08-11-2022, 10:32 AM
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Master Modeler
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 6,507
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Wooten
Anyone else here had problems with almost non-existent ejection charges on A8-3's?
My wife teaches 5th grade class, and I did a launch with them today and out of 18 rockets (Estes make and take) and 36 launches, over 20 failed to eject the parachute. I was using motors from two bulk packs. For the high school physics class (8 rockets, 16 launches) later this afternoon, I had 6 ejection charge failures. I did not even have to be looking at them, as I could plainly hear the weak charge, more of a poof than a pop. I pulled out an old Alpha I had with me and also had a failure to pop the chute out.
I also had one motor during the high school launch that just took the rocket off the launch rod where it fell on the ground, but this one had a good ejection charge as it popped the chute out on the ground. On that one the nozzle had instant erosion to more than double the normal diameter.
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Wow--talk about careening from one guard rail to the opposite-side one (and beyond)! For several years, Estes--and Estes-made, Apogee Components Medalist competition-grade brand--13 mm motors had loud, frequently model-damaging "shotgun" ejection charges; now, at least some (that particular production run, at minimum) 18 mm Estes A8-3 motors have effectively *no* ejection charges at all...
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