Hybrid air breathing rocket

(Parallax) wrote:
Would it be possible to have a hybrid rocket that used LOX to get
going then switched to ram air as an oxidizer?

Yes, but there's no practical use for such a beast.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

(Derek Lyons) wrote in message ...
(Parallax) wrote:
Would it be possible to have a hybrid rocket that used LOX to get
going then switched to ram air as an oxidizer?

Yes, but there's no practical use for such a beast.

D.

Instead of fuel-oxidizer for the rocket, what about monopropellant?

(Mike Miller) wrote:

(Derek Lyons) wrote :

(Parallax) wrote:
Would it be possible to have a hybrid rocket that used LOX to get
going then switched to ram air as an oxidizer?

Yes, but there's no practical use for such a beast.

Actually, it doesn't sound too much different from several suggested
(and implemented?) air-to-air missiles that launch on pure solid fuel
rocket motor, then switch to a solid-fueled ramjet. By using offboard
oxidizers (or reaction mass) range is apparently increased for
near-hypersonic AAMs.

That's fine for atmospheric vehicles flying more-or-less 'level'.
However, this scheme has the same faults as any other air breathing
scheme for orbital launches.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

"sanman" wrote in message
om...
[snip]
Instead of fuel-oxidizer for the rocket, what about monopropellant?

What benefit do you expect the monopropellant to provide?

(Derek Lyons) wrote in message ...

That's fine for atmospheric vehicles flying more-or-less 'level'.
However, this scheme has the same faults as any other air breathing
scheme for orbital launches.

Parallax didn't specify a launch vehicle, and neither did you when you
said "there's no practical use for such a beast." :P

Mike Miller, MatE

(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
Would it be possible to have a hybrid rocket that used LOX to get
going then switched to ram air as an oxidizer?

That was more or less how the solid fuelled GNOM was to have worked,
except they used a solid first stage.

The point of the design was that using airbreathing from mach 1.75 to
mach 5 doubles the ISP (550seconds in this case) and thus greatly
reduces the propellent needed, and this in turn reduces the takeoff
weight of the vehicle by about a factor of 2.

This would have permitted the missile to be small enough to be carried
on the back of a truck and hence be a mobile ICBM solution which is
less vulnerable to attack.

It was successfully tested with a 1.2 tonne subscale prototype, but
unfortunately the concept died with the head designer, Boris Shavyrin.

It's great for regular aircraft fitted with some kind of hybrid
Air-breathing rocket to start then change to a scramjet mode at supersonic.
For regular rockets it could reduce the amount of oxygen to take up

"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
(Mike Miller) wrote:

(Derek Lyons) wrote :

(Parallax) wrote:
Would it be possible to have a hybrid rocket that used LOX to get
going then switched to ram air as an oxidizer?

Yes, but there's no practical use for such a beast.

Actually, it doesn't sound too much different from several suggested
(and implemented?) air-to-air missiles that launch on pure solid fuel
rocket motor, then switch to a solid-fueled ramjet. By using offboard
oxidizers (or reaction mass) range is apparently increased for
near-hypersonic AAMs.

That's fine for atmospheric vehicles flying more-or-less 'level'.
However, this scheme has the same faults as any other air breathing
scheme for orbital launches.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.