You could experiment with venting four of the tubes through the gaps between them and the body tube - or through the side of the body tube like I'm having to do with one of my 18mm clusters - so you wouldn't be hostage to the fickle supply of PT motors. Of course in a small lightweight rocket, seven A3s will get up and scoot even without a few A10s in the mix.
End-burning composite motors have existed for many decades.About the only area Quest HASN'T put out are zero delay booster motors. I understand that is because of the core burning rather than end burning geometry makes core burning zero delay impractical if not impossible. I don't know if an end-burning composite is practical and even if so, not sure the "niche" is large enough to make it worth producing. Aside from this (and I guess 13mm motors), Estes still has a competitor in the LPR spectrum, so they can't go too crazy with their prices. Some of these price increases may be simple inflation, bread and milk are costing more too
Motor clustering was more common in the early days of the hobby when the largest motor easily available was a 'B'.
Apologies to everyone else for my flurry of incoming replies. EDIT: Oops! Looks like I’ve been beaten to the punch on everything I wrote, and was thinking of writing. Oh well.True, but Quest is putting out some pretty decent composites in the 18 and 24 (and now I think 29?) mm sizes, the reviews so far I have seen for the 18 and 24 mm motors suggests they perform for the most part as well or better than the BP motors (although @Ronz Rocketz seems to have more than his share of CATOs and broken nozzles.)
About the only area Quest HASN'T put out are zero delay booster motors. I understand that is because of the core burning rather than end burning geometry makes core burning zero delay impractical if not impossible. I don't know if an end-burning composite is practical and even if so, not sure the "niche" is large enough to make it worth producing. Aside from this (and I guess 13mm motors), Estes still has a competitor in the LPR spectrum, so they can't go too crazy with their prices. Some of these price increases may be simple inflation, bread and milk are costing more too
If Estes really wants to make more money, they coooouuuld release a C5-0 and a bunch of heftier two stagers (or re-release the MIRV...... I know, don't get me started....grrrrrr.) Get everybody out there burning two motors for every flight. KaChing!
Well, as Robert Heinlein used to quote, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."
Not true if you are a Purchasing Agent.
I second the motion.
Aren't these Estes 29mm pretty much unobtanium?
"Unobtainium" is taking it a bit far. They are sometimes annoying to get ahold of but all you need to get them is a little patience for a restock and willingness to pay Hazmat shipping. I usually buy $100-$200 worth of them in one go.
Reduce the cost of the motor
A 1/4A3 motor is about $3. That's too much money?
Per Estes customer support when I asked about them earlier in the autumn, Estes had a supply chain issue with the cardboard casings used in the 29mm motors. They had hoped to have this resolved and be shipping motors by some time in December. Clearly they aren't shipping yet, but maybe soon?
depending on field rules, you can always go with A10-0T or A10-3T and just do motor eject. Also some including me defer this if there is high brushfire risk, kind of like Sparky motors.
Why would you feel guilty?
I personally would feel a little guilty if I used those recovery options. But then again, I hate using anything that gets ejected from the rocket and can potentially be lost...even if it is biodegradable.
That's when I started clustering. I still have the Astron Ranger that I built 56 years ago.
The current Estes C5-3 motor has wimpy performance/total impulse compared to C5 motors made in the 1970s/80s/90s.
When the Estes Pro Series II (PSII) product line was released ten years ago it went over like a lead balloon.
And I'm a piston user for the exact same reason.
Wow, must have been a great motor!The current Estes C5-3 motor has wimpy performance/total impulse compared to C5 motors made in the 1970s/80s/90s.
There was also a C5-0 motor back then.
Since the quality of black powder Estes has been using the last several years has a lower ISP than black powder in the past perhaps Estes is waiting until they get the GOEX plant up and running and can fine tune the black powder for better performance in their rocket motors.
) I find the C5-3 a nice go-to when I can’t upgrade a mount to 24mm.
Thanks for that clarification! I'm surprised that sales were that bad.
China.
I thought all of Estes BP Motors were made domestically.
Do you have any evidence of this? Also, if this were occurring, don't you think Estes would know about it? Or are you saying they do, but look the other way?
I had two recent CATOs with Estes BP motors where the nozzle blew out. This isn't saying to me that the powder is too powerful, it's saying to me that whatever glue they use to keep the nozzle in place is too weak. Like they are cutting back on the glue. I have another rocketeer who recommends to me that we all put a little ring of epoxy around the nozzle to hold things in place. While it seems that customer service is happy to provide replacement motors, when I informed them of that plan, they urged me not to modify the motors in any way as that voids the warantee. Nevertheless this other rocketeer who has epoxied the nozzle isn't experiencing CATOs.
