I attended many launches in the period when the NCR F62s were out and I never saw or heard reported an F62 having a Cato. Do you recall the reliability of the 17000 fired, (about how many failed) and we're changes made to the design through the process of firing all those, or was that as you say just to prove the reliability of the production design?

Thanks again for answering questions about it, it's facinating. I am also curious about the chamber pressure they run at.

Sounds like Scott Dixon himself is best positioned to restart production with existing tooling, devices, formulas, likely for a non-consumer application.

Will be interested to see Matt's response. I too haven't ever heard or seen a problem. I have flown many....still have a half-dozen left. Best mid power motor EVER! Always easy to ignite (even now), impressive visual display, and spot on delays. Love 'em!

-Eric-

My observation is they have a zero end user failure rate. Normal Estes BP is somewhere near 1% on an anecdotal basis, combines early batch manufacturing issues and storage issues. The only reason we no longer see MPC B's 13mm is the guy who got them moved the trucks to the north coast and exposed them to repeat winters. Had he simply stored the trailers in CA we would have had a continuous supply for the past 20 years.

We had no failures in the last 11,000 we fired,

if I recall correctly, we uncovered a problem in testing that first 5,000 that only resulted in 2 or 3 failures, but it needed to be resolved before they could be released to the public.

The whole time that I was at Estes, i don't recall getting a report of a motor cato from ones we had sold to the public.

Matt

That's pretty darn impressive.

I think they were the most reliable and efficient model rocket motors ever manufactured.

BTW what was the failure mode you observed in the first 5000?

The end result of very good design, along with sufficient capital invested in quality ingredients, components, and consistency in production method.

__________________
I love sanding.

Too bad it didn't result in more than just the F62 motor.
Would be nice if they were still produced along with the planned G70.

Instead of ultra-reliability, I prefer a myriad of choices instead.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

They used the same grain geometry as the U.S. Rockets F40 and F80, which preceded the F62 by years, of which at one point we were making 6000 per day. (All motor styles inclusive of those). 2 grains x 1.25" x 5/16" core. The reliability of the F40/F80 approached that of the F62 within 0.1% (bonded delays) despite far simpler and cheaper capital investment, but the propellant only had an ISP of about 210 vs the Vulcan/Estes motors over 220. Our delay accuracy was +- 0.5 sec and VBE was under +- 0.25 sec! Both age well.

The NCR I have issue with is the Pearson version.
NCRBE kits obviously have a following.
But the F62 was really Vulcan by Estes (VBE). Awesome tech buried by Tunik.