Having had a few rockets partly RUD-ed (and ruined, by split BT-5 seams) by the overly-powerful mini motor ejection charges (even a Quest Starhawk--designed for 18 mm A6-4 motors, which I flew with a 13 mm motor adapter mount--had its interior quickly well-"toasted"), I wouldn't say it was "exaggeration." Even 13 mm boost-glider competition flyers reported split-open BT-5 motor pod body tubes back then.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

You toasted a rocket 25 years ago? And are now comparing it to a report of a bad ejection charge a few months ago?

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-Wolfram v. Kiparski
NAR 28643 - TRA 15520
MTMA Section #606 President

And the engine production lot numbers too, please

Had a Cub Scout launch today and we used up a whole bulk pack of A8-3 motors.

I submitted 3 MESS reports for two very low thrust and one almost non-existent ejection charge. Last August we burned through a whole bulk pack on A8-3 motors with no malfunctions.

The total number of MESS reports submitted for the A8-3 motor for 2022 = 3.

That's it. Just three - the reports that I made.

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-Wolfram v. Kiparski
NAR 28643 - TRA 15520
MTMA Section #606 President

Three out of a whole pack of A8-3's isn't bad.

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Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.

3 failures out of 24 isn't bad ?
C'mon noww.
That failure rate of 12.5% totally SUCKS.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.

If you count both launches, it is more like 3 failures out of 48. Still disappointing. I've never thought of the A8-3 as a problematic motor, having flown so many of them since the 1970s.

If there is a problem, I wonder why more MESS reports aren't being filed? Even the other example in this thread was not reported.

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-Wolfram v. Kiparski
NAR 28643 - TRA 15520
MTMA Section #606 President

Been too busy, and not too long after that launch I spent a week in the hospital for chicken poop induced pneumonia, then the wife had to have emergency gall bladder removal followed by my mother going into hospice in mid-August and dying Sept 2nd. It was not a really good summer in 2022......

Yep... I have for a thousand reasons neglected to fill out more MESS reports than I have ever submitted. It's inconvenient, and other than the summary data being interesting to look at, of dubious value. Hope things get better for you going into 2023.

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-Wolfram v. Kiparski
NAR 28643 - TRA 15520
MTMA Section #606 President

Currently trying to do a school project with an altimeter and the A8-3's don't seem to have enough energy to push out the added weight with the altimeter. 100% failure rate. Chute failed to eject from tube everytime.
Without the altimeter there's no issues.
This is on multiple rockets so I don't think anything is getting bound up or snagged.