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Old 02-12-2014, 11:29 PM
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astronot astronot is offline
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Default Centuri Servo Launcher

I saw this interesting little contraption in a 1971 Centuri Catalog.

Centuri Servo Launcher

I've never seen or heard of one before. The ad says that a pulse of air from the hand held plunger closes the contact that is built into the launch pad and fires the rocket. I must say it looks neat and is a novel idea. I was wondering if anyone out the personally used or owned one. How reliable was it? Was it durable?

Thanks,

David
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Old 02-12-2014, 11:58 PM
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It was a pretty neat little contraption, though I have never actually used one, but have a couple of them in my collection. A small balloon would inflate from the hand held plunger and that would close a contact inside the launcher and ignite the ignitor.

I would suspect that the balloon could probably become a little problematic over time, and I don't know just how dependable it would be to inflate that balloon with just one press of the plunger, or did it on some occasions maybe require two presses, etc.

It was around from the '71 catalog though the '74-75 catalog and then was replaced by the Power Pad, which was another neat little launcher that fit atop a 6v lantern battery. It was my first launcher from back in the 70s and I still use it some.

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Old 02-13-2014, 01:49 AM
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I had one but never really got the chance to use it. You displaced air in the plunger to a bladder in the launch pad assembly. I saw it work once or twice but never actually used it. The photo-flash batteries were too expensive for me so I stuck with using my Dad's car to power the pad.
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Old 02-13-2014, 02:25 AM
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Wow! cool stories. Too bad not many people used them. Here is a color photo of one. It looks cool.

Color Photo of Centuri Servo Launcher

I was raised up in Rocketry on Estes Rockets and supplies. I had never bought anything from anyone else until this time around as a BAR, which got started in me last year.

I have enjoyed discovering Centuri, Semroc, Quest, Dr. Zooch, and others. There's some really neat stuff out there to play with. I'm really glad Semroc stocks many of the Retro Reproduction kits, plus all the stuff you'd ever need to clone something that is not a kit.

David
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Old 02-13-2014, 05:14 PM
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Here's mine...



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Old 02-13-2014, 06:21 PM
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Wow! That's cool for days. Have you ever used it? What's your impression of it. Should it have been more popular than it was? Well built? Where is the continuity light on the launcher? Is there a safety key or interlock?

David
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