A Class motor help needed

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

darryn

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Hi all.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to find out more info about the following A Class motors:
1/4A3-3T, 1/2A3-2T, 1/2A3-4T, A10-3T ?

I have found an interesting site with instructions on how to scratch build a small rocket powered by these motors.
I am looking for information like motor length, inside diameter, propellant, etc.
I have read that these motors have an outside diameter of 13mm. Is this correct?
TIA
 
Those motors are all 13mm diameter by 1.75 inches long.

Also note that they are not all A class motors. The 1/4A motor is a 1/4A class motor, and the 1/2A motors are 1/2A class. The only A motor in your list is the A10-3T. There is also an A3 motor that is the same size as the ones you listed.
 
Thanks for all the info.
Is there anywhere where I can get more info on making my own Class A motors?
I have been reading up on James Yawn's website on making makings with 'Rocket Candy', but his methods on show C class motors.
TIA
 
Probably not on this site as it is not permitted. There are plenty of folks here who are better able to guide you in that direction. By the way, the motors your are referring to are also called "mini-motors" or "13mm motors" and use black powder as their propellent. You will probably find it is more cost effective to use commercial motors rather than make your own of such a small size. I have no clue as to motor laws in SA.

Jimmy Yawn is a super nice guy. He's about as laid back as they come. He is the main videographer for NEFAR (North East Florida Association of Rocketry). I'm sure there is a link to the club on his site.
 
Hi Darryn:
We don't really discuss motor making on this forum.

https://www.gmarocketry.com/ sells "research" hardware for very small motors and might be able to help.

The list at https://tripoli.org/Membership/PrefecturesClubs/International/tabid/121/Default.aspx doesn't show a Tripoli club in South Africa. They're the place I'd start with for composite motor making.

Small black powder motors are more the province of the fireworks crowd and I'd recommend you find a local club that can help you with the safety issues and with information about the local legalities of making motors. https://firefox-fx.com/ or https://www.skylighter.com/ might be able to help you find a reputable club in your area.

Please be careful with your motor making...
Best wishes,
Will
 
Hi Darryn,

Welcome to TRF, we are glad you jumped in here with questions.

Making your own motors is more difficult than it might seem. It is easy to pack chemicals into a cardboard tube. It is not very easy to get consistent thrust levels and total impulse, and without reliable motor performance, it is also not very easy to get good rocket flights. Making motors with good thrust-to-weight requires high-quality casing materials, and black powder motor construction also requires special tools which are usually quite expensive.

Rocket motors use some powerful chemicals, and in many places these chemicals are considered to be "dangerous" by the local authorities. You may learn that a large amount of government paperwork will be required to own and store these chemicals. Also, in many places, construction of rocket motors is classified as weapons manufacturing (I'm not kidding, the government often gets that stupid) and you can guess what levels of regulation you would encounter. Be careful; don't get yourself sent to prison.

You should know that the motor ratings (such as "A" impulse class) follow a system established by the National Association of Rocketry. Here in America (and a few other countries) we use these ratings, but things may be different in your town. You might find similar 13mm motors (or something close) that you can also use.

It's great that you are interested in using Estes motors, and I hope they are sold in stores in your part of the world. You should be aware, however, that other good motors are manufactured in Europe and China, and you may have some more choices available.

Also, some of the Estes motors you listed do not have a high level of demand, and not very many stores here in the U.S. carry them in stock. We have to order them by mail in many cases, and if you have to do the same thing this could make them very difficult (or expensive) to purchase. You may want to see what motors you can purchase before you decide what rocket kits or designs you want to build.

There are instructions for building many of the old Estes and Centuri model rockets available for free at:
https://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/estes.htm
https://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/centuri.htm
And there are more free plans for competition model rockets at:
https://www.nar.org/competition/plans/competitionplans.html
https://www.nar.org/competition/plans/duration.html
https://www.nar.org/competition/plans/altitude.html
And remember that all of these plans can be adapted to different sizes, to use whatever motors are available.

I hope some of this information helps you. Come back to TRF often, and post some pictures of your new rockets!
 
Back
Top