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Old 04-26-2020, 01:28 AM
Initiator001 Initiator001 is offline
Too Many Initiators is Never Enough
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 2,394
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...Continued

As we waited for the response to the 'model rocket' reloadable motors, AeroTech was battling the fallout from the Vulcan/Estes 'exploding reloads' videotape.

That deceitful videotape and it's presentation to the DOT, CPSC and NFPA really put a halt in the entire reloadable product lines.

Yet, AeroTech was still getting orders from the smaller, on-site hobby dealers for these products.

As the status of reloadable hobby rocket motors worked its way through various organizations and regulator bodies, reorders for the reloadable motors started to arrive at AeroTech.

The most popular loads were the G64 and F40 White Lightning loads with the E18 close behind.

Not one reorder for the 18mm loads.
None. Zip.

We talked to several dealers/distributors and were told that the 18mm reloads didn't interest many flyers. One or two in a NAR or TRA group would buy a casing and reload, fly it and say "That was interesting" and move on. We were also getting calls from dealers/hobbyists stating that their reload kit was missing two nozzles. Most folks didn't read the instructions to save and reuse the phenolic nozzles for all three propellant loads. This situation caused many phone calls so we/AeroTech decided to include three nozzles in the B and C motor reload kits. This cut into the profit margin.

One evening in November 1992, Paul Hans and I sat around the dining room table at my apartment.

I pulled out a current order form listing all the model rocket reload kits.
Paul and I went through the list using sales figures I had been tracking.

Then we started to cross off reloads with low/no sales volumes.
Except for the D13 reloads, none of the other 18mm loads had any sales.
Paul and I agreed these motors should be removed from the lineup.

The next day Paul and I spoke with Gary about our findings and the recommendation to cancel those products. Gary agreed and that ended the B, C and E reloads for the RMS-18/20 reload case.
We still had inventory on these reloads and it would take awhile before they were sold but no new production runs would be made.

This was lost in the ongoing battle over getting the reloadable motors approved by various regulatory agencies and organizations. At the time we received little or no comment on the cancelation of these products.

The saga of the 18mm B, C and E reloads didn't even last a year.
Like many commercial products the marketplace determined the success or not of these items.
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Bob
S.A.M. # 0014
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