event was to provide training for several society members who desired to gain experience in support of applications for Rockets – Class 2 Pyrotechnic Operator’s licenses from CALFIRE. Jim Gross was the PyroOp in charge for the day, with Rushd Julfiker, Michael Rouleau, Leanna Lincoln, and Keith Yoerg receiving training. The winter morning started off cool with Michael, Keith, and Leanna opening up the MTA and preparing the site for the day’s testing.

from left to right, Leanna Lincoln, Michael Rouleau, Rushd Julfiker and Jim Gross

RRS standard alpha rockets that had previously been launched as a part of RRS youth outreach programs were disassembled and cleaned of residue from their previous firings and propellant mixing supplies were prepped. Rushd arrived while Keith prepped and loaded his high power rocket “Flight On!” with an Aerotech H182-Redline motor for a launch later in the day.

Once Jim arrived at the MTA, a safety briefing was held and everyone in attendance provided a brief introduction detailing their background and interest in rocketry. The static test stand was then bolted to the vertical test stand concrete pad using bolt anchors already in place on the pad. The test stand is a modified I-Beam provided by Jim. After a temporary delay from difficulties in getting the gasoline generator up and running, enough zinc and sulfur micrograin powder for 4 firings were added to the mixing bucket and set up on the mixer.

Loading of alpha propellant tubes, Jim Gross overseeing the operations
Grilled lunch at the Dosa Building

While the propellants mixed, the group returned to the Dosa building for a lunchtime grill out of brats and pineapple. During lunch, the group watched a video on electric match ignition safety from the early 2000s’s provided by Jim, which had to be stopped early to return to the testing task at hand before daylight ran out. The video was “Basics of Electric Firing” by Scott Cartwright was purchased from the American Fireworks News.

Keith, Rushd, Michael, and Leanna then loaded the well-mixed propellant into the prepared alpha rockets and test fired the motors in that order. A video of the firing compiled by Keith can be found on his YouTube channel here, which was collected using RRS GoPro and quadcopter drone cameras.

Used alpha rocket strapped down to Jim’s I-beam static fire stand
Plume pointed north, galvanizing the concrete of our testing pad
Alpha rockets minus their payload tubes and nosecones
Keith Yoerg’s Flight On! rocket takes off on the 1010 rail at the RRS MTA.

Following the test firing of the alpha rockets, Keith launched his high power rocket “Flight On!” for the 3rd time, which was successful in both the flight and recovery. The group then cleaned up the site before locking up and leaving. Thanks to all who made this first firing event of 2023 a success, including former RRS President (and current PyroOp) Osavldo Tarditti for assistance with the propellants and current RRS Vice President Frank Muiccio for providing the alpha rockets used for the testing. We look forward to many more successful events at the MTA this year.

Nearing sunset at the RRS MTA loading area