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Stonechat Mk 2
Royal Ordnance solid rocket engine. Out of production. There seem to have been even larger classified versions. Used on Falstaff launch vehicle.

Status: Out of production. Date: 1969. Thrust: 240.00 kN (53,950 lbf). Gross mass: 5,090 kg (11,220 lb). Unfuelled mass: 750 kg (1,650 lb). Burn time: 37 s. Height: 5.30 m (17.30 ft). Diameter: 0.92 m (3.01 ft).

There seem to have been even larger versions. The Project Officer with the UK Joint Service 'Joint Air Transport Establishment' (JATE) at RAF Abingdon in 1974 recalls that they flew a Stonechat rocket from UK to Woomera in October 74.

The Stonechat motor was in a specially built container which completely filled the C-130 freight hold. There was no way of jettisoning the load, and with 9.2 metric tons of solid fuel, we reckoned that if anything went wrong, we would be the first Hercules in space - briefly! Actually the only problem we had was when a spinner on one engine came loose over the Timor Sea, having been incorrectly re-fitted after an engine change in Singapore. This gave us three days off in Darwin while a new spinner was delivered and fitted. Interesting place in those days, and one of the reasons that I am now an Australian.
Extract from his Log Book follows:

Thrust (sl): 240.000 kN (53,950 lbf).



Country: UK. Launch Vehicles: Falstaff. Propellants: Solid. Agency: Royal Ordnance. Bibliography: 572.

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