So, do either of you know when did it happen? We know from the newspaper clippings that it occurred on June 11th, but was it 1973 or some other year?

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR

It was either 71 or 72. When I got those newspaper articles back in 2/21, I forgot to get the year date.

__________________
"Old Rocketeer's don't die; they just go OOP".....unless you 3D print them.

Where did you find the newspaper articles? Is it possible to go back to the source to find the exact year? Cox continued producing and selling model rocket engines and model rocket kits throughout 1971-72, so I am thinking that the accident must have occurred in 1972 or later. I will go back and check, but I believe that Cox still had ads running in Model Rocketry Magazine in 1973.

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins
aka: Faithwalker
NAR #46879 SR

I have a few Cox C engines that have a 72 or 73 date. All the D8s I have or have ever seen have a 71 date.

__________________
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.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

yes they still ran ads in The Model Rocketry magazine in the last half of 71 to Jan 1972 when Model Rocketry ceased and the NAR started the Model Rocketeer publication in Feb 72. Ad's continued also into the Model Rocketeer. The newspaper articles were found with a 7 day free subscription to https://www.newspapers.com/

__________________
"Old Rocketeer's don't die; they just go OOP".....unless you 3D print them.

My wife has a subscription to Newspaperarchive.com. I just replicated Terry's search and found the Long Beach Independent Press Telegram article (the third one in Terry's clipping post). Published June 13, 1971. So the Cox explosion occurred on June 11, 1971.

__________________
Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

Thanks, Terry and Bernard, for the information and references. The L.M. Cox Mfg. Co.'s response is puzzling somewhat, because they continued to run large ads fairly consistently in the Model Rocketry and Model Rocketeer magazines throughout 1971-1973 and even into January 1974. I did notice also in the October 1973 issue of Model Rocketeer magazine on page 19, it was noted that Doug Malewicki attended NARAM-15 in Cleveland, OH, on August 8, 1973, at the Hitchcock Auditorium at Ohio State. Doug Malewicki was there at NARAM-15 representing the L.M. Cox Mfg. Co. Model Rocketry division. Doug spoke about the production of the Cox D8 engines and said that they would be terminated due to manufacturing problems and low sales. Nothing more was indicated.

The Cox Model Rocket ads continued to run for at least another 3 months after the October 1973 article on NARAM-15 in Model Rocketeer magazine. The Cox Model Rocket ads continued to promote the Cox X-15 and Space Shuttle America models, stating that they were available at hobby, toy and department stores. So, no indications or references to discontinuing the Model Rocketry division, that I can find, but pending litigation related to the accident may have still been ongoing which could have caused the eventual termination of the entire Cox Model Rocketry line. I don't know for sure how long the Cox Model Rocketry products were available in stores. I can remember seeing bunches of the Cox model rockets and engines sold in the Treasury stores with the squiggly corrugated roof in Memphis, TN, in 1972-1973.

Some of the Cox model rockets were revived and produced again in 1989, I believe, but not the Cox model rocket engines.

Kind regards,
Jeff Jenkins

Thanks Bernard

__________________
"Old Rocketeer's don't die; they just go OOP".....unless you 3D print them.

I guess it's fairly obvious that the publications of record back then didn't want to mention the event that happened. For whatever reasons. MRm was out of business by Jan 72.
I think NAR membership was notified in November 1971 that the Model Rocketeer would replace MRm.There was usually a 2 to 3 month delay in the news to MRM so the earliest it could have been reported would be September 71.

Doug Malewicki was the head of COX 's Rocketry endeavor during this time frame. I seriously doubt he had any say so or direction about the way COX manufactured it's motors. Somebody higher up in the company made the decision to make motors that way.. Notice the facility was built with roofs and doors designed to blow off. It was a disaster just waiting to happen.

You can still see the building this happened at via Google. 1505 East Warner Avenue Santa Ana, CA Still standing. Typical manufacturing plant building.

__________________
"Old Rocketeer's don't die; they just go OOP".....unless you 3D print them.

The buildings were designed that way probably not because they actually *believed* a disaster would happen, but *in case* one did (there is a difference, slight, but important).

The point is you relieve the blast pressure via those ways so that you don’t necessarily bring the entire building down on everyone inside IF something happens.

By the time Cox left the rocketry business, the moon landings were over and as we all know, there was a huge cool down in interest in the space program. Model rocketry sales were going down considerably for all the current manufacturers.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970