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.

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Bob
S.A.M. # 0014

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.

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NAR #27085 - Oregon Rocketry - SAM

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.

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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I was SAM 0058

On the build floor: Estes R2D2, Centuri Stellar Starlifter, Centuri Stellar Loadlifter, Semroc Squire, LOC Hi-Tech Mini, FRW Magnum Spartan

Ready to fly: Enerjet 1340/20 Sounding Rocket, Estes Super Neon XL, Estes Astron Farside X, FSI Eos

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."





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I love sanding.

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/

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-Wolfram v. Kiparski
NAR 28643
TRA 15520
MTMA Senior Advisor

Pictures or it didn't happen!

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Scott D. Hansen
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WOOSH NAR Section #558

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

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Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

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

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Exemptions not regulations. Please support DOT treating slow burning solids as not subject to HMR. 2015 NAR President declines!
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The O administration believed in tax, spend, borrow, fine, mandate, monologue. D voters will soon be very happy with the election outcome!
Model rocketry is as safe as safe can be defined in human existence. Bow and pray: GH Stine, Orville, Vern, Lee, Lonnie, Carl, etc. No, really.

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. On a windy day that might make the old homestead.

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Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I was SAM 0058

On the build floor: Estes R2D2, Centuri Stellar Starlifter, Centuri Stellar Loadlifter, Semroc Squire, LOC Hi-Tech Mini, FRW Magnum Spartan

Ready to fly: Enerjet 1340/20 Sounding Rocket, Estes Super Neon XL, Estes Astron Farside X, FSI Eos

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

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HONORA CECIDIT