January 11th: Test stand is finished, the pressure gauges are installed and working, the whole thing looks very professional, well let's say I think it does. Once again I have tested if the propellants will ignite spontaneously on contact with each other because several people have warned me about this - they do not. Now the only thing missing is better weather and a day off from work.

August 22th: Well, isn't time flying when you're having fun? While I finished my internship in surgery, inner medicine and orthopedic surgery, I didn't get much done rocket-wise. The solid motor I built worked well, but the liquid propellant motor is still sleeping in its box. The test stand is nearly finished, as are the new feed and dump lines. I still have to think of a smart (read: relatively cheap) method of starting and stopping the filling and pressurization process remotely.

Noevmber 18th: Work is progressing slowly. Found out the oxidizer feed and dump lines were not V2A steel as advertised but chrome plated copper instead. New tubing is ordered as well as different propellant and oxidizer inlet fittings. We have decided to use the larger fittings so we can experiment with different chamber pressures and flow rates. The test stand is nearing completion, but the load cell and data acquisition equipment needs some work. By the way, the exams went really well!

July 25th: No news so far as my exams are slowly but steadily coming closer. All components are gathered, and the test stand materials are in my shop. As soon as the exams are over (September 14th), things will shift into high gear. I expect to have the whole engine and test equipment assembly ready by the middle of October to conduct a first static test. One year of designing, making phone calls etc...not too bad for our first project.

June 30th: Tested solenoid opening time today. Both valves open within 0.6 seconds. Flow rate is 400ml/s, which is easily within the design parameters of the L400.

June 16th and 17th: Conducted a pressure test a mockup thrust chamber similar to the real one to 600 PSI. MEOP (maximum expected operating pressure) is 300 PSI, so we should have a large enough safety margin. The tanks have been tested before by the supplier and are rated for a MEOP of 2900 PSI. The next steps will be tests of the tank pressurization system and measurement of the propellant valve opening time.

May 28th: A first water spray test today has shown that the engine will most likely work as designed: all 24 jets impinged at the predetermined point, creating a nice even water spray cone. Although the engine only ran at 1/6 of its assigned chamber pressure level, everything worked well. Sadly, the camera was the only thing that did not work as designed, as all pictures were much too dark. I hope we can repeat that test soon to post some pictures.