Wow, thanks! I never knew that there had been so much motor development in what is now called the mid-power range back then. This was just a year or two before I got into the hobby. I knew (vaguely) that there were other model rocket motor makers besides Estes, but I also recall having the impression back then that the other brands of motors were more failure-prone and potentially more hazardous. I cannot remember where I got that impression - perhaps via word-of-mouth from other kids or from my buddy who got into rocketry with me. I do remember that at the time I was pretty impressed by the way my Alpha flew on a B6 [I still am!] and how my buddy's Big Bertha did on a C6 [because it was impressive!], and that those seemed like big motors to me. When Estes came out with the 24mm D's, I erroneously thought at the time that they were the biggest model rocket motors that were being made.

The Coaster motors, the Centuri Atlas and Hercules, and later the Centuri Mini-Max motors, were all BP. Those Coaster motors in particular sound like they were really massive. How CATO-prone were any of those motor lines? (I have already heard about the FSI motors.) It seems kind of weird now, from today's perspective, that anyone was trying to mass produce motors (big E's and F's!) that were packed with that much BP. But, as you pointed out, some of this development occurred before such motors were as tightly regulated as they would become later. At the time, were there any restrictions on shipping them?

As I mentioned before, I'm really fascinated with that era of model rocketry. It sounds like it was a time when there were fewer rules - because they hadn't been formulated yet! (because less was known then!) - and there were a lot of players involved who were trying lots of different things, but no one had yet emerged as an industry leader. Thanks for the info!

Mark

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