Spectacular B6-0 Cato Shot

[Doug Sams]

My venerable SuperGee got sent to the repair pile after this Quest B6-0 cato today:

http://home.flash.net/~samily/supergee/super-ouch1-2p.jpg

I bought several packs of them a few years ago as a hedge that the Estes B6-0's were going OOP. And they did. Then came back. Then went OOP again :rolleyes:

Anyway, this was my first ever flight of this motor type and now I'm hesitant to fly anymore of these Quest B6-0's. Anybody want a good deal on some :)

Seriously, does anyone recall if some of these were especially cato-prone? Date codes?

The cato didn't light the sustainer so it lawndarted in the soft farm dirt. I hoped it would recover undamaged, but alas, the forward ~3" of ariframe uncoiled :( Also, the booster had a fin break at the root. That won't be too hard to fix, but the sustainer will take me a while.

Doug

[moonzero2]

I'm so sorry to hear about your rocket. Sounds like it can be fixed to fly again. Great photography,... That is a spectactular shot! Sorry I have no experience with Quest motors. You can submit a report of this bad motor to NAR.

[dwmzmm]

Wow, that's quite a shot, Doug! Did that model launch attempt come from the launch rod
visible on the right? The catoed booster has already scooted over to the left already.

If you have spare body tubes for the sustainer, you could just trim the 3" or so of the damaged tube off and "splice" a new tube in place with a JT coupler.

In addition to filing a MESS report, I'd also contact Quest about what happen; they may
do something to make up for this...

[barone]

Doug,

Hated to hear about your CATO. I've had many a rocket with countless hours invested lost to CATOs :( . The NAR has a form for reporting malfunctioning motors. Quote from their web site "The Malfunctioning Engine Statistical Survey (MESS) program allows NAR Standards & Testing to track field trends in the reliability of sport rocket motors. An unusual number of consumer complaints against a particular engine type or lot number can trigger retesting, targeted blind purchases, manufacturer recall, or even decertification."

The report form can be found at this link http://nar.org/NARmessform.html

Taking some time to report these types of malfunctions may help identify manufacturing defects and lead to corrections. I hope you decide to take the time to fill it out.

Good luck with your repairs.

[Doug Sams]

Did that model launch attempt come from the launch rod visible on the right? The catoed booster has already scooted over to the left already.Hi, Dave,

No, you can't see it well, but there's a rod on the left that the rocket took off from. The booster is still attached - it has its own lug - but that snapped off soon after the pic was taken.

This was one of my very first scratch rockets built soon after I BAR'd in 1999. Being a rookie, I ran the grain wrong on the launch lug standoffs, so this isn't the first time one of them has snapped off :o

Here's the shot Tim Sapp got of it. You can see the left rod better here.
http://home.flash.net/~samily/supergee/Dougs_Cato.jpg


If you have spare body tubes for the sustainer, you could just trim the 3" or so of the damaged tube off and "splice" a new tube in place with a JT coupler. This bird has been spliced back together at least two times before, so there's lots of scar tissue :) Care must be taken to cut it in a spot away from other couplers or else I'll be looking for coupler tubes for coupler tubes :)

Here's an earlier wreck:
http://home.flash.net/~samily/supergee/SuperGee-wrecked2.jpg


BTW, I'll send in a MESS report.

Doug