Another rocket history question- Cold Power

[Dr.Zooch]

Once 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?

 

[Bazookadale]

Once 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?

Low performance - and freon destroying the ozone layer

 

[JStarStar]

1. Low performance

2. Relatively higher price

3. Complexity of the basic system, I think, was probably beyond the average novice rocketeer

4. Disappearance of local laws banning low-power BP motors

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).

 

[Dr.Zooch]

Sounds like you folks have it nailed.

Additional opinions are welcome, however.

 

[gpoehlein]

1. Low performance

Agree - Cold Power never could satisfy the "Shove a C6-5 in it and let's see how fast we can lose it" crowd.

2. Relatively higher price

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.

3. Complexity of the basic system, I think, was probably beyond the average novice rocketeer

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.

4. Disappearance of local laws banning low-power BP motors

Wasn't an issue here - The local hobby shops had been selling Estes and Centuri products well before Estes aquired Vashon.

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).

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.

 

[shockie]

ALl the posts posted by othere seem valid to me....The man who invented the Vashon had an interview in LAUNCH magazine that may shed some light.

It stated, "ultimately it would be the R-12 Freon based proepllant and its damagaing effects on the Ozone layer that would lead to the demise of the Vashon rockets"

Mar/Apr 2007 LAUNCH

The NAR delayed the entry into the marketplace of the original Vashon rockets because they were made of metal.
Vashon was forced to spend extra time and money with the FAA proving they weren'ta hazard. which Vashon did.

The NAR later embraced Cold Power with their cold power propellant safety code.

I would gather that their price, complexity and lack of performance also played roles in their demise.

I had one of the original single stage Valkyries and I only remember using the electrical launch controller maybe once as I found it as a 14 yr old kid difficult to get right. SO I just filled and used the alternative method of pulling the exhaust pin...up close and personal.


Terry Dean

 

[Bazookadale]

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.

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 rockets

 

[MarkII]

The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer was put into effect on January 1, 1989. It contained a gradual phase-out plan for Group I CFC's (including Freon) that extended for several years during the early to mid-1990's. Freon was not effectively banned until 1996. If Estes discontinued the Cold Power line in 1978, then it is hard to demonstrate how the Montreal Protocol, which came into existence a full decade later, could have played any role at all in the demise of Cold Power rocketry. This seems to be a claim that has attained credibility through repetition, not through facts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Protocol

MarkII