Re: Re: Multiple engines (was RE: Liquox)
Michael Wallis <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.technology.erps |
|---|---|
| Organization | Wallis International |
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
On Tue, Jun 08, 2004 at 10:29:35AM -0700, Pierce Nichols wrote:
> I suspect that the small variations in thrust characteristics of the
> four engines will require some constant deflection of the jet vanes.
> This will in turn increase the power requirements and increase the
> steering losses, not to mention wear on the jet vanes themselves. I
> think it would be more efficient to go to 1-axis gimballing on each
> engine; it's easy enough with a single room-temp propellant.
The big DISadvantage to gimballing is the technology required to make
it work reliably. Given the purpose and time deadline, I suspect that
jumping into a new development cycle at this stage is far more of a
problem than getting the existing and working technology fine tuned.
There's an old addage that says:
The better is the enemy of the good.
If John feels he has a working system that will get him to his goal
with a bit more tweaking, I suspect that's where he'll put his effort
and resources.
Michael
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Michael Wallis KF6SPF (408) 396-9037 [email protected]
"And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up
in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of
it." Philemon 1:6