CTI i303 blue CATOs

[Cameron Anderson]

Anyone having issues with the CTI i303? Had a guy I fly with CATO two of them using different cases.

First one looked like a hard chuff. It wasn't until he brought the airframe back that we saw the aft closure blew out and the case shot into the av bay and did some good damage.

The second one was clearly a CATO, again, aft closure let go, and the case was stopped by the av bay.

In both incidents the grains looked in decent shape, but slightly sooty. One looked fine as well...no obvious signs of damage, the other looked like it had thread damage.

I assume they were from the same lot since he ordered them together but I can't be sure. He filled out the MESS and is contacting the vendors.

 

[emckee]

Please tell me he didn't fly the same case with both reloads.

When you have a closure ejected, there is typically damage to the threads and/or case that will allow this to happen more easily.

Otherwise, I haven't noted any I303 issues at our launches.

 

[Cameron Anderson]

Please tell me he didn't fly the same case with both reloads.

When you have a closure ejected, there is typically damage to the threads and/or case that will allow this to happen more easily.

Otherwise, I haven't noted any I303 issues at our launches.

Different cases

 

[mikec]

Could be voiding in the grains, could be an issue with the BP pellet similar to the Pro29 problems, assuming no cross-threading of the aft closure, case damage, etc.

Not thrilled with CTI's QC these days. Though I haven't had a lot of problems personally; I don't fly Pro38 very much of late.

 

[Cameron Anderson]

Could be voiding in the grains, could be an issue with the BP pellet similar to the Pro29 problems, assuming no cross-threading of the aft closure, case damage, etc.

Not thrilled with CTI's QC these days. Though I haven't had a lot of problems personally; I don't fly Pro38 very much of late.

No obvious grain deformity from what I saw. And the cases were both used but well-maintained. I immediately thought of the BP pellet when the second one went.

 

[tim cubbedge]

Any idea of date stamp or when he bought them? There were a handful of 38mm forward closures that were defective a few years ago. They were hard to identify but CTI put out service bulletin.

 

[Cameron Anderson]

Any idea of date stamp or when he bought them? There were a handful of 38mm forward closures that were defective a few years ago. They were hard to identify but CTI put out service bulletin.

They were purchased recently, not sure what the date stamp was...shipping cartons were thrown away before the first CATO.

 

[mikec]

The forward closure problem from a few years back typically caused a forward burnthrough rather than an overpressure.

 

[DuctTapeandRocketFuel]

I have seen several I303 catos. They were all due to the forward closure manufacturing issue CTI had a couple years back. I have a I303 in my stash (with the fixed forward closure), but I am wary of even using it.

 

[Nytrunner]

For those longer Pro38s, I try to be as careful as possible threading them in. The plastic aft closure is convenient when it works, but requires a bit more careful installation

As for the I303, I only have one datapoint, and that was a success