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Old 02-26-2017, 10:16 AM
Jerry Irvine's Avatar
Jerry Irvine Jerry Irvine is offline
Freeform rocketry advocate.
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Claremont, CA "The intellectual capitol of the world."-WSJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
How did I not anticipate a certain someone chiming in claiming they were somehow a copy of something related to a U.S. Rockets product that has been OOP for even way longer ?
Noting historical fact is not an attack of any kind.

I will note that while the grain geometry was a precise copy of mine, as were some of the earliest NCR kits (Pearson version not NCRBE), it is also true the casing system for the Dark Star motors was an engineering masterpiece and clearly unique and innovative. The material selection(s) are superior to the Aerotech SU molded cases in several respects, probably because of Scott's materials expertise and a higher budget for molding than AT has. The motor "system" as a whole was unique. special, reliable, and for a time widely available. A short time. If Matt can't share how many were shipped, perhaps he can share how many months they shipped. I would also be curious about the operating pressure of the motor.

The U.S. Rockets F40 and F80 (same geometry and casing system different propellants) was available from about 1987-1993 so I suspect about as many were sold in total but without the Estes figures being disclosed even this many years later, it is hard to compare accurately. They operated at about 400 psi.
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