I was browsing East Coast Rocketry online model rocket engine museum,when I saw that one of the old vintage mod roc companies was located in Albany, NY: Uni-Jet.
The engines on Dale's site are labelled D1, D2, D3, D4, and E2.
Does anyone know anything about this company? The addresses on the website are private homes in residential neighborhoods, and the only thing I can find by Googling is a 1965 ad on Ninfinger's site.
I have some of these motors in my collection. The D and E codes have NOTHING to do with the current D and E class motors. They are close to the extes "T" series motors in size. I don't recall the actual current equivalents, but they can't be more than A motors.
Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!
In the first edition of Harry Stine's book he lists the D-1,2 and 3 motors as 1/2A .5 motors (that's POINT 5 pounds, about 2 newtons) and lists the total impulse as 0.10 lb/sec,which would be 1/4A but there was no 1/4 A officially at the time of that printing. The D-4 was listed as 1/2A .7-4 with a total impulse of 0.15 lb/sec. No idea about the E motor.
The two addresses listed on the rocket motor boxes still exist. They are both homes in residential areas: The Weymouth St address is a modest 1930's-ish home, and the Ridge Terrace address is a mid 1960's raised ranch. The Weymouth St home does have an old wooden detached garage. I could not help wondering if this little shack was once a rocket R&D lab...
I also found an interesting tidbit in an old issue of Model Rocketry Magazine (Vol. III, No. 9, July 1971, p28) as part of a G Harry Stine article describing the history of model rocket motors:
"In 1964, there was a brief return to the 'half inch engine' as we tended to call it. George Molson of the Uni-Jet company started to produce a little model rocket engine that was .500" in diameter and
2.25" long. They were listed as :
1/2A.5-2, metric equivalent 1/2A2-2
1/2A.5-3, metric equivalent 1/2A2-3
1/2A.5-0, metric equivalent 1/2A2-0
1/2A1-4, metric equivalent 1/2A4-4
These engines were NAR-certified in late 1964. However, George Molson used a very different and highly unusual solid propellant, and the reliability of his Uni-Jet engines suffered as a result. The thrust time curve was dependent on the number of days that had elapsed since the engine had been made. At a certain time after manufacture, the thrust time spike at ingition became very high... and the nozzle left the party. Sometimes the paper casing ended up looking like a peeled banana. Molson could not solve the problem, and the Uni-Jets left the market in late 1965, yet they became a legend due to their small size."
I wonder just what was that "very different and highly unusual solid propellant"?
I would also guess that the nickname "Puny-Jets" was created by rocketeers who were used to full A and B motors. 1/4A is pretty 'Puny' in comparison.
I am still searching for additional info, esp copies of any Uni Jet catalogs, literature, or (hope against hope) plans for their kits.
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