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Old 01-22-2009, 07:47 AM
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Shreadvector Shreadvector is offline
Launching since 1970.
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,188
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blackshire
*I think I'm going to colic in my stall* In 1972 or 1973, my father and I burned through dozens of these green motors. We thought they were 'just' the latest innovation from Estes. Had we known "the rest of the story," we would have salted some away as collectors' items!

I do, however, have one Centuri B14-7 motor that is made of blue paper with black lettering on it. The nozzle is dark gray like pumice soap (it looks like the nozzle material in the German-made MRC 18 mm motors of the early 1990s). I'm fairly familiar with Centuri's motors, and I've never seen one of these before.


Centuri used the scrap graphite that was produced when machining the nozzles and delay housings of the Enerjet composite motors by mixing it in with the clay for the black powder motors, so that is why some of them are grey.

Cato is not "CATO". It is not an acronym, it is an abbreviation of Catastrophic Failure, semi-similar to "combo" as an abbreviation for combination.

The nozzle sizes are definitely different today than in the past as they had different black powder suppliers and the different powders had different performance. The current nozzle plugs will not fit the older motors from the early 1970's.

I have flown a LOT of older B6-0 motors with the tiny nozzles and they worked fine. They were stored in a warehouse/attic in SoCal for decades. I saved the Astron Igniters for use with D12 motors since they are a perfect fit and are virtually misfire-proof when held in with a wadding ball.
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