Rudimentary test stand, part 1

[Mike Everman]

Here's the beginning of the test stand. Any flexible thing can be made into a thrust scale if you calibrate it with known forces, ie: pull 5 lb. on it with a fish scale, and make a 5 mark on the card, etc. I'll be swapping blast shields to get the seperate components, front and rearward thrust, and get the fuel weight readout on the video, too, as well as the elapsed time.
The vertical supports may need a damper so they don't wildly oscillate, but the front blast shield might just damp it enough.
I plan also to calibrate my leaf blower by recording air velocity at various distances from a pitot tube airspeed indicator, and then get some thrust at velocity numbers by blowing at the front of the engine at the calibrated distances. Of course, the drag of this (read as rearward thrust readout) can be generated easily with the engine quiet.
I'd like the video to be the main recording of all parameters, eventually to include some LED readouts of db at the camera, barometric pressure, humidity, intake and exhaust heat, etc., all in view of the camera. In the fullness of time, of course! Ah, poor man's time-stamped data recording!

[Mike Everman]

Like I said!
From the Russian pulse-jet paper.