scope:

Abstract:

The Dryden Aerospike Rocket Test Director's Discretionary Fund (DDF) project conducted flight research of an aerospike rocket nozzle design using high power amateur rockets. The standard nozzles in these rockets were replaced by the aerospike nozzles and the rockets are then flown with aerospike nozzles only. Two aerospike rockets were flown successfully to altitudes of over 26,000 ft and speeds of over Mach 1.5. To determine the incoming flight flow angles, a simple flush air data system (FADS) was used. The FADS system consists of four nosecone static pressure taps around the 10-degree rocket nosecone, clocked at 90 degrees apart. One of the static pressure ports, port 3, is in an area where there is a slight waviness on the nosecone surface finish, on the order of 0.005 in. As the results, port 3 static pressure measurements were consistently lower than the other three ports. Uncorrected, this resulted in an extra 1 degree of apparent flow angle at transonic speeds.