Tramper Al
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2013
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I know I've heard it said that the BT56 is on its way out. In the current catalog, I think I can identify just two BT56 rockets, the Riptide and the Amazon. Is that correct? It's not always easy to work out, as I've seen BT56 models listed in various catalogs as anything from 1.33 to 1.35mm diameter.
Of course the BT56 had a long history of Astrocam vehicles, helicopter recovery nosecone, egg lofters, what I think of as technology rockets - with LED lights, altitude estimator, spin control etc., some "metallic" gold or silver type models, and others. Of these categories, there seems to be very little left - the Astrocam has of course gone to BT50, the only remaining egg lofter is a wide-body, and I can't find any nose cone helicopter recovery at all.
My question is, will the holdouts like Riptide and Amazon soon be killed off or modified as well? Are they only still here because there are old crates of BT56 tubes in black and blue that have to be used up? Estes only mentions BT56 in reference to the nose cone pack and tube couplers, which I imagine also may represent (very) old stock that someone ordered too much of, like 10+ years ago.
Of course the BT56 had a long history of Astrocam vehicles, helicopter recovery nosecone, egg lofters, what I think of as technology rockets - with LED lights, altitude estimator, spin control etc., some "metallic" gold or silver type models, and others. Of these categories, there seems to be very little left - the Astrocam has of course gone to BT50, the only remaining egg lofter is a wide-body, and I can't find any nose cone helicopter recovery at all.
My question is, will the holdouts like Riptide and Amazon soon be killed off or modified as well? Are they only still here because there are old crates of BT56 tubes in black and blue that have to be used up? Estes only mentions BT56 in reference to the nose cone pack and tube couplers, which I imagine also may represent (very) old stock that someone ordered too much of, like 10+ years ago.
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