Old Estes Engines

[Scott6060842]

I have 3 old estes rocket engines. They are in a brown citation box so I would say they are early 1970's. They look fine.

Should I ...

A: Soak them in water and get rid of them

or

B: Put one in an old rocket I am not real fond of and see what happens.

[stefanj]

I would certainly not destroy them; Citation-boxed and labeled motors are probably a collector's item.


If you don't care about collecting, as long as they were properly stored they should work fine.

[Bazookadale]

I have 3 old estes rocket engines. They are in a brown citation box so I would say they are early 1970's. They look fine.

Should I ...

A: Soak them in water and get rid of them

or

B: Put one in an old rocket I am not real fond of and see what happens.

DON'T YOU DARE SOAK THEM IN WATER!! If you don't want them someone else does - me maybe - what type are they?

[evo666]

Soak them please








Jk, I would keep it or launch in a rocket like you said.

[Scott6060842]

DON'T YOU DARE SOAK THEM IN WATER!! If you don't want them someone else does - me maybe - what type are they?

They are in a citation hang box. It has a silver picture of a man and a boy launching what looks like a Quasar. The front of the box says engine no. A-3 but inside are 2 brown A8-3's and one green B6-4. It also has stapled model rocket engine instructions with solar igniters...and hey I didn't notice before, the engines are dated, 3-18-73 for the 2 A8-3's and 6-1-73 for the B6-4.

They came in an unused range box I bought for $20. I was complete (paint, brush, exacto knife, glue, old style pad and launcher) and came with an Alpha. It is just like the one pictured in the 1973 catalog (except it came with a 1973 catalog). BTW the little bottle of Testers sanding sealer dope is awesome. I wish you could still get that stuff....and I LOVE the steel launch rod.

[blackshire]

Those Estes Citation motors are collectors' items that should be preserved, along with their packaging and igniters.

I have *never* been able to bring myself to destroy old motors--whenever I've had some that weren't collectable and I wasn't sure if they had been thermal-cycled, I always had an old less-than-perfect rocket on hand that I wouldn't have cried over losing, and I used the old motors in it. I never had one CATO--not even an old Estes "B" motor with a broken-in-pieces ejection charge that rattled behind its paper cap. (The only CATO I've ever had was in 1992 with a brand-new, "first-generation" Quest A6-4 [made on the old AVI machine, I think] in a Pip Squeak that acted as if it had no delay charge, but the model suffered only a ~6 mm "zipper" from the Kevlar cord that was repairable.)

[tquigg]

I just started collecting old rocket motors a few years ago. It's fun to see what was around years ago. I've got model, mid-power and some HPR single use motors. Got an H220 Silver Streak and a few F50's an F100, and old AVI D impulse motor, an I65 SU and a Vulcan L750 SU, among others. Got some old B14's too.

[hcmbanjo]

I've been flying some 30 - 35 year old engines without any problems.
These (good) engines sat indoors in a cardboard box stored in my old bedroom in California until last year.

The only engines I've had fireballs on were older. I picked the bad engines up somewhere along the way, whether from friends or at a garage sale. I had no way of knowing how those engines were stored, they could have been subject to some severe temperature changes.

[jeffyjeep]

I've been flying some 30 - 35 year old engines without any problems.
These (good) engines sat indoors in a cardboard box stored in my old bedroom in California until last year.

The only engines I've had fireballs on were older. I picked the bad engines up somewhere along the way, whether from friends or at a garage sale. I had no way of knowing how those engines were stored, they could have been subject to some severe temperature changes.
......and if your incorrigible, practical-joking "friend" hands you a C6-5 to launch your prized Anromeda with, don't hesitate to check the ejection end of it see if some epoxy glue had been poured down it. :(

I bet he's STILL laughing about that one.