Reaction Motors in New Jersey

By Shireesh Kumar, NJIT

America's formal entry in the World War II in 1941 also brought Navy interest to their rocket engine testing. In 1941 four men who started RMI got a chance to show the demonstration of Wylds regeneratively cooled engine in front of Navy officials. They were able to produce a 100 pound thurst in the demonstration during 10 tests. Impressed by this demonstration, they got their first contract of $5000 from the Navy. After getting the contract, they founded the first commercial rocket engine company called RMI (Reaction Motors Incorporated) on 16th December 1941. Due to more money in hand, RMI was able enlarge Wyld's original motor thurst power up to 10 times the original. Due to the roars and flashes of light residents started complaining and they had to move to Pomptons Lakes in 1943.

Pompton Plains Testing Facility

After moving their headquarters to Pompton Plains in January 1943, the Franklin Lakes testing site was too far from RMI headquarters. As a result, in 1944, Pompton Plains was the new headquarters of RMI. But Public complaints about noise and vibrations generated by RMI forced them to leave that site also in as early as October 1945. Below are some of the photos and artifacts that are on display at Teterboro Airport.