FA: Unflown Cox Saturn 1B

WOW! Hey David, you going to Europe on the proceeds? ; )

Randy

Interesting. Seems to be a flurry of these lately. Just curious, is this an original 70s vintage, or the 90s reissue. I wonder what Estes will do with them now that they own Cox and the molds...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

This has a 1990 copyright on the box.

I'm not sure I'd put any stock in there being 'something happening', I'm having hard times financially and sold it out of need.

David Erbas-White

Bob Kaplow wrote:

Well I have been buying them all :-) I now have 2 saturn 1B's, 2 Saturn V's, 2 X-15's and one honest john. At least this one was not in a sealed box so it will see some flight time!

YEEHAW!

Hey, you got any more? email me :-)

You're not going to fly them at a NIRA launch, are you? Until the extes mini-x-wing came around, the family of Cox rockets were the top of my "modet dangerous model rocket products" list...

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Apparently not. That is what you are saying right? Anyway they will fly :-)

I have been thinking about this a little. Exactly why would it not be allowed at a NIRA launch? You are not the RSO anymore and the current RSO does not attend many launches as far as I know. So please explain. This cannot be more dangerous than the zillions of failed TARC launches I witnessed last year.

Did any of them prang into asphalt, stick, and be removed unscathed? Bob's seen that happen. I've seen that happen. I've seen similar things with the Honest John, and those X-wings.

The issue is whether or not the flight is safe, not whether Bob is RSO or not. It requires common sense, something that I find seriously lacking in certain people these days.

When you do fly it at a NIRA launch, do it as soon as the gates open when there aren't that many people and vehicles around, and angle it away from the rangehead and parking lot. It would probably be best to launch it straight up, due to it's weight, but angle it a little anyway.

The launches where there were almost disasters with those rockets were when there were a lot of people around (including a soccer game nearby), the rangehead was very close to the parking lot, and the rocket was launched straight up.

I can't find the original post about this, which model are you planning to fly, and what motors will you use? I've always wanted to see what one of those would do on a cluster of Aerotech E's. The D12's just seemed a bit wimpy.

So, I say fly it, but do what I recommeded above. It'll keep everyone happy (ok, maybe not Bob, but I'm not sure anyone can do that :)

Bob

COX Saturn V and Saturn 1B. I think the 1B would be fine on a single D12 as it is pretty lite. Also the Saturn V is pretty lite and should be OK on 2xD12's.

Well I don't understand how this would be more dangerous than say a HPR rocket made of fiberglass. *ANY* rocket launched has a chance at not ejecting. That is why I was a little confused.

That may violate the frangibility clause of the safety code, if it is even in there after the "simplification". But it does not make it any more dangerous than any other prang for the most part.

The product at issue should have been banned, but those folks were running full color ads monthly in the magazine. No way NAR is going to kill a cash cow like that.

Somebody that hardly advertises at all, sure, nuke 'em!. And for far less basis than actual safety or legal compliance.

Niether do I. I've seen plenty of Cox models (including the 1b) crash and also seen plenty of the "bulletproof" LMR models (like the Machbuster) crash and I don't see *any* difference. Neither are remotely frangible. I put the Cox 1b as considerably safer, because at least when everything goes right and the chutes *do* come out, it's not likely to hurt anyone. A lot of the LMR models threaten bodily harm even when they work perfectly. A prang is not required - I've seen phenolic and fiberglass bt-55-sized models chip pavement on a perfect flight.

So I don't see a huge distinction to be made. Both are either OK, or neither.

Brett

Heads up on the X-15. Get your kids some hard hats and park the car under a tree.

Randy

Really. Is there some reason that the ejection does'nt work???

No, the bt is too small to have the chute reliably eject. It tends to hang up and it's easy to over pack the wadding. If you decide to fly one, do it on a warm day. Maybe even wipe some WD-40 on a rag where the bt and nc separate.

Randy