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  #1  
Old 08-20-2021, 05:06 PM
Sandy H. Sandy H. is offline
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Default What to do with historic motors

First, I do clearly know that I can't ship motors, so no worries there.

However, I have recently taken possession of some old/historic motors that need to be placed somewhere that will be better than sitting in a box at the bottom of a closet.

I was thinking if there is a NAR museum or similar that would be ideal. A second alternative I thought of would be to get them to S&T so they could be fired for the purpose of gathering data, if there would be benefit in that. I am open to other suggestions.

As an example of the things I've seen:

Vulcan
FSI
MPC
COX
AVI
Pro-Jet
An Estes 13mm B motor and some other odd Estes motors.

I am in the process of doing inventory, as things aren't organized and there are plenty of 'non-interesting' motors as well.

If anybody has suggestions for the right destination, somehow we'll figure out how to get them to the right people.

Sandy.
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  #2  
Old 08-21-2021, 09:28 AM
stefanj stefanj is offline
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Well, there are motor collectors who will eagerly buy them from you. Depending on where you live, you might arrange a pick-up.

The only model rocketry museum I know is in Seattle, if that's of any help.

Best of luck!
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  #3  
Old 08-23-2021, 07:54 PM
Sandy H. Sandy H. is offline
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I hoped for a little better luck with suggestions, but if there just isn't a good outlet, I guess I'll follow the directions and soak in water. (Just kidding. Seriously, I wouldn't do that).

Also, it looks like GH's post is gone now too, which makes this the first thread I made that I am aware of that actually lost a post. I wasn't offended or anything. . .

If GuyNoir or someone with a similar attachment to rocketry hobby and history (I know there are a bunch of you, but don't know you all for sure) sees this, I'd appreciate any suggestions.

These motors (along with other items) were passed along by Doug's wife to be distributed to people who would enjoy them. With respect to the motors specifically, I know Doug routinely brought them with him to launches and showed them to people who expressed interest. A perfect location for these motors would be behind a glass case somewhere that both everyday people and rocketry people went to learn about rocketry, so that is my first hope. The rocket exhibit at the Boeing museum in Seattle would be good, but if there is a NAR collection that would hopefully someday see the light of day as a traveling exhibit, they would fit there even better.

Help!!!! This stuff is cool!

Sandy.
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Old 08-23-2021, 08:07 PM
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Earl Earl is offline
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I thought you had mentioned it earlier but I don’t see it looking back through your messages in this thread, but where are you located?

Maybe if you toss that out here it might bring someone forward who is close (or close enough) to you that you can pass them off to. And maybe one of those ‘somebodys’ is someone who can get them to a location where they would serve the most good.

Earl
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  #5  
Old 08-23-2021, 09:06 PM
Sandy H. Sandy H. is offline
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I completely agree. I am near Charlotte, NC and will be at the Freedom Launch in 2 weeks. I know Ken Allen runs up and down the East Coast, so getting stuff up and down there would likely be something that could be arranged.

Getting things from here to Seattle might require some more creativity. Also, I don't have a logical contact for the Boeing museum and I doubt the best answer is to just ship some hazmat (edit: through someone who can ship the right kind of hazmat, just to be clear) to the receptionist.

Any contact information for someone who knows about the rocket exhibit at the Boeing museum (or any other logical destination) would be appreciated. PM is fine, as it is bad form to share details on a public forum.

Thanks for any continued ideas! We need to make sure these cool motors get preserved and displayed if possible.

Sandy.

Last edited by Sandy H. : 08-23-2021 at 10:00 PM.
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  #6  
Old 08-23-2021, 10:45 PM
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BEC BEC is offline
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Get in touch with Pat Fitzpatrick (pterodactyl on here). He is a good connection to the folks at the Museum of Flight.
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  #7  
Old 08-24-2021, 06:38 PM
Sandy H. Sandy H. is offline
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Thanks for the name! I have sent him a PM. Fingers crossed.

Sandy.
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  #8  
Old 08-24-2021, 10:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BEC
Get in touch with Pat Fitzpatrick (pterodactyl on here). He is a good connection to the folks at the Museum of Flight.
Bernard,

My understanding is that Museum of Flight is currently not accepting any model rocketry donations. They are still only part way through dealing with the Stine collection and have already accepted the Estes and Piester collections which will take several more years to go through and those collections will require significant further fundraising to deal with. So when MOF will begin accepting new donations is hard to say.

My impression is that a number of us who have items we believe should "go to a museum" are going to be very disappointed.

Model rocketry motors are another kettle of fish entirely. I know the Smithsonian has a few rare old motors but definitely no big collection. Same for MOF. They each have some Carlisle and Rock-A-Chute motors and some foreign motors but I don't think much else. Accepting a large motor collection would probably create significant storage safety considerations for any museum.

Smithsonian model rocket motors
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Old 08-24-2021, 10:43 PM
Sandy H. Sandy H. is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gus
Bernard,

My understanding is that Museum of Flight is currently not accepting any model rocketry donations. They are still only part way through dealing with the Stine collection and have already accepted the Estes and Piester collections which will take several more years to go through and those collections will require significant further fundraising to deal with. So when MOF will begin accepting new donations is hard to say.

My impression is that a number of us who have items we believe should "go to a museum" are going to be very disappointed.

Model rocketry motors are another kettle of fish entirely. I know the Smithsonian has a few rare old motors but definitely no big collection. Same for MOF. They each have some Carlisle and Rock-A-Chute motors and some foreign motors but I don't think much else. Accepting a large motor collection would probably create significant storage safety considerations for any museum.

Smithsonian model rocket motors


Interesting and understood. Thanks for the information.

While some of these motors are very interesting for me to see (a 13mm B motor. . . wow!) maybe they don't have such a pedigree as I assume.

At the end of the day, I can hold them for a while (God willing) but at some point they either need to become useful (S&T testing for history) or be displayed, IMO, but a handful of these existed well before I was born, so maybe I'm wrong.

Sandy.
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  #10  
Old 08-24-2021, 11:30 PM
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Steve,

That all makes sense….but it sounds like you’re more tightly tied into that than I. I’m sure Pat will, when he responds, probably say the same thing. Last I heard from him he was still vacationing/visiting in Canada.
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