I remember buying small rockets, the ones you could afford when you were a sub on a paper route. Usually BT-20 based and around 12" tall.
The Estes Wac Corporal was a disappointment. Trying to remove that friction fitted A8-3 engine was tough and would crimp the body tube.
Here's the problem -
The nozzle end of the engine ended up EVEN with the bottom of the BT-20 body tube. You had no way to easily remove the engine!
Well, you might be able to tap the engine out using a dowel from the top. An inexperienced 13 year old wouldn't think of that.
So the Wac Corporal ended up a single flight rocket. Removing the engine pretty much destroyed the thin BT-20 tube.
Somewhere I saw old instructions for what might have been an early Model Missile kit. Instead of masking tape, the engine was wrapped with rubber bands for a friction fit!
I remember using a short piece of bent coat hanger as a kid to remove these engines. I stuck it into the nozzle and pulled it out that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Unknown,
DeleteI eventually used a bent coat hanger. That was after I bent up the body tube trying to remove that first flight engine.
The WAC Corporal was the first rocket I was able to successfully launch (after burning up the Astron Streak I tried to launch with a match!!). It was a while before I had a reliable electrical means of ignition but, while I still had some, I found Jetex wick much easier to use then at age 11. I eventually "saw the light" and was converted to electrical ignition. But I digress. Yes, I had good results removing engines with a short piece of coat hanger wire with a very short hook fashioned on one end and a loop for the finger on the other. I remember also using a FH wood screw in the nozzle that I pulled on with pliers.
ReplyDeleteHi md9680,
DeleteWhen I was first starting out I kept some Jetex fuse in my launch box if the old Photoflash launcher batteries were going dead.
Later on, I did use a coat hanger to remove engines, but never a wood screw.