Fr Robert Ballecer, SJ?, I am catching up on some recent KH episodes and in episode 148 you we...

[G+_John Thiers]

Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ?, I am catching up on some recent KH episodes and in episode 148 you were talking about Space Shuttle Main Engines and how the Exit Cone is cooled. I worked on the Shuttle program from 1989-2010. And frequently worked in the engine refurbishment shop. You didn't quite get the nozzle cooling right. The cooling loops didn't run in rings around the nozzle, instead the loop went top to bottom (think straws welded together to make a cone rather than a bunch of rings making a cone). The entire nozzle was a giant heat exchanger that preheated the liquid hydrogen.

[G+_Jason Marsh]

John Thiers Droppin' the Knowledge on us!

 

So when KH does a turbocharger-based turbine engine build, you'll be the technical advisor for the segment, right? I can't wait!

 

Maybe Wayne Hobbins  can fab the combustor and 610bob can build controls :)

[G+_John Thiers]

Jason Marsh maybe you can provide the non-witty commentary you seem to be good at that

[G+_Jason Marsh]

Wow! So you think I'm trolling or trying to be a witty smartass?

 

That's too bad, because I really would like to see a KH episode on a cool but mostly useless project like a turbo-based home-built turbine engine. I just assumed that someone like yourself, one with experience working on an awesome project like the shuttle program, would have useful knowledge and insights to share with the community.

 

I'm sorry you didn't recognize my genuine enthusiasm for such a project. I'm also sorry to see one person trying to bash another here. This isn't Facebook, and I think I can safely speak for the community that we'd rather not see it turn into that.

 

This is a great community and we have tons of very intelligent people here who are most willing to help each other solve problems. Let's keep it that way.

[G+_Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ]

John Thiers -- Jason Marsh really was expressing admiration. I'm sure that he, as I, really love the fact that you worked on one of the most impressive engineering feats of our time.

 

Thanks for helping us figure out the pre-heating of the H2. -- That's always been one of my favorite parts of the engine. :)

 

Thanks for watching!

 

Peace,

Padre

[G+_Jason Marsh]

Thanks, Padre. Just the follies of internet communication, I guess. You can't see a person's face or hear their voice, and the brain so badly wants this info that it will impart tone to written communication, and sometimes it comes out all wrong. I hope John Thiers sticks around the community, as anyone can see there is value here. There is some trolling on occasion, probably, but mostly good stuff.

[G+_John Thiers]

Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ? Jason Marsh?

Sorry for misunderstanding, but given what you were talking about you either a) were a troll, or b) had no idea how difficult it was to the point of being absurd. I never considered you might be serious. Deepest apologies. To give you an idea of what kind of forces you are talking about check out this video

. Yes during engine start you will get this amount of movement. Add to that cryogenic fuel, you wont be building anything like it in a normal fab plant.

 

Also if you wait until the engine smooths out you can see the individual tubes that I was referring to.

 

Peace ?

[G+_Jason Marsh]

A careful re-read of my first post clears everything up for anyone  reading. Note that I actually propose what is indeed a fairly low-tech project, nothing at all like what some may have misunderstood it to be. But anyways ...

 

So if one misunderstood me to think I was talking about building a liquid fuel booster, um, yeah, that's way out of reach for a KH segment. Think "What if Junkyard Wars built a turbojet?" This is a project I've considered for years but never messed with.  It would look something like this >>>