[AR] Re: Spartan: Hovering hybrid
- From: David Weinshenker <daze39@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 07:49:31 -0700
Jonathan Goff wrote:
> I mean, cool if they can pull it off, but I've got to scratch my head on
> why they'd do it that way. There *are* places where hybrids might make
> sense, but I have a hard time believing a hovering vehicle is one of them.
> Unless bobbing around like crazy in a semi-controlled fashion is good
> enough.
Well, I have operated a throttled hybrid, and that one, at least, did in
fact have a smooth response to oxidizer flow changes in the operating range.
Perhaps the global calibration might not be as exactly mappable as with a
liquid biprop, but the observed response definitely seemed like something
that one could close a loop around (e.g. with an accelerometer and altimeter)
without "bobbing around like crazy in a semi-controlled fashion".
(Oxidizer was H2O2 w/silver-plated-screen catalyst pack; fuel grain was
mostly HTPB with a dash of AL and AP.)
So I wouldn't categorically conclude that something like
this can't be made to work decently.
-dave w
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