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  Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI) in New Jersey

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Author Topic:   Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI) in New Jersey
Butlerrocketman
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posted 06-11-2011 01:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Butlerrocketman   Click Here to Email Butlerrocketman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I live in northern NJ, within 15 to 20 minutes from me Reaction Motors, Inc. (RMI) had several of their production and testing sites.

I have been researching RMI for many years now and have many documents about RMI. If you visit Bob Holland's website you can get a good idea about RMI. Look for his Reaction Motors page, interesting stuff.

I also have many photos of test sites of RMI that are contained within Picatinny Arsenal.

ww2_1943
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posted 08-14-2011 04:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ww2_1943   Click Here to Email ww2_1943     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is my first post! I remember reading an article in the Star Ledger years ago about RIM. I live very close to Picatinny Arsenal. I would love to see any pictures you have.

I looked at Bob's site and had trouble finding anything that related to RIM. This is a neat part of New Jersey history. I grew up not far from East Hanover, which was a Nike Missile site.

Butlerrocketman
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posted 08-15-2011 09:06 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Butlerrocketman   Click Here to Email Butlerrocketman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
With great sadness, Bob Holland passed away on July 11th. Bob was a friend of mine who I met at Picatinny on a RMI test site tour.

You can email me for further info.

SpaceAholic
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posted 08-15-2011 07:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceAholic   Click Here to Email SpaceAholic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

Bob and I periodically corresponded to discuss the companies work on propulsion systems. His online efforts pertaining to RMI may be found here.

Butlerrocketman
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posted 08-15-2011 07:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Butlerrocketman   Click Here to Email Butlerrocketman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I had problems trying to find it as well as several friends. Some of the photos on the RMI page I had taken at the XLR-99 area "E" test site.

ww2_1943
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posted 08-15-2011 08:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ww2_1943   Click Here to Email ww2_1943     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am sorry to hear about Bob.
quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAholic:
His online efforts pertaining to RMI may be found here.
Thanks for posting the link.

Butlerrocketman
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posted 08-15-2011 10:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Butlerrocketman   Click Here to Email Butlerrocketman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
On Bob's site, I took three of the photos of the test stand (ground and inside views).

I have been to area "D", "E" and "R". Areas "E" and "R" were used to test the XLR-99 X-15 motors.

ww2_1943
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posted 08-16-2011 11:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ww2_1943   Click Here to Email ww2_1943     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have a friend that works at Picatinny Arsenal in explosives development. I wonder if he has access to the RIM site. The photos on Bob's site look really rather neat.

Are there any test sites left that can be easily accessed?

I noticed the photo captioned "XLR-99 running at the smaller E area test stand" was labeled as RMI Denville. Do you know where in Denville they did test? I grew up in Parsippany so that is rather close.

Butlerrocketman
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posted 08-16-2011 11:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Butlerrocketman   Click Here to Email Butlerrocketman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
They tested the XLR-11 Bell X-1 motors in Pompton Palins, now, at the corner of Rt. 23 and West Parkway, there is a marker at that location.

From there, they went to Pine St. in Rockaway and were there for six years until their headquarters was built at 100 Ford Road in Denville. (I worked in that building at one time.)

They did their testing at Picatinny in the NARTS (Naval Air Rocket Test Station).

There were numerous sites within this area, only area "D" and "E" remain. Area "R" is under the control of the EPA.

You can go down Snake Hill Road and see the area "D" which is right along side the road. Area "E" is up on the hill and you cannot get access to that without going through the Arsenal.

I was fortunate to be able to access all three area "D" - "E" and "R" as part of a tour.

APG85
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posted 10-09-2011 03:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for APG85     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I grew up in Northern New Jersey and my Grandmother had a home in Denville. I can remember many discussions on the porch about nearby Reaction Motors. Thanks for the memory jog. Great stuff...

Butlerrocketman
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posted 10-09-2011 03:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Butlerrocketman   Click Here to Email Butlerrocketman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have many documents on RMI, most of their facilities are within 20 minutes or so from me now. Their main headquarters building as I mentioned above is still there.

Unfortunately, two of the remaing test stand are slated to be domolished in the future. More history lost.

If you get a chance, you can see a marker located on the corneer of west Parkway and Rt 23 in Pompton Plains NJ as well as two markers located in front of their former HQ building at 100 Ford Road in Denville.

You can also see a XLR-99 X-15 motor on display at the New Jersey Aviation Museum located next to Teterboro Airport off RT 46 in teterboro NJ.

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