Rocket Cars

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Launchng High-Power rockets in New Zealand is a bit of a problem if you don't belong to an organised group. You need to apply for a permit form the Civil Aviation Authority to launch at a certain place and time of day. They then issue a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) for pilots to stay out of the area.
To sidestep this I decided to make rocket cars instead.

I was inspired by a documentary about Richard "Rocket Man" Brown who started with model rockets, and then moved on to a Rocket powered motorcycle that came within an ace of taking the motorcycle land speed record - 322mph (519 km/h).

Here is my first model rocket car in action.

It uses my standard G-class motor and weighs 3 lb. This gives it an intial acceleration of 10 g and a top speed of around 120 mph (200 km/h)

A Real Car!

Yes indeed, I am going to build a car that I can drive myself!

I love those late 1950s American cars that look like rocket ships, so here is my homage to cars that pay homage to rockets, if you know what I mean...

It will be powered by a steam rocket that produces 300 lb of thrust for 10 seconds. I am aimimg for an all-up weight of 500 lb with myself on board.

This should give it a top speed of around 80 mph (130 km/h). This is fairly unspectacular. Check out the Thunderbolt 3 to see what steam rockets are capable of.

I am indebted to Bill Inman of California who generously shared the results of his extensive research into simple, workable steam rockets. Bill is active in many areas of rocketry and also holds several altitude records in high-power rocketry.

Check out Bill below in his rocket powered Go Kart. It is powered by an off-the-shelf L-class motor. He achieved 54 mph (90 km/h) on this run. The fuel reload fo this motor costs $200 US! Bill is now converting the kart to a steam rocket that will deliver at least double the impulse and will cost only a few cents per run! i.e. the cost of 10 gal of water.

News flash!

Bill's kart has now run on steam. Its motor has around the same power as the L class motor above. Here is a picture of him blasting accross the salt flats.

My project

I will be converting the chassis of my Fed 5 land yacht for the rocket car

I will convert it to a steering wheel, and be sitting a little more upright. A Fed 5 is capable of 100 km/h (60mph) under sail. With rocket power it will go to around 130 km/h (80 mph) in ten seconds. The speed should be OK with a more positive steering system. I will also incorporate a steering damper. Here is the first artist's impression:

June 2002: pressure tested 18 kg lpg bottle to 3.75 Mpa. Bought a range of of the shelf BSP plumbing fittings and designed a nozzle to be fabricated by a local machine shop. First test firing of the motor in around a week.
Here is the assembled motor. Note the rubbish bin heat shroud ($6) and the custom machined nozzle ($300). I say pay attention where it is due - for safety and performance - and have fun with the rest!