At least the CATO wasn't in the SLV since it is a much harder rocket to build.


John Boren

Yes, I was thankful about that. I've had a relatively recent E9 CATO in a Vagabond (see the Jolly Logic Chute Release threads) so I'm a little hesitant to fly the SLV on E9s. So far my E12s have been trouble-free.

I do have another Big Bertha with a 24mm mount ready for finishing. When we have painting weather around here....well we shall see.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

Sorry to hear about that, I too had a bang last weekend....in one of my rocket gliders using a Quest D-5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn4g___Voc4

Look at the last 15 seconds of the video....Burned a 1" by 4" hole in the glider forward of the mount...but I was able to scab in some new foam sheet in about 15 minutes and make it good to go. I actually added some masking tape over the huge hole and flew it again right after this cato on an aerotech E-6 motor so I knew it was structurally sound before the repair....

Attached Thumbnails

               

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RC Rocket glider kits
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I've had a couple of Quest D5s come perilously close to burning through the casings, but never had one actually fail. Of course I've probably flown only about a half dozen of them.....

Glad to hear the repairs weren't too onerous.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

Forward part of the casing was split about 1.25" and the nozzle was completely gone...
when I watch the video in slow motion it looks like the whole fireball comes out the back then forward, I did have a small epoxy plug in the forward end to keep the ejection from ejecting the casing when it burned out but since the casing split it just shot that out with the rest of the burning propellent...The motor mount and adapter I made was intact and not damaged, its like it overpressured and blew the nozzle end out and also split the casing slightly and tossed part of the propellent forward....

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RC Rocket glider kits
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I'm glad the damage was repairable, and didn't occur to your SLV! I've only been "bitten" once by a CATO, with my very first Quest motor, soon after they started in business (an A6-4 that acted as if it had no delay charge; my Pipsqueak suffered only a repairable Kevlar "zipper"). Your incident with such a new C6 motor makes me wonder:

Have CATO analyses shown or suggested that some of the motors were subjected to physical shocks or temperature cycling while in transit to distributors and/or vendors? Also, is it possible that CATO'ed motors could have been dropped or jarred at the manufacturer? (I'm not trying to blame Estes [or Quest, in the case of my one CATO incident], as I'm sure that the motor manufacturers understand the ramifications of physical shocks to motors better than anyone else and would never do it on purpose, but accidents can happen.)

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NAR #54895 SR

Very odd about the C6 cato. Never had any problems with C6s, also noted by others. On a positive note, you captured some spectacular photos of the cato.

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Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

I really should post that video to YouTube or something.....

OK - here it is, no editing. The quality, as posted on YouTube, is lousy however - unless I force the iPad to go to the desktop site rather than mobile - there it's better. So it may look pretty good to those who aren't looking at it via a mobile browser.

https://youtu.be/lfBpwUigc5g

The main event appears to happen with the Bertha about six inches off the pad. The force of the motor/mount going out is so strong that it really shakes up the SLV on the other pad on my little tripod setup.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE