A suspicious "estes" motor catoed TWICE. Prototype, old, or fake?

At my first ever launch, I saw a rocket motor called the E15-4 CATO twice. I think it is either a prototype, old, or fake. I think this because it was "estes" and Estes doesn't sell E15-4 motors. The second reason is that the motor seemed to be laminated and smooth, and all estes BP motors i know of are papery.

If you have help, or info, please post what you think!

None of the above. AT motor. Not BP but APCP based. Older but should still be good if it was stored well.

Lukun7 said:

At my first ever launch, I saw a rocket motor called the E15-4 CATO twice. I think it is either a prototype, old, or fake. I think this because it was "estes" and Estes doesn't sell E15-4 motors. The second reason is that the motor seemed to be laminated and smooth, and all estes BP motors i know of are papery.

If you have help, or info, please post what you think!

Click to expand...

Not sure if the E15 was a re-branded AeroTech motor, but all of the PSII APCP motors were re-branded Aerotech. There was a Estes E15 motor in production from June 1993 (certification date) to July 1998 when it was de-certified and it is listed as a BP propellant.

From the 1996 Estes catalog:

They did sell E15 engines as late as 1996. Green label single stage, BP propellant.
So, real AND old. Probably CATO'd cuz of its' age. I would soak it in water and toss. Not worth destroying a perfectly good rocket.

The initial 1990s batches of the Estes E15 BP motors worked pretty well.
Later production motors had a VERY high failure rate.
The NAR withdrew certification and Estes had hobby distributors/hobby shops destroy the motors (I know about that last part. I worked in a hobby shop at the time and was asked by the owners what was the best way to dispose of Black Powder motors. My answer was, "Give them to me". They wouldn't do that as they would get some sort of credit from Estes for proving the motors had been destroyed).

I did some research and heard that apparently they were almost a guaranteed CAtO. The rocket was flown twice but survived both times. I do not see how it could have been composite, because the nozzle was clay. I have posted a video with the CATO in it.
Go to around 38 seconds to see the CATO.

LUKUN7....
SEE POST #4