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-   -   Irv Wait (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=17029)

Initiator001 12-20-2017 03:38 PM

Irv Wait
 
Irv Wait of RDC/Enerjet fame passed away Monday at the age of 88.

Wait worked at Thiokol on solid propellant motors for military projects. He took that knowledge to design and manufacture the first hobby composite motors which he named Enerjets.

Wait later sold Enerjet to Centuri.

I know there are others out there with much more information about Irving Wait and I hope will post about him and his legacy.

stefanj 12-20-2017 05:39 PM

RIP Irv.

An important innovator; maybe someone else would have invented composite model rocket motors, but he introduced them just a dozen or so years after the hobby started.

I have one second-hand Irv Wait anecdote, told to me by Al Andrake. (This is from a 28 year old discussion, so excuse my phrasing.)

When Wait was brought into Centuri, the company was having reliability problems with its big BP "Mini-Max" motors.

The were made in a press with three cylinders. The powder was pressed by a hydraulically driven piston until a certain compression was reached. Wait noted that only one of the cylinders had an actual strain guage (?). When it was triggered all three pistons stopped pressing. He pointed out that this could mean that the motors in two of the three cylinders could receive insufficient packing. Add gauges to each, and the pistons all delivered the proper pressure.

A Fish Named Wallyum 12-20-2017 09:57 PM

I flew my RDC Starflite clone last Saturday on an Estes F15-6 and spent Sunday figuring out a couple of other potential RDC cloning projects, the Orion and Sampson.

tbzep 12-20-2017 10:08 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by A Fish Named Wallyum
I flew my RDC Starflite clone last Saturday on an Estes F15-6 and spent Sunday figuring out a couple of other potential RDC cloning projects, the Orion and Sampson.

I was expecting your post to go more like this...

"I flew my RDC Starflite clone last Saturday on an Estes F15-6 and spent Sunday looking for it a half mile down range from the B6-4 field."

:chuckle: :D



.

astronwolf 12-20-2017 10:19 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I was expecting your post to go more like this...

"I flew my RDC Starflite clone last Saturday on an Estes F15-6 and spent Sunday looking for it a half mile down range from the B6-4 field."

That's exactly what I was thinking (ahead) as I read that sentence. Please tell us in the Starflite thread more about the flight.

RIP Irv Wait. One of rocketry's greats.

http://www.tribtown.com/2017/12/20/irving_wait/

http://www.vossfuneralservice.com/o...es/Irving-Wait/

Ltvscout 12-21-2017 08:07 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by A Fish Named Wallyum
I flew my RDC Starflite clone last Saturday on an Estes F15-6 and spent Sunday figuring out a couple of other potential RDC cloning projects, the Orion and Sampson.

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Chas Russell 12-21-2017 10:16 AM

I was a member of the NAR Standards and Testing Committee prior to enlisting in the Air Force in 1972. I was part of the team that certified the Enerjets back in 1970.
Model Rocketeer article in Model Rocketry magazine has pictures that include one of Irv Wait during certification testing of the Enerjets. Link to the issue below. Please see pages 34 and 35.


http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/Mo...03n01_10-70.pdf

Chas

Jerry Irvine 12-21-2017 12:12 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ltvscout
Pictures or it didn't happen!
I had the honour to work with Irv in a little movie called Mosquito Coast. Look for the finale.

http://v-serv.com/usr/fx-mosquitocoast.htm

Just Jerry

A Fish Named Wallyum 12-21-2017 09:03 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I was expecting your post to go more like this...

"I flew my RDC Starflite clone last Saturday on an Estes F15-6 and spent Sunday looking for it a half mile down range from the B6-4 field."

:chuckle: :D



.

If I flew that at B6-4 Field, I'd be looking a lot more than a half mile away. Especially if you count height. :rolleyes: On a windy day that might make the old homestead.

Rocketflyer 12-22-2017 02:10 PM

In my opinion, one of the most underrated innovators in the hobby. RIP Mr Wait.

Royatl 12-23-2017 11:35 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by stefanj
RIP Irv.

An important innovator; maybe someone else would have invented composite model rocket motors, but he introduced them just a dozen or so years after the hobby started.

I have one second-hand Irv Wait anecdote, told to me by Al Andrake. (This is from a 28 year old discussion, so excuse my phrasing.)

When Wait was brought into Centuri, the company was having reliability problems with its big BP "Mini-Max" motors.

The were made in a press with three cylinders. The powder was pressed by a hydraulically driven piston until a certain compression was reached. Wait noted that only one of the cylinders had an actual strain guage (?). When it was triggered all three pistons stopped pressing. He pointed out that this could mean that the motors in two of the three cylinders could receive insufficient packing. Add gauges to each, and the pistons all delivered the proper pressure.


Somehow you think that would be obvious, but I guess using shortcuts to save money obliviate the obvious.

Joe Wooten 12-23-2017 05:52 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl
Somehow you think that would be obvious, but I guess using shortcuts to save money obliviate the obvious.


Insufficient attention to important details.....


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