Introduction
The Pogo concept was first announced nearly two years ago. Continued study of jet engines has shown more potential than first realized. Yet development of the concept has not been explored by NASA, the USAF, or the general launch industry.
Thinking Small
On November 8, 1997, while at the Space Frontier Foundation conference in LA, a good friend suggested that I was thinking too large. He suggested that a much smaller version might be more marketable as a demonstrator.
Amateur Rocket Connection
I spoke with one of the amateur rocket groups represented at the conference and was told that there would be a market for launch services provided to the amateur rocket community. During the conference a contest was announced. A prize of $250,000 would be given to the first amateur rocket to take a 2 kg package to 200 miles altitude.
Literature Search
I have reviewed several sources of literature and found that a full range of jet engines can be obtained with thrusts as low as 1 lb.
There is a large group of commercial jet engines in the 2,000-4,000 lb thrust class with thrust-to-weight (T/W) ratios of about 4. A Pogo using these would be much less expensive than a full size version and could be assembled in a small hanger with a small crew and crane.
Engines weighing less than 100 lbs are available with thrusts of 400 lb. A Pogo using these could be assembled in a garage by one or two people.
Model aircraft enthusiasts have available to them a wide range of ducted fan engines with thrusts between a few ounces and several pounds. These are very inexpensive, designed for use with remote control, and can be assembled on a table-top by one person.
A New Beginning (aka Smaller, Cheaper, Faster)
Thus began the Small-Pogo Project. Considering the above range of engines and the, to date, lack of financial support I have decided to pursue the Pogo concept on my own in a step-wise fashion. The Small-Pogo Project Phase I will be demonstrating the feasibility using model aircraft technologies and hobby rockets. Altitudes of 8,000-10,000 ft and speeds of 250 mph are expected. With this success in-hand Phase II will use small jet engines and amateur rockets. Altitudes of 40,000-50,000 and speeds of Mach 3 are expected. Larger scale work following the Small-Pogo project is expected to lead to altitudes of 80,000-120,000 ft and speeds of Mach 7-9. The amateur rocket community will likely be the first beneficiaries of the Pogo concept.
Schedule
I gave up on projecting a schedule. Progress is too unpredictable. Rough line drawings of the vehicle layout can be seen here and here and a picture of me holding the vehicle (when it got loose from it’s tethers.
Status Updates
November, 1997
December, 1997 (not all days had reports)
December 3-4
December 14-20 (incl drawing)
December 21-31
January, 1998
January 1-9, 1998
January 10-16, 1998
January 17-31, 1998 (incl drawing)
February, 1998
February 1-28, 1998
March, 1998
March 1-15, 1998
March 20-31, 1998
April, 1998
April 1-17, 1998
April 18-30, 1998
May, 1998
May, 1998
June, 1998
An almost daily update on progress.
Final (sort of) Report on Project February, 1999
Commercially Available Engines
Airbreathing engines are commercially available in sizes from a few ounces of thrust to tens of thousands of lbs thrust. For the Small-Pogo and near-term follow-on projects available engines have been broken down into large jet engines, small jet engines, and model airplane piston engines.
Alternative Power Plants
A variety of ideas being considered as potential alternative propulsion schemes.
Low-Tech Ways to Start a Ramjet
Some very low-cost/low-tech launch concepts are emerging from the Small-Pogo study. One of which is the use of ramjets which can be built in any well equipped garage. They are inexpensive to build, operate, and maintain and may be able to provide 40 pct of the speed needed to obtain LEO. Getting them started is looking easier all the time.
Log/Log Plot of Velocity, Distance, Acceleration, and Time