this question is for the "old timers"

I remember the motors but cant recall the name, ( 1/4 size motors ) ?

They were the same physical size in diameter as a Estes "C" or "A" but only 1/2 as long .


Any one remember them or have photos ?

Thanks !

Bobby

You are probably thinking of the Short or "S" engines. They were 1 3/4" long.
Here you go -

https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/nostalgia/70est084.html
https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/nostalgia/70est094.html

Shorty motors. 1 inch shorter.

Old motors had much thicker casings. They were like a modern mini casing inside a modern 18 motor casing. These original casings were heavy and there was only enough room inside for a B motor worth of propellant.

Estes cut one inch off to make Shorty Motors to save weight and space. They came in 1/4A, 1/2A, and A power.

Once the higher quality modern casing material arrived, mini motors were born with the same internal diameter for the propellant but a thinner casing. And 18mm motors got thinner casings with a .5 inch internal diameter which allowed C motors to fit.

Series III "shorty" engines, ended with the letter "S".

A good write-up here, photo from the same source:

https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2015/08/estes-series-iii-engine.html

Thanks guys for the refresher course. I am an old timer to and remember the short engines and the paper caps that was used to hold the ejection charge in place . The ejection charge was a bunch of large grained black bowder

Boy do I remember those old ejection charges under the paper caps. They covered the whole range from nonexistent to Really Exciting.

And they came in paper tubes, kinda like the AT DMS motors except a lot smaller, with about 6" of nichrome wire... you had to cut it yourself, and using it was a bit of an art. Of course, shreadvector can tell you all about nichrome...

One of my first ever model rocket builds was an Estes Starblazer kit. It was designed to use short engines, but I converted it to use standard minis instead. The Starblazer was a cool rocket design. Wish I hadn't lost it....