Low performance - and freon destroying the ozone layerOnce more I toss a question out to the model rocket historians... this one requires more of an opinion.
In your opinion, what caused the demise of cold power rocketry?
Agree - Cold Power never could satisfy the "Shove a C6-5 in it and let's see how fast we can lose it" crowd.1. Low performance
That is why I never got in it back in the 70s - as a high school kid with limited resources, the black powder kits and motor were the only ones within my price range.2. Relatively higher price
Perhaps, but the complexity was what intrigued me - I loved the idea of fueling the rocket "just like the big ones" and then launching it.3. Complexity of the basic system, I think, was probably beyond the average novice rocketeer
Wasn't an issue here - The local hobby shops had been selling Estes and Centuri products well before Estes aquired Vashon.4. Disappearance of local laws banning low-power BP motors
Again, I don't think this was an issue - Estes dropped Cold power in 1978 - and they only carried the Land Rockets line of cold power in 77. Everything I've found indicated that the Ozone hole didn't show up until 1976 and the like to Freon wasn't made until after Estes dropped the line. I think Estes dropped Cold Power for purely economic reasons.5. Disappearance of freon from the consumer market (although I think cold-power rocketry was already on the ropes when this happened in the mid-to-late 1980s).
I'm sure economic reasons were 99% of the problem. I don't remember when freon became a big issue but I do remember Elaine Sadowski writing an editorial in "The Model Rocketeer" discussing the environmental impact of cold power rocketsAgain, I don't think this was an issue - Estes dropped Cold power in 1978 - and they only carried the Land Rockets line of cold power in 77. Everything I've found indicated that the Ozone hole didn't show up until 1976 and the like to Freon wasn't made until after Estes dropped the line. I think Estes dropped Cold Power for purely economic reasons.