What is the name of the Model Rocket company that had the bulk of the
market share back in the late 70's early 80's?
The name began with a C, but I can't remember exactly. I think it was
something like "Centura" but I don't think that is it...
Even at their worst, I think Centuri is far better than the Estes of today.
Looking through the last few current Estes catalogs, I am appalled at the
lack of "kits". Everything is geared towards pre-fab, plasticized garbage
aimed towards the current Gen-X, video-game, and "Boyz In Da Hood"
markets...nothing that looks like a rocket with some historical background
and significance. I long for the days of such cool kits as the Estes
"Aerobee 300", the "Honest Johns" the really cool "Thor-Agena",
etc....Gee....I would even settle for a balsa nosecone...lol.
Thank goodness for the "cloned kits" industry!!
You're thinking of Centuri, but the answer to your question is Damon Corp,
which owned both, and 99+% of the market
Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD"
>>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!
Try some Semroc kits if you're after retro-style kits with nice modern
improvements (like kevlar leaders for example).
If you're after interesting model kits, more than likely Estes aren't the
ticket - FlisKits et al have got far more interesting stuff.
Still, I am partial to their motors ;)
Centuri always had better designs and the materials the rockets were
made out of were a little bit better than Estes. For one, most
Centuri kits came with plastic cones vs. the balsa that the majority
of Estes kits of the same time period. Centuri had thicker fin stock,
better shock cord mounts, better parachutes, better engine
mounts/locks, and although I've seen some say both companies engines
were manufactured by the same factory, I always had better luck out of
Centuri's engines, and damn sure better luck out of Centuri's
igniters.
Just all around, Centuri was the superior company...interesting how
they seemed to disappear into Estes when the companies merged.
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