Ye Olde Rocket Forum

Go Back   Ye Olde Rocket Forum > Weather-Cocked > FreeForAll
User Name
Password
Auctions Register FAQ Members List Calendar Today's Posts Search Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-26-2008, 12:42 PM
Jeff Walther Jeff Walther is offline
Master Modeler
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 661
Default Is *This* Where the Term "Cato" Originated?

Cato on Ebay

I've been wondering about the etymology of the term for a while and suddenly it became clear...
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-26-2008, 01:59 PM
tbzep's Avatar
tbzep tbzep is offline
Dazed and Confused
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 11,610
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Walther
Cato on Ebay

I've been wondering about the etymology of the term for a while and suddenly it became clear...


The term cato has been around a whole lot longer than the Estes rocket. It roughly stands for a catastrophic motor failure, though others will give slightly different definitions. The Estes rocket was named after the term.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-26-2008, 02:12 PM
Jeff Walther Jeff Walther is offline
Master Modeler
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 661
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
The term cato has been around a whole lot longer than the Estes rocket. It roughly stands for a catastrophic motor failure, though others will give slightly different definitions. The Estes rocket was named after the term.


Ah. Thank you for the clarification.

That makes the rocket model kind of ghoulish, though. It'd be kind of like selling Traffic-Accident-Barbie.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-26-2008, 03:03 PM
Doug Sams's Avatar
Doug Sams Doug Sams is offline
Old Far...er...Rocketeer
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Plano, TX resident since 1998.
Posts: 3,965
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Walther
It'd be kind of like selling Traffic-Accident-Barbie.
Wow, you set the juices flowing. How about Drug Rehab Barbie? Crack Whore Barbie? Prosthetic Limb Barbie? Rocket B@#$% Barbie?

Doug

.
__________________
YORF member #11
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-26-2008, 03:09 PM
JSP's Avatar
JSP JSP is offline
ACE DISASTER COMPANY
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Rowlett (Dallas area)
Posts: 220
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Sams
Wow, you set the juices flowing. How about Drug Rehab Barbie? Crack Whore Barbie? Prosthetic Limb Barbie? Rocket B@#$% Barbie?

Doug

.


I once had an idea for "Blair Witch Barbie"...just an empty box. It was around the time that I had the "Butcher Me Elmo" idea....
__________________
J. Stuart Powley
NAR 29573
"Gravity is a harsh mistress."
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-26-2008, 04:42 PM
Jeff Walther Jeff Walther is offline
Master Modeler
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 661
Default

Spontaneous Combustion Barbie...she's full of black powder and has igniter wires in her hair. Other attachment points for the electrical ignition system are left to the imagination of those depraved enough to want other attachment points.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-26-2008, 04:43 PM
Royatl's Avatar
Royatl Royatl is offline
SPEV/Orion wrangler
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 2,645
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Walther
Cato on Ebay

I've been wondering about the etymology of the term for a while and suddenly it became clear...


Part of the apocrypha of rocketry is that when flight records or cards were first established, they used some shorthand to describe the flight, some of which survives today in contest bookkeeping, like GF=good flight. Supposedly, since early motor failures were common, CATO was the acronym for Catastrophe At Take Off, being a "take-off" on JATO, jet assisted take off, and that's what it's pronounced A as in cake, not as in cat.

Others will try to tell you it's just short for catastrophe, pronounced as in cat.
__________________
Roy
nar12605
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-26-2008, 06:09 PM
JSP's Avatar
JSP JSP is offline
ACE DISASTER COMPANY
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Rowlett (Dallas area)
Posts: 220
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl

Others will try to tell you it's just short for catastrophe, pronounced as in cat.


Actually, as in "catastrophic failure." Let's see, this argument has been going on for how many decades now?
__________________
J. Stuart Powley
NAR 29573
"Gravity is a harsh mistress."
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-26-2008, 07:22 PM
tbzep's Avatar
tbzep tbzep is offline
Dazed and Confused
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 11,610
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by JSP
Actually, as in "catastrophic failure." Let's see, this argument has been going on for how many decades now?


Yeah....that's why I said other folks would have different definitions. It still boils down the the motor going BOOM! or at the very least playing Roman Candle and wrecking havoc on the rocket. Fun to watch when it's somebody else's rocket.


.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11-26-2008, 08:53 PM
STRMan's Avatar
STRMan STRMan is offline
Master Modeler
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 873
Default

I LOVE this rocket. Does anyone know if it worked as it should have?
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:15 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.0.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe © 1998-2024