Updated 03/06/23. Added Estes A5-2 notes, changed Estes nozzle photo.
Updated 07/19/22. Added notes regarding age of some motors.
Updated 07/14/2022. Added notes, fixed typos, added notes and pictures of more Estes motors.
Updated 09/10/2020. Added Road Runner Rocketry and more Quest photos.
Updated 07/22/2020. Added many brands. Most photos re-done.
Thanks to Sven Knudson's Ninfinger.org rocket pages for lots of good information and old catalogs.
Below are pictures of my rocket motor collection. Sizes include 6mm, 10mm, 13mm, 18mm, 24mm, 29mm, 38mm and 42mm.
Brands/Makers include: (click on name to jump to that section.)
Propellant type is either composite, black powder (bp) or other as noted.
Part of my motor collection.
ACS Reaction Labs Motor
My ACS Reaction Labs H160 motor. it is ~42mm diameter! (Actual 41.275mm / 1.625"). Length 8". Composite. The ejection charge was removed before I it, so the disc with motor designation got lost. I was doing some browsing around on the ninfinger.org rocket page (http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html), and (among other great older rocket catalogs) there was an RCS/Reaction Labs catalog from 1987. From size, it appears that my motor was most likely an H160. Size is called out as 1.65" x 7.5", so a little shorter than the 8" I measured. The catalog calls out 320ns total impulse, 2.15s duration, propellant weight of 160g and available delay times of 6, 9, 15 and 20 seconds Any further information would be appreciated.
Aerotech Motors
My Aerotech E6, F60, and F41 motors. The E is 24mm and the Fs are 29mm.
Caps of the motors.
My Aerotech D8 prototype. Purchased from Jim Flis of Fliskits. 18mm, composite. I have a modern, fired Aerotech 18mm motor as well. (not pictured.)
I have modern, fired Aerotech 18mm and 24mm motors as well. (not pictured.)
Apogee Motors
I have a couple Apogee 10mm black powder motors, an A and a B. Both have been fired. I also have an 18mm composite D, also fired. (not pictured.)
Canaroc Motors
My Canaroc motors (B14-7 size). 18mm black powder. Circa early 1980s.
Centuri Motors
Centuri 13mm 1/4 A4-4M motors, blue in color, 2.75" long. Black powder. Circa 1973-1980 (casing style; casing color not mentioned in catalogs.)
Centuri 13mm A4-4M motors, including spacers to bring them to 2.75" length. Black powder. Likely circa 1973-1974
Centuri 13mm B4-3M motors, 2.75" length. Black powder. Circa 1973-early 1975. Appears in 1973, 74 and 74-75 but not 1975 catalogs.
Centuri 1/2A6-0S Short 18mm motors. Black powder. Circa 1968-1970
Centuri B8-7 Enerjet 18mm motors. Black powder. Circa 1980-1983
Back of the Centuri B8-7 box.
Loose 18mm Centuri motors, including "SuperCs". Black powder. Purple labeled motors circa 1970. Super C circa 1977-1981; packaging changed 1982, not in 1983 catalog.
18mm Centuri C6-3 motor, blue in color. Appears to have been installed in a rocket when the rocket was painted. Black powder. Circa 1973-1975 based on label style; casing color not mentioned in catalog.
29mm Centuri Mini-Max F94-7 motor, 3 views including nozzle. Black powder. This is a so-called port burning motor (has a bore in it) as opposed to the standard end burning. Circa 1969-71.
Coasters Motors
My Coasters Atom Jet and Super Jet motors. E?, F11-0 and F15-0. 29mm. Black powder. Given to me by George O'Hara.
My Coasters Atom Jet and Super Jet motors, view 2 showing NAR and (NRA - SIC) designations. Note that both F motors are 0 delay, indicating boosters.
Composite Dynamics Motor
My Composite Dynamics Pro-Jet E20-4. 29mm. Composite.
Views of the nozzle and cap ends of the Pro-Jet.
Crown Rocket Technology
My Crown Rocket Technology F67-4 motor. 29mm. Composite. Note the notice of responsibility in the bottom view, along with the fact that it calls out Small Sounding Rocket Systems as the maker.
Estes Rocket Motors
My Estes C10 Prototype. 18mm black powder. The end cap can barely be seen. This motor is filled to the top.
My Estes D48! Prototype. 24mm black powder. Same length as the current Estes E motors.
The HUGE nozzle of the D48.
My Estes Coldpower motor. This motor used freon for propellant, and had a balloon that expanded into a tube slightly larger than the motor, and held a spring assembely that would pop the parachute when the motor was empty.
Another view of my Estes Coldpower motor. I had a link to pics of a static test of one of these motors, but it no longer exists.
My Estes UFO Power Kit, containing 6 C6-0 motors for the Estes 6716 ready to fly UFO. Black powder.
Back of the Estes UFO Power Kit.
My package of Estes 24mm E15-6 Cobra motors. These motors were notorious for almost always CATOing. I've heard that certification was revoked from these due to that issue. Black powder. I also have packages of Cobra A10 and D12-5 motors.
My tube of Estes 1/2A6-0S booster motors (sealed). Early Short 18mm black powder motors. Estes made a nosecone that fit this tube. The tube is quite heavy, according to a post I saw online.
Two of my three Estes Diamond tubes of motors. B14-0 and B6-0 18mm black powder boosters.
The end of the A5-2 diamond tube and an A5-2 motor. Scale of the two may not be the same; they were from two different photos. On both the tube and motor, the date of 1/28/72 can be seen. Obtained from SoonerBoomer on the Rocket Forums. 18mm black powder.
Examples of the B6-0 and B14-0 motors from the tubes above, along with a C6-7 of a similar vintage. The B6 appears to be dated 5/14/1976 and the B14 is dated 3/15/1974. No date visible on the C, so it may be newer.
