The photos of catos that are on the web are there precisely because those motor failures were spectacular. Not all of them are as visually dramatic as those. I have seen photos and web videos of catos that appear to an onlooker to be nothing more than a muted "pop." And I have read accounts of motor catos that hardly did any damage to the rocket. From what I hear, many (perhaps most) catos aren't caused by casing failures; a great many are caused by end closure failures or nozzle failures. A nozzle failure may not cause any damage to the rocket at all.
MarkII
I haven't had a cato...yet.
I'm expecting one soon. I flinch every time the countdown gets to one.
so far it has paid off.
I pray my luck doesn't end on my dad's level 1 in my 29/240 case.
blowing up my rocket is bad, but blowing up my dad's would be horrible!
Mark, you are welcome to come to Idaho and fly with all 20 of us. I haven't seen any CATO's out here, but i've only been to a couple launches.
Not my first, but spectacular....
You asked for it..
And you can come to upstate NY and fly with all 12 of us. Or else with Scrapdaddy. (If you go with him, there will then be one of you at the field who actually flies rockets. )
MarkII
See appropriate documents on my website for black powder motor failure explanations and the correct use of the abbreviation "cato" which is not and never was an acronym.
https://home.earthlink.net/~fredeshecter/CatoExplanation.pdf
https://home.earthlink.net/~fredeshecter/cato_origin.pdf
Just like the term "knob" was never before, nor was it ever intended to be associated with "effects or colored rocket motors"...
Until the definition was changed through usage. Seems like language has evolved. :cyclops:
Like it or not, that CATO genie is out of the bottle.
Fred, please, enough. You've been beating that dead horse for years.
Ok, who had Post#37? Calling for #37, you're our winner for this month's CATO-BINGO. Please see Fred for your prize.
Everyone else, better luck next month.
:roll::duck::roll:
Ok, who had Post#37? Calling for #37, you're our winner for this month's CATO-BINGO. Please see Fred for your prize.
Everyone else, better luck next month.
:roll::duck::roll:
Okay, here's my first CATO, it's the boilerplate model for our Metropolitaln Police Call Box.
And here's the motor, a single use E30
First CATO: Estes B8-5 whose propellant detached itself from the casing, went straight out of the top of the rocket like a Roman candle, but did no harm.
Most spectacular CATO, unfortunately without photo: Quest C6-3 which went BANG, scorched the fins but failed to do serious harm to the rocket. Mainly because the rocket's body was a sweetie container with thicker walls than the normal rocket body tube, also fairly wide diameter, so there wasn't as much pressure as there would have been inside, say, a BT-50, and the thick wall contained it. Someone else's rocket with another Quest motor was not so lucky and the CATO blew a hole in the side of the body tube.
Most recent CATO: Estes B6-4 which simultaneously blew the nozzle out of the back and the nose out of the front.
Ok, who had Post#37? Calling for #37, you're our winner for this month's CATO-BINGO. Please see Fred for your prize.
Everyone else, better luck next month.
:roll::duck::roll:
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