Many of my Catos either had no Damage or could easily be repaired. Stuff happens, and it's very rare when it does. 8 Catos out of 400+ launches seems good to me for things that cost $3-$7 a piece. These are semi precision motors made in the USA. Have you priced Chinese made Fireworks lately? Their failure rate is higher and are far more expensive. Rockets sometimes fail, from Estes to Nasa to Space X. I like building rockets, I'm dissapointed at how few I've lost over these past few years. Now I have soo many I won't build another unless one gets lost or destroyed. I don't need countless hours to build a rocket, most take maybe one or two hours if you don't include drying time. I've seen AT and Quest motors fail as well.
An Estes E12 ate my, Baby!!
- Thread starter rbeard2
- Start date
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Get used to it. Motors are going to blow be they commercial or research. There are those who've had CATO's and those
who are going to have CATO's who do this rocket thing long enough. Al motor casings wear and will eventually blow. I've seen
10 to 15 flights quoted for commercial casings but some hand turned casings machinists make are more robust. Problem there is
getting the right sized casting tubes and liners for the raw materials being turned on a metal lathe.
I've retired a couple of casings before they blew because there was some wear on internal inspection. Then again, sometimes inspections
reveal nothing irregular and a casing blows with a commercial load. I have several cases out in the garage that attest to that.
Rocketry is like Fishing. If one wants to catch fish, they have to expect they'll lose a lot of fishing lures on snags and such.
If one flies rockets, yeah they'll be some "nominal" flights but if one flies enough it's the "off-nominal" ones that will consume one's
disposable dollars!!!
who are going to have CATO's who do this rocket thing long enough. Al motor casings wear and will eventually blow. I've seen
10 to 15 flights quoted for commercial casings but some hand turned casings machinists make are more robust. Problem there is
getting the right sized casting tubes and liners for the raw materials being turned on a metal lathe.
I've retired a couple of casings before they blew because there was some wear on internal inspection. Then again, sometimes inspections
reveal nothing irregular and a casing blows with a commercial load. I have several cases out in the garage that attest to that.
Rocketry is like Fishing. If one wants to catch fish, they have to expect they'll lose a lot of fishing lures on snags and such.
If one flies rockets, yeah they'll be some "nominal" flights but if one flies enough it's the "off-nominal" ones that will consume one's
disposable dollars!!!
The best way to dispose of suspect 24mm motors is a Mega Vortico. It's Cato proof. I've had so many Catos with Estes and Quest motors, it doesn't bother me anymore, mostly.
https://www.rocketarium.com/Rockets/Mega-Vortico
You can track your correspondence with Estes using their help page. It requires a separate login.
https://help.estesrockets.com/hc/en-us
Good luck.
https://www.rocketarium.com/Rockets/Mega-Vortico
You can track your correspondence with Estes using their help page. It requires a separate login.
https://help.estesrockets.com/hc/en-us
Good luck.
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