Development of the Beta 1 Rocket Motor

The Beta I rocket motor was designed primarily as a power unit for a model aircraft built by the Fairey Aviation Co. for vertical take-off experiments. It is of the liquid bi-propellant type using the self-igniting combination hydrogen peroxide 80 and C-fuel and gives a total thrust of 1800 lb for 45 seconds, the duration being governed by the tank capacity of the aircraft. Whilst the general design of the motor follows well established principles it also incorporates a few interesting features as the regenerative cooling of the combustion chambers with hydrogen peroxide, a turbo pump propellant feed unit and a steam generator using silver plated gauze as the catalyst.