Two views of my Estes 13mm 1/2A3-2T motor, blue in color. In the top view, a date of 5/15/72 is visible. Black powder.
Two views of my Estes 24mm D11-9 motor. Black powder. Note the long 9 second delay. I am not sure what SLD means, but maybe Super Long Delay. I'm also not sure of the cause of the discoloration on the motor. It came that way.
1969/1970 Estes boosters and upper stage motors. Black powder.
Estes nozzle size comparizon. Left to right: A5, A8, B6 and B14 showing various nozzle sizes. Note the B14's large nozzle size compared to most 18mm Estes motors. C5 and C6 nozzles are the same size as B6. 1/2A6 is the same size as A8. (Same size plugs). You can see the black powder down the nozzles and a smaller hole than the nozzle diameter in the B14. The A5 has the smallest nozzle and thickest casing. The A5 weighs 15.68g compared to 15.48 for the A8. The A5 is from 1972, the B6 and B14 from 1969-1970 and the A8 is from 2004.
Flight Systems, Inc. (FSI) Motors
My FSI C6-0 18mm black powder motors. Likely circa early 90s.
My FSI E60-8 24mm black powder motor. Note the Nov. 1994 date.
Industrial Solid Propulsion
My ISP 29-60 RMS 29mm reloadable motor system casing. Industrial Solid Propulsion is or was the parent company of Aerotech. My Dr. Rocket closures fit perfectly on this. It's labeled and not etched, so I won't risk flying it.
Mach Industries
Three views of my 18mm A3-4 Mach Industries motor. Made in Slovenia. Black powder. Appears to have a graphite or dark clay, very smooth nozzle. Note the mis-spelling of "buster" instead of booster.
Model Products Corporation (MPC)
MPC 2.75" 13mm A3-4m black powder motors, 4 pack. Note that General Mills owned MPC when these were made. Circa 1974-1976 based on catalogs (New in 1974).
MPC 2.75" 13mm B3-7m black powder motors, 4 pack. Note that this pack and the above pack include wadding. Circa 1974-1976 based on catalogs.
Back of the Minijet package. Same for both A and B motors.
MPC 2.75" 13mm 1/2A3-5m black powder motor. The only one of the 3 sizes shown on the back above that I don't have a whole package of. Likely circa 1974.
Model Rectifier Corporation (MRC)
MRC Tracker 2 pack B4-2 18mm black powder motors. The plastic nozzles are also igniter retainers.
Back of the above package
MRC FX Low Thrust Smoke engines. 6mm diameter, black powder.
ProDyne Hurricane Motor
My ProDyne Hurricane motor. 29mm black powder. Likely approximately an E. Phenolic case. Given to me by George O'Hara.
Another view of the ProDyne motor showing the warnings.
Propulsion Industries
My Propulsion Industries F57 motor. 29mm composite. The case appears very similar to Aerotech cases.
Quest
My Quest 18mm black powder B6-4 motors. The top one had a loose label and I could see printing underneath, so I peeled it off. As can be seen, the Quest motors are really MRC motors, that were made in West Germany. I am not sure what this does to the NAR certification. Also note that the Quest label says "Made in U.S.A." even though it wasn't. These motors came in a Quest starter set. Since these were made in Germany, I wonder if the company that made these was Klima or what became Klima. Based on catalogs, circa 1993
My Quest 18mm black powder A6-4 motor. This is a composite of two shots of the same motor. I have two, which came with a different starter set than the above. One had a loose label, so like the above, I peeled it. This one appears almost identical to the above Quest/MRC one, but with Quest labeling. Also note that the label says Made in Germany and Assembled in Mexico. I would guess that the "assembly" in this case was adding the label. Circa 2000 based on catalogs.
The nozzle of the above A6-4 motor. It appears to be either dark grey ceramic or clay or else graphite (doubtful.) The B6-4s have a nearly identical nozzle.
Ravenna Rocket Research
My Ravenna Rocket Research D33!-5 rocket motor with its instruction wrapper. 22mm (originally noted as 29mm) composite. Fiberglass case. Update: I found a Ravenna Research catalog from 1988 on http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html. The motor is listed as an all surface burner with regressive characteristic. I will measure size.
Two views of the Ravenna motor. The top shows the motor with its igniter, along with the warnings. I am not sure why it says Class "C" explosive. Class "C" is the category used for most model rocket motors. Note that they usually say "toy propellant device."
Roadrunner Rocketry
My Road Runner Rocketry F60 motor. This one was launched and was a very smooth flight. These appear very similar to Aerotech single use motors. I also have another F60 and a G80 in package. Road Runner was a much more recent company (early 2000s).
Rocketflite Motors
My Rocketflite F50SS (29mm) and H220SS (38mm) Silver Streak black powder motors. Cardboard cases with metal liners or rings at top and bottom. The H220 is the largest black powder motor commercially available. Note the warning about the 25 foot flame. This is due to whatever gives the silver streaks in the exhaust.
Small Sounding Rocket Systems
Three views of my Small Sounding Rocket Systems E45-7 29mm composite motor. Note the date of 4/7/79. Also note that in the line about certifications, contest is crossed out. It was that way when I got it. Note the same warning as on my Crown motor (made by SSRS.)
U.S. Rockets
Photo of my U.S. Rockets G140-12 24mm motor, with an Estes D12-3 for length comparison. Composite.
Vulcan Systems
Two views of my Vulcan G50-10 29mm motor. Composite. Fiberglass casing. Note the Jan 1990 date.
Two views of my fired Vulcan H115-8 38mm motor. Composite. Note the date of 8/1/87 and the delay time corrected from 15 to 8.
E-mail me about rocket motors or anything rocketry.